Kansas State University Athletics
SE: Haddock, Heinen Gain Professional Development Skills, Knowledge at Big 12 SAAC Career Tour
Dec 12, 2017 | Baseball, Soccer, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Lately, K-State soccer's Krista Haddock has been emailing back and forth with Rolando Blackman, the director of player development for the Dallas Mavericks, whose jersey hangs in the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum.
Brogan Heinen, a junior for K-State baseball, has started thinking about his future in a whole new light.
A recent trip to Dallas, Texas, spurred both Wildcats to change how they approached their professional journeys. Haddock and Heinen attended the first annual Big 12 SAAC Career Tour from November 30 to December 3, in Dallas.
While there, K-State's two Big 12 SAAC representatives joined reps from every school in the conference for a weekend filled with professional development and networking. It ended with them watching the Big 12 Championship from a suite in AT&T Stadium.
The experience was certainly more than they expected going in.
"It turned out to be something way bigger," Heinen, an organizational management major, said. "Overall, this opened my eyes to what a student-athlete needs to do to get prepared for the career world."
The first step: Network. There were ample opportunities to network while in Dallas, and learn how to do so more effectively.
The 22 SAAC reps from across the Big 12 had breakfast with Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and many other conference staff members. Later, they met with Ron Kirk, a lawyer and former mayor of Dallas, and Jennifer Sampson, CEO and president of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.
Then there was a networking lunch and panel discussion with five highly-regarded professionals in various fields. These included Dave Brown, COO and general manager of the American Airlines Center; Robert Cisneros, senior manager at Dr. Pepper/Snapple; Deslyn Norris, vice president of human resources at Topgolf; Amy Stewart, trial attorney at Stewart Bradbury, PLLC; and Keisha Taylor, senior vice president at Learfield Sports.
To Haddock's surprise, she said each individual talked less about his or her actual job and more about the "ideas behind how to be a successful human being."
"A lot of their emphasis was on the fact that there's one no right path to success, which I think a lot of student-athletes are looking for," she said. "As Bob Bowlsby specifically said at the very beginning, 'I know you all want to know, but there is no single path to becoming commissioner of the Big 12.'"
Other topics covered included resume building and how student-athletes could better market themselves in the job market. The latter definitely hit home with both Wildcats.
"The fact that I'm an athlete has given me personality traits and drive that employers will value over a high GPA," Haddock, who earned First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors this fall, said she learned. "A lot of student-athletes don't have that GPA and academic accomplishments, but we have faced a lot of adversity and we lose on a frequent basis and we know how to come back from those things. To have that reinforced by these people was huge."
"They talked about using the qualities that we have as student-athletes — the time that we put in every week, the dedication and the perseverance," Heinen, a Second Team Academic All-Big 12 honoree this spring, added. "They talked about how, 'You're student-athletes, so let it be known and be proud.'"
Blackman closed the first day with a speech to the SAAC group, which reinforced the theme of the weekend.
"The big thing he said like 30 times was relationships, relationships, relationships," Heinen said. "So, obviously, connections with people is going to get you to where you want to be."
Haddock took it to heart immediately, and set out to introduce herself to Blackman after the former Wildcat's speech. She wanted to see if he was aware of K-State Athletics' Cats Across Continents program, which sends Wildcats to underdeveloped communities throughout the world to build basketball courts. In May, a group of Wildcats will go to the Dominican Republic.
"He didn't know that we were doing that, and it immediately sparked so much interest. So I've been emailing him contact information because he just wants to know everything about that," said Haddock, studying political science with a focus in pre-law to go along with minors in philosophy and journalism.
Heinen bought in as well. At a pre-game brunch before the Big 12 Championship between Oklahoma and TCU, he turned a simple conversation into a potential internship next summer.
"Every single person we talked to this weekend was telling us to make connections and to talk to people any way that you can. Making connections is the biggest takeaway from this weekend," he said. "It's unreal the amount of times that they've been able to make connections with people, and it spreads rapidly."
Events like this, Haddock said, show the Big 12's increased commitment to its member schools' SAAC groups and, in turn, the value it places in all student-athletes.
"Bob Bowlsby, along with everybody else at the conference office, has been taking really big steps to invest more in the student-athletes and pay more attention to how we feel about things. One of the most direct ways they can do that is by helping develop and invest in our campus SAACs, and creating more of an actual organized Big 12 SAAC that comes together and meets," Haddock said. "The fact that they're building up toward that is really awesome."
"It shows that they care about our student life a lot. I really appreciate that," Heinen added. "Obviously not everybody's on SAAC, but what we brought back we can spread to our fellow SAAC members who can then spread it to other people."
