By Jordan Zimmerman

The Sports and Society Initiative in collaboration with Arts and Sciences Career Success hosted a sports involvement fair on Sept. 9 in the Journalism Building that attracted more than 100 students. 

The fair showcased a variety of sports-related organizations at Ohio State including Scarlet and Grey Sports Radio, Block O, Ohio State Esports, and more. The event gathered a large turnout of students interested in working in the sports industry or participating in a sports-related club at Ohio State.

Nicole Kraft, director of the Sports and Society Initiative, kicked off the event with a speech as students gathered in the Journalism building. Ohio State students aspiring to get involved in sports were able to browse the tables of the 16 different clubs participating and were able to speak with leaders from each of the organizations to learn more about them.

Freshman Kourtney Abshire attended the event to seek out sports-related organizations to get involved with on campus. 

“I was really drawn to Empower Sports because I participated in something similar in high school and really enjoyed it so it was nice to see that I could continue doing that at Ohio State,” Abshire said. “As a sports fan it was really cool to be able to see all of the different ways that I could incorporate sports into my life through these different clubs”

One of the organizations present at the fair was the Sports and Society Initiative Student Club. President Daphne Chi spoke with potential members of the club in an effort to educate them more about the organization's goals. 

“The goal of the Sports and Society Initiative Student Club is to help those who are interested in a career in sports get their first foot in the door,” Chi said.

The Scarlet and Grey Sports Radio organization was also able to connect with students interested in sports broadcasting and Associated Press Sports Editors were able to speak with students striving for a career in sports writing. Students with a passion for sports and wanting to get started in the industry were able to get connected with a wide variety of organizations to help them get started through this event.

A major goal of this involvement fair was to allow students to network and meet professionals in the industry in order to help students gain experience in the sports field. 

“The sport industry is a space where networking is extremely important, so we try to expand our members' networks through our guest speakers who always welcome questions and one on one chats with our members afterwards,” Chi said.