The Sports Management Leadership Summit 2022 returned on April 5 as an on-campus event for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
“It’s a day of networking and enhancing your knowledge of sports,” said Antonia Ammendolia, 22, a postgraduate sports business management student at Humber College and a summit team leader.
The day started with case competitions at 9 a.m, followed by lunch for the participants at noon and later in the rest of the day panel discussions were organized where guest speakers were invited.
“As a part of the assignment, the third-year students of sports management participated in the case competition,” Ammendolia said.
Each participant received a raffle ticket where they had a chance of winning sports equipment, from bicycles to sports bags.
“The preliminary rounds were conducted the previous week in which six teams were selected for the final day,” she said.
“Jonathan Moore, a consultant at Sports Partnerships at Canadian Tire Corporation, joined us for the event and taught us about the increase in demand for sports brands in the country,” Ammendolia said.
“It is a great event for a beginner who is curious to know in-field and practical sports,” said Ned Djogo, a partnerships manager at Cosmos Sports, one of the event’s sponsors. “Along with being the speakers, I got to learn trending sports topics from these talented fellows who participated in the competition.”
Djogo interacted with students for more than the time allotted, as they got a deep dive into the topic.
“The country is waiting for champions like them,” Djogo said.
Keynote speakers Jordan Gnat, the CEO of Playmaker Capital, and Luke Campanella, assistant vice president of Betstamp, were the stars of the event.
“Participants were amazed by their entries as we announced the names,” Ammendolia said.
Gnat explored the subject of how managing a sport is different from the corporate world and how far one can reach to achieve the goals.
“Gnat fired our minds with the imagination of how fast and where we can reach in sports,” said Andrew Anthony, 22, a participant in the case competition.
“You’ll need to think beyond the boundaries in this field,” Gnat said. “We all are from those extraordinary ones who thought of setting their careers out of the world.”