Lately, K-State soccer's Krista Haddock has been emailing back and forth with Rolando Blackman, the director of player development for the Dallas Mavericks, whose jersey hangs in the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum.
Brogan Heinen, a junior for K-State baseball, has started thinking about his future in a whole new light.
A recent trip to Dallas, Texas, spurred both Wildcats to change how they approached their professional journeys. Haddock and Heinen attended the first annual Big 12 SAAC Career Tour from November 30 to December 3, in Dallas.
While there, K-State's two Big 12 SAAC representatives joined reps from every school in the conference for a weekend filled with professional development and networking. It ended with them watching the Big 12 Championship from a suite in AT&T Stadium.
The experience was certainly more than they expected going in.
"It turned out to be something way bigger," Heinen, an organizational management major, said. "Overall, this opened my eyes to what a student-athlete needs to do to get prepared for the career world."
The first step: Network. There were ample opportunities to network while in Dallas, and learn how to do so more effectively.
The 22 SAAC reps from across the Big 12 had breakfast with Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and many other conference staff members. Later, they met with Ron Kirk, a lawyer and former mayor of Dallas, and Jennifer Sampson, CEO and president of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.
Then there was a networking lunch and panel discussion with five highly-regarded professionals in various fields. These included Dave Brown, COO and general manager of the American Airlines Center; Robert Cisneros, senior manager at Dr. Pepper/Snapple; Deslyn Norris, vice president of human resources at Topgolf; Amy Stewart, trial attorney at Stewart Bradbury, PLLC; and Keisha Taylor, senior vice president at Learfield Sports.
To Haddock's surprise, she said each individual talked less about his or her actual job and more about the "ideas behind how to be a successful human being."
"A lot of their emphasis was on the fact that there's one no right path to success, which I think a lot of student-athletes are looking for," she said. "As Bob Bowlsby specifically said at the very beginning, 'I know you all want to know, but there is no single path to becoming commissioner of the Big 12.'"
Other topics covered included resume building and how student-athletes could better market themselves in the job market. The latter definitely hit home with both Wildcats.
"The fact that I'm an athlete has given me personality traits and drive that employers will value over a high GPA," Haddock, who earned First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors this fall, said she learned. "A lot of student-athletes don't have that GPA and academic accomplishments, but we have faced a lot of adversity and we lose on a frequent basis and we know how to come back from those things. To have that reinforced by these people was huge."
"They talked about using the qualities that we have as student-athletes — the time that we put in every week, the dedication and the perseverance," Heinen, a Second Team Academic All-Big 12 honoree this spring, added. "They talked about how, 'You're student-athletes, so let it be known and be proud.'"
Blackman closed the first day with a speech to the SAAC group, which reinforced the theme of the weekend.
"The big thing he said like 30 times was relationships, relationships, relationships," Heinen said. "So, obviously, connections with people is going to get you to where you want to be."
Haddock took it to heart immediately, and set out to introduce herself to Blackman after the former Wildcat's speech. She wanted to see if he was aware of K-State Athletics' Cats Across Continents program, which sends Wildcats to underdeveloped communities throughout the world to build basketball courts. In May, a group of Wildcats will go to the Dominican Republic.
"He didn't know that we were doing that, and it immediately sparked so much interest. So I've been emailing him contact information because he just wants to know everything about that," said Haddock, studying political science with a focus in pre-law to go along with minors in philosophy and journalism.
Heinen bought in as well. At a pre-game brunch before the Big 12 Championship between Oklahoma and TCU, he turned a simple conversation into a potential internship next summer.
"Every single person we talked to this weekend was telling us to make connections and to talk to people any way that you can. Making connections is the biggest takeaway from this weekend," he said. "It's unreal the amount of times that they've been able to make connections with people, and it spreads rapidly."
Events like this, Haddock said, show the Big 12's increased commitment to its member schools' SAAC groups and, in turn, the value it places in all student-athletes.
"Bob Bowlsby, along with everybody else at the conference office, has been taking really big steps to invest more in the student-athletes and pay more attention to how we feel about things. One of the most direct ways they can do that is by helping develop and invest in our campus SAACs, and creating more of an actual organized Big 12 SAAC that comes together and meets," Haddock said. "The fact that they're building up toward that is really awesome."
"It shows that they care about our student life a lot. I really appreciate that," Heinen added. "Obviously not everybody's on SAAC, but what we brought back we can spread to our fellow SAAC members who can then spread it to other people."
Players Mentioned
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