My name is Katie Lentz, and I’m a senior studying Public Health and SISE. I have a passion for sports and I plan to turn that passion into a career. As part of a class project for the SISE Senior Practicum, I began researching the intersection of sports and social innovation, and I believe I have truly found my calling there. By simply Googling those two terms, I found the Stanford Sports Innovation Conference (SIC). I looked at the panelists and topics, and knew I had to go!
My dream job is to be a Community Relations Director for a Major League Baseball team. My SISE education has taught me that there is a potential for real change to be created through the vehicle of sports, and I believe I could help greatly impact communities in that role. Because of this vision for my future, I decided to conduct my SISE Senior Practicum project on this topic: How sports teams can use their Community Relations Departments to create lasting change in their communities. Attending SIC allowed me to make connections with people who could assist me with my project now, and, better yet, it allowed me to build my network within the world of sports.
The opening keynote kicked off a fantastic day. The co-owners of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, discussed their fascinating goals and mindsets for the top NBA team in the league. Guber said the Warriors front office is “always in beta”, and this mindset has been instilled in me also through my SISE education. He made another comment about their facilities and fans: “It’s not about state of the art, it’s about state of the heart”. This spoke to me, because as a Community Relations Director, I would always need to keep the people in the community we serve the top priority, instead of always focusing on how to be the best from a business perspective. He showed me that if I care about my team’s fans and community first, the rest will fall into place if I’m willing to innovate.
Throughout the day, I met several influential people in the sports world, from writers and academics, to front office staff of professional teams. After I pitched my project idea to them, so many were willing to help me. I hope that by conducting this project, I can not only gain a greater vision for the impact sports can have on a community but also remind these individuals that this business isn’t always about the money involved. And, because many teams do bring in a significant amount of revenue, they should invest the excess in their communities to create a lasting bond.
By attending SIC, I believe my project can reach its full potential. Additionally, it has renewed a passion in me to continue with my dream of using sports for transformative change. This is just the beginning, and I am thankful for a solid SISE education that gives me the courage to innovate.