Once bound for the medical profession, Seattleite Eliot Mar now works in his dream job for USA Basketball
Eliot Mar once thought he’d be donning scrubs after graduating with a pre-med degree at Seattle University.
Instead, he’s in athletic wear most days at his job as Program Coordinator for USA Basketball’s Women’s National Team. His responsibilities cover operations and logistics for the team and organizing trials and camps for the women’s junior national teams.
‘I have always loved sports,’ Mar said. ‘It was always more like a hobby or fun thing, which I didn’t expect to turn into an education, then a career.’
Mar was studying at Seattle University when the women’s basketball team had an opening in operations. He decided to apply and got the job.
The five years that he worked with Seattle U’s women’s basketball team were rife with changes, including two basketball coaches, team expansion, and a lot of learning. Mar grew into his operational role and wondered: Could he make a go of this? Could he possibly make a living doing what he loved?
He knew that to become a leader, he’d need more than his collegiate athletic experience. ‘I had the street smarts,’ he said. ‘Now I needed the theoretical background.’
Seattle U’s Master in Sport Business Leadership (MSBL) program was designed for young professionals like Mar looking to advance their careers in the sport industry or older individuals thinking of shifting fields. Students generally complete the 48-credit program in two years.
The program has offered internships with professional teams such as the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks, Reign FC, Everett Silvertips, Sounders FC, and the Seattle Storm. Alumni have gone on to work with the likes of the Seahawks, YMCA Northwest, and Stanford University in roles ranging from business development to events and operations.
All this is a great preparation to enter one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors which, pre-COVID-19, was tipped to grow 5.9% annually to over $600 billion by 2022. Sports organizations need creative and integrated thinkers, adept leaders who understand its unique context, and – especially relevant these days – problem solvers. With sport being one of the hardest-hit industries, along with music, due to the pandemic, Seattle U’s MSBL program will be dwelling on how sports is planning to retool post-COVID-19.
Mar decided to apply to the program and found the experience ‘way more fulfilling’ than he had anticipated. He had originally envisioned grad school as going to class, ‘writing some papers while balancing a full-time job, and being done in two years’.
Apart from expanding his understanding of the business side of sport and the social impact sport had on society, his classes began translating into valuable skills that he could apply on the field.
‘Professionally, the program translated well to my job. I had more confidence in speaking to anyone. Our studies on women in sports leadership broadened my perspective while working with a women’s basketball team.’
The MSBL program structure gave Mar the flexibility he needed to adjust his schedule and take the classes he needed and wanted. By his second year in the program, he started to see his time as a grad student as a holistic experience. He could apply the theoretical information to every level of conversation. He had one-on-one access to professors, and there were plenty of opportunities to speak up, learn, and debate.
The value of the cohort model, where students take courses together for the first year, became apparent. The interaction with a group diverse in background, mindset, and nationality, all joined together by the same goal, provided a base of colleagues and long-lasting friendships.
When asked about valuable lessons he’d learned from his MSBL experience, Mar said ‘collaboration’.
‘Collaboration is understanding that you don’t always get to choose your team, but you figure out a way to get the most out of everyone on it.’
Mar graduated with his Master in Sport Business Leadership in 2019, interviewed with USA Basketball, and landed the position as Program Coordinator. They are now busy preparing for next year’s Olympics.
He considers himself fortunate to have started on a big role at a young age, to have found the right program, to have had the space to make mistakes and learn from them, and to have made the big jump from collegiate sports to a national team. And it doesn’t stop there.
‘The point of this degree was to further my understanding and my potential to operate in this kind of environment,’ Mar said. ‘Today I’m continuing to learn while working with the 12 best athletes for women’s basketball. I get to learn from the best.’
‘It doesn’t get any better than that.’
To learn more about Sports Business Leadership, Albers School of Business & Economics, contact Rose Kaser at kaserr@seattleu.edu