story by Ashley Hohmann
Sport Administration Master’s Student
Students and faculty in the College of Education & Human Development’s sport administration program attended and participated in the USA Basketball Women in the Game Conference on Sept. 22.
The Women in the Game Conference provides a professional development and networking opportunity for women looking to work in the sport industry. The conference was held on Georgia State University’s campus and featured a panel on coaching and college sport administration, plus several guest speakers, including representatives from the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Falcons and other sport organizations.
The event was hosted by USA Basketball, the governing body of basketball that manages everything from youth basketball to the Olympic teams. More than 25 students and faculty in the sport administration program attended.
Assistant Professor Allison Smith gave a keynote address and alumna Kelcey Roegiers (B.S. ’07, M.S. ’10) was a panelist in a day-long discussion focused on introducing women to careers in the sport industry.
Smith, whose research focuses on women in sport spaces, spoke about the state of women working in sports. She touched on the increased attention on women’s sports, as well as the continued disparities in the number of women in coaching and leadership roles within sport organizations.
“It was a huge opportunity to be able to speak at the summit and situate the growing attention and participation in sport for women and girls. It’s also important to shed light on the challenges and disparities that still need more resources and brainstorming to solve,” she said. “In spaces like this one, it is always encouraging to see students who are willing to tackle these issues and want to move into sport to create sustainable change.”
Roegiers participated in the panel discussion on college sport administration, alongside Angel Mason and Tamica Smith Jones. Roegiers is a double Panther, graduating with her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in Sport Administration. She played basketball at the university while earning her degrees, and now serves as the senior associate athletic director-senior woman administrator and human resources officer for Georgia State Athletics.
Assistant Professor Lauren Beasley worked with USA Basketball to coordinate the event. "It was a great opportunity for our students to learn from women in the sport industry – and see the roles our alumni are in,” she said. “These types of networking opportunities are one of the many things that make getting a sport administration degree at Georgia State so valuable.”
The sport administration program is housed in the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. The program offers a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Sport Administration, a Master of Science in Sport Administration and a Ph.D. in Kinesiology with a concentration in sport administration. The M.S. program is currently ranked No. 12 in the United States by Sport Business International. The sport administration program is home to the Center for Sport and Urban Policy and the Rankin Cooter Bureau for Sport Business Research.
For program information, contact [email protected]. For the latest information, follow the program on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram at @GSUSportAdmin.