Will Hoogendyk IV, Campus Carrier sports editor
Berry’s motto, “not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” were words chosen by Martha Berry when the college was first founded to lay the foundation for the service-based culture that Berry is known for. This phrase inspires many programs and endeavors Berry offers, including a special selection of Academic Community Engagement (ACE) courses. There are currently around 30 classes that Berry offers with this designation, each one challenging students to reflect as they pursue opportunities to apply their academic knowledge in different community settings.
Director of Sport Leadership & Strategy (SLS), E. Kevin Renshler, currently teaches two ACE classes as a part of the SLS course curriculum. Marketing Strategies in Sport (SLS 456) and Sport Revenue Streams and Budgeting (SLS 457) are both classes that integrate community involvement as part of class projects and coursework. Renshler cited the importance of being involved with the community through a class and what skills students can glean from participating.
“First and foremost, [they can learn] how to understand the situation and the needs of the community partner,” Renshler said. “From there, identify any potential problems or opportunities that exist and then find a solution or some type of strategy that would address those needs and create value for that community partner.”
This fall, the marketing class is working on a project for Challenger Baseball in Rome. Challenger Baseball is a division of Little League Baseball that focuses on providing playing opportunities to kids and adults with physical and mental disabilities. In Rome, the Challenger Baseball league plays at Miracle Field, which is located adjacent to AdventHealth Stadium, home of the Rome Emperors.
The two teams, the Braves and Phillies play for an hour every Saturday for a month. This season, the marketing class is creating a video package for the two teams to help spread awareness about the program in the Floyd County area. Nicholas Angelakos, a junior in the class, went to Miracle Field multiple times during the season to help capture footage and film interviews of the players. Now that the season has finished, he and his classmates have been working on assembling all the videos for the finished product.
“The biggest thing we have been learning is editing both photos and videos,” Angelakos said. “Then on top of that how we can use what we edit to best express our message to our intended audience.”
Angelakos is part of a group of students in the class creating an ESPN-inspired segment with top plays from the season. Other projects of his classmates include promotional and hype videos and player introductions to show the players at the end of the year. Angelakos plays on the baseball team at Berry and loved watching the Challenger baseball players compete.
“As a baseball player, it was great to see them still get to enjoy the game even with whatever struggles they may go through,” Angelakos said.
Not only are the students applying valuable skills and tools that they will use in their future careers, but they also highlight a unique part of the Rome-Floyd community that has such a positive impact on the city. Renshler’s favorite part of working with Challenger Baseball is seeing how much the season means to those who volunteer, watch and play in their competitions.
“It’s awesome to see them because we live in a society right now that’s kind of tense and adversarial,” Renshler said. “There’s the stressors of performance and having to go to your job, and this is just one hour every week that is lighthearted, and people love to be part of the community and have fun and cherish everything that goes on.”
Renshler is currently the only professor for the SLS major and often helps students look for internships and jobs for during and after their time at Berry. Renshler enjoys doing projects for the local community because it shows students potential career interests that they may have never previously considered.
“When it comes to sport, students often have a familiarity with what happens in professional and collegiate sport,” Renshler said. “They don’t understand the opportunities that exist and the contributions that they can make for sport within their community.”
This is the second year that the SLS 456 curriculum has included working with the Challenger Baseball organization, and last year, they were recognized by the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Department for their outstanding contribution in the community. Last year, the class created baseball cards for each player that participated in the league and gave them to the players at the end of the season. Renshler values this as one of the most important things that the SLS students are doing for these athletes.
“The participants and Challenger Baseball sometimes don’t get the recognition or the acknowledgment that they deserve,” Renshler said. “So, we do things to give them something at the end of the season to commemorate all their efforts.”
Angelakos appreciates the unique opportunity to work with a community partner, and one of his favorite parts about the class is the way it applies what he is learning.
“The best thing I’d say is that we’re actually in the community and in the moment applying what we’re learning in class to outside activities,” Angelakos said. “Whereas the other classes are more preparing you to apply those strategies in the future.”