Christina Baker (third from left), a master’s student in sports management and policy, and her TeamUT colleagues arrive in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII.

COE grad student gets experience on sport's biggest stage: Super Bowl XLIII A kinesiology graduate student and her professor went to the Super Bowl XLIII earlier this month, but they didn’t have much time to see the game. In fact, seeing the game was never part of the plan. Cindy Rhoten, MA, '09 | Feb 23, 2009

Christina Baker, a master’s student in sports management and policy, and Billy Hawkins, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology, joined a group of University of Tennessee students and their professors in a program that allows them to get first-hand experience in marketing, security and quality control at activities before and during the nation’s largest sporting event.

The program, known as Team UT, has allowed sport management students to work behind the scenes at the last two Super Bowls – in Phoenix and Miami – learning how large-scale sporting events are planned and implemented.

This year, the group worked with organizers of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee, the NFL Experience, NFL Tailgate, the transportation organization and the sponsoring gala event.

“Of all the things we did, the best part was working with the kids at the NFL Clinic Fields,” Baker said. “Youth football coaches from the Tampa area and NFL players joined to teach children agility, passing, receiving and kicking skills. We helped with getting the kids ready and excited for the different activities. The highlight of the week for me was working with the children and seeing how much fun they were having at the event.”

The UGA student was invited to participate in Team UT after Hawkins discussed the possibility with the program’s founder and advisor, Fritz Polite, an assistant professor of sport management at UT. Baker was chosen from several potential UGA candidates.

While conducting their research, Team UT kept detailed blogs concerning their activities. A history of their preparation, travel and work in Tampa can be found on their blogs.

“We encountered some long days, but it was an exciting and worthy experience for us,” Hawkins said. “It’s an invaluable practical learning environment for sport management practitioners who are seeking to gain insight into what is involved in hosting a sporting event of this magnitude.”

To read the blogs from Team UT or for more information on the program, visit http://web.utk.edu/~ahardin8/TEAM_UT/Home.html

© 2006 University of Georgia