Our student from Elon University, Noah Zaret, continues to go back and break down some of the best episodes of the CUSP Show, the Columbia University Sports Podcast. This time we talk to three amazing Young women making a difference in the industry from various parts of the globe. Morgan Randolph gives us her experience as a woman in Australian Rules Football, Haley Price explains how Tata Consulting Services has embraced running as a way to grow their business, and the amazing Noor Abukaram shows u show we are never too young to embrace and drive cultural change through sport. If you havent seen the film about Noor, check out the preview here
Being Bold & The Australian Football League w/ Morgan Randolph
Morgan Randolph: Current student at Columbia University Sports Management program & former Communications Coordinator for the North Melbourne Football Club.
The Huddle: non-profit community arm of Australian Football Team (mixture of Soccer, American Football and Rugby)
Morgan was at The Huddle for six months and got to know the front office and communications department as time went on
Eventually switched to work for Australian Football League and became the Communications Coordinator for the North Melbourne Football Club
She says that most of the communications directors were men and she was one of few women in the workplace
Morgan says she went to every training session, practice match, and every game to learn the rules, culture, and history behind Australian Football
Morgan did not grow up with or knowing anything about Australian Football. When she approached the sport, the stories stood out to her and being surrounded by these athletes helped her connect with them on a personal level
Cross-cultural differences between sport in the US and Australia: access level to almost anything (captains, coaches, on-field access, etc.) and community minded as a whole
AFL is the most popular sport in Australia as Cricket and Rugby fall behind it and she says that Soccer and Basketball are followed and played as well
She says that being in charge of social media for North Melbourne was a big learning curve as she was basically thrown that role
Morgan says that she gained a lot of confidence working in a male dominant sport as a women
Covid forced Morgan to move back to the states as she was let off by the AFL
She says that because her team at North Melbourne was creative and innovative it allowed them to do some great story telling
Sports Sponsorship & Sustainability w/ Haley Price. Head of North America Sports Sponsorships at Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services: one of the world’s top IT Consulting & Technology Companies
Large presence in sport sponsorships, specifically NYC Marathon
15 properties worldwide, other properties they deal with outside of Formula E: Dutch Open, TCS Nakajima Racing in Japan, TCS Amsterdam Marathon, TCS London Marathon
“You cant manage what you cant measure” – EX: Participant Travel to and from events (driven by event) – being able to measure the impact of environmental situations
TCS believes running has the power to change lives
Sustainability is more than green: Social and Economic
TCS has been diversifying their portfolio of events
Advice for young people: meet many people as possible, try to have one-on-one conversations over the phone or in person, and ask for help
Fighting Discrimination and Injustice in Sports w/ Noor Abukaram
After she ran one of the best runs of her life she was looking for her rankings to see her time but her name was not listed. Noor’s team members told her after she asked them that she was disqualified. Noor assumed it was the bracelet she was wearing because cross country has strict rules, but it was actually her hijab.
State senator in Ohio asked to meet her for coffee and talk but then later on Noor found out from her lawyer that there was a bill written up that prohibits discrimination in intersoclatic activities.
Noor’s story provided and shed light onto the discriminatory actions that are apparent in sports today
Activist by being the communicator to all communities and how it represents religious freedom.
Going forward Noor hopes to introduce this bill to other states that are having similar situations to herself
She shared how watching other athletes such as Alex Morgan help her stay passionate about fighting for what she believes is right – Religious freedom
