We extend a warm welcome to Instructor of Sport Management Taylor Sawyer. Sawyer joins us with a B.S. in Sport Administration and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. With a focus on the practical applications of sport management – particularly, sports marketing – her current research is on consumer purchase behavior in the cycling industry.
On the cusp of graduation from University of Northern Colorado’s PhD program in Sport Administration, Sawyer is eager to bring her notable background in and knowledge of sport management to the classroom here at CSU. Sawyer teaches in the undergraduate sport management minor and oversees the sport management club.
What inspired your interest in Sport Management?
My life has always revolved around sport; I originally went to school for business and realized that all the areas I was interested in pertained to sport. I switched to a sport management major and kept looking for outlets to dive into the field as deep as I could – hence why I am still in academia learning about it!
What is your favorite class to teach and why?
My favorite class to teach is Executing Influence in Sport Organizations. It is essentially a sport leadership-focused class. I created several activities to build leadership, teamwork skills, and public speaking skills for my students, and the amount of growth I witnessed from my students was incredible. I take a unique approach to teaching, and it was very rewarding to have students thank me for teaching that class the way I did.
How did you get to CSU?
While finishing up my master’s degree in Chattanooga, I had a list of five doctoral programs I was choosing from for my PhD. I kept circling back to Northern Colorado because it seemed like the most challenging and different experience. Three of the programs were in the south, but having spent all my life in the South, going out West seemed like an exciting option. This led to me touring Fort Collins and falling in love with the area. CSU always seemed like the dream goal, and I am fortunate to have been given the opportunity to teach here.
What value does a sport management degree bring individuals in the sport industry?
A sport management degree is very flexible. There are so many niche areas you can explore within the degree as you are given the opportunity to fine tune the degree into what you are interested in. However, factors like leadership, creativity, networking, and atmospheric elements are skills that students must also understand before working in sport – all areas that a sport management degree teaches you in unique and challenging ways. Although sport can be found in topics like exercise science, communication/journalism, sociology, education, and business, I encourage someone interested in the field to study it through a lens of sport management to understand sport in its fullest capacity.
The Colorado Rockies Sport Management Institute at CSU fosters the next generation of sport management professionals. CSU’s Sport Management Program, housed in the College of Liberal Arts, empowers you to gain the skills, perspective, and experience you’ll need to shape the future of sport. Learn more about the program at smi.colostate.edu.
