By Taunita Stephenson
NFL Player Engagement
On April 25th, 2012, 375 New York City public school students participated in the Sports Career Expo at Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The NFL Prep Sports Career Expo, produced in conjunction with Why Not Sports, Inc., enlists professionals from all aspects of the sports industry to inform, educate, and enlighten student-athletes on career opportunities within the professional and college sports arena. Students are educated about the academic requirements needed to successfully transition from high school to college and are enlightened about a broad spectrum of career opportunities within the sports industry outside of being a professional athlete.
Students were first welcomed by LEE RUBIN, Author of “WIN,” who introduced Super Bowl Champ and Former NFL wide receiver AMANI TOOMER. Amani encouraged the students to become lifelong learners stating that the “two things you want to get out of high school in order to prepare for college are reading and writing.” The students also had the opportunity to hear from a panel of sports executives. TANYA MARCHIOL (Former Athlete/Founder and President of TEAM Investments), KEVIN LEMPA (Defensive Coordinator for Columbia University Football), MERTON HANKS (Former NFL Player and Assistant Director of Football Operations, NFL), JAMES THRASH (Former NFL Player and Manager of Player Engagement, NFL), and AKIL COAD (Compliance Manager, Football Operations, NFL) shared their stories with the student-athletes and encouraged questions. Overall the ultimate message of the panel was to put academics first and use sport as a tool to reach your goals. James Thrash reminded the student-athletes, "you are free to make any choice but you aren't free to choose the consequences.”
To close out the program, student-athletes attended an NCAA Initial Eligibility Workshop that explained the academic requirements needed to successfully qualify for NCAA scholarships including the NCAA Initial Eligibility application process and qualifying classes. Here, they had the opportunity to hear from ELIZABETH BOOKWALTER (Academic Advisor and Eligibility Certification Officer for the New Jersey Institute of Technology) and SHAWN TUCKER (Assistant Athletic Director of Student-Athlete Development for Rutgers University)
Held during the week of the NFL Draft, ultimately the Sports Career Expo was a success and we appreciate all parties involved. Stay tuned to our monthly newsletters, our website, and our social media outlets to hear more about the next Sports Career Expo!
Check out the NFL Prep Sports Career Expo Video Here.
Check out what former player and NFL Ambassador Amani Toomer had to say.
Elizabeth Bookwalter talks to student-athletes about eligibility.
Check out more videos from the NFL Prep Sports Career Expo here.