EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCE
6/8/2020 11:15:00 AM | General, Volleyball, Student-Athlete Center for Excellence
Volleyball Trio Introduced to Opportunities at NCAA Forum
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Emily Van Slate had a very narrow view of what an athletics department looks like and how many people it actually takes to run the ship at the NCAA Division I level.
"I had this perception that within an athletics department, there aren't that many jobs," said Van Slate, a rising junior libero and defensive specialist with the Baylor volleyball team. "I guess maybe I just thought it was simpler than it really is."
Along with volleyball teammates Marieke van der Mark and Shanel Bramschreiber, Van Slate got a far different picture from the virtual NCAA Career in Sports Forum that they were a part of last week.
Typically held at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, the three-day program was conducted online and included more than 300 student-athletes from across the nation and included representatives and speakers from NCAA Division I, II and III schools.
"As student-athletes, they get the experience of competing in their sport and seeing things from that side," said Cori Pinket, Baylor's Assistant AD for Character Formation and a presenter at the Career in Sports Forum, "but not everybody draws the connection that you can also work in a variety of different ways and still be connected to college athletics after you graduate."
As a pre-business major from Houston, Van Slate said "working in athletics was never really something that came to mind until now. This opened my eyes to the different opportunities in the athletics department."
Van der Mark knew she had an interest in staying involved with sports, probably in coaching, but the forum helped her see how many other options are actually out there.
"It really made me think about what I want to do next," said van der Mark, a rising junior from The Netherlands who had a breakout sophomore season that saw her average 1.86 blocks per set for a 29-2 team that won the Big 12 championship and advanced to the program's first Final Four. "I don't really have to do coaching just to stay involved, I can do something else with it as well."
Like the others, Bramschreiber "had no idea" about all the opportunities in collegiate athletics.
"I've always known that I wanted to be in the sports field," said Bramschreiber, a junior defensive specialist from Plano, Texas, who started in 30 of 31 matches last season and averaged 1.72 digs per set. "I didn't necessarily know which area, so it was really nice to see so many different aspects and getting to hear from people coming from so many different branches."
The list of presenters for the NCAA Forum included Director of Athletics Meg Stevens from Averitt University, Andrew Gavin from UW-Parkside, Amanda Braun from UW-Milwaukee and Dr. G. Anthony Grant from MIT, as well as coaches and administrators from all levels of the NCAA.
Pinkett was part of a presentation panel that included former Baylor academic advisor Liz Reyes, who is now the manager for alumni and community relations with the Cleveland Browns.
"The forum challenges the participants to think about their strengths and tools and things they do well outside of their sport," Pinkett said, "and how that can translate into the career you could have in the future."
In a self-examination exercise, Bramschreiber discovered that her No. 1 strength is being an achiever, "which it's crazy how accurately it lines up . . . and how you can see it in all areas of your life," she said.
Van Slate said her top five areas of strength were positivity, developer, belief, includer and restorative "which are all very similar."
Reading the description of belief, she saw that it was someone who "usually understands there's something greater than themselves. They're willing to work with people, work for people, and encourage. That was affirming for me, because I feel like that's a big part of my personality is just encouraging those around me."
It was no surprise that van der Mark's No. 1 strength was positivity. "That fits me to a tee," she said.
"I figured out that I need to focus more on my strengths and how I can use that to make other people better, instead of focusing on the things that I'm bad at," she said. "If I'm bad at it, yes, I need to make it better. But also, know that I'm really good at this, so I need to perfect my strengths, in a way."
In a session on "Finding Your Why," led by Ole Miss head women's basketball coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin, Bramschreiber said her takeaway was to "use the system, don't let it use you."
"That sounds bad, but we have so many resources available while we're here, so we need to try to get the most out of that," she said.
With the forum sparking an interest on the business side of the athletics department, Van Slate was excited when former Baylor volleyball All-American Katie Staiger Smith reached out to her. One of several former collegiate student-athletes working in the Baylor Athletics department, Staiger Smith is an associate director of business operations.
"She's kind of behind the scenes, working in the business department, and that's something I'm really interested in," Van Slate said. "I realized at the forum that that's where my heart is. The next step for me would be going through all the internal jobs in the athletics department and reaching out to those people at Baylor and asking them about their jobs – what they do, how they like it, what their day-to-day looks like. And then see if I'm interested."
Hearing how many times Baylor was used as an example of the way an organization should be run was just affirmation to van der Mark of how fortunate she is to be at Baylor.
"Just knowing that I have a really good step to get where I want to be," she said. "We are so lucky to have such amazing people helping us, getting where we want to be. No matter where we want to go, we can go to anyone in the athletics department, and they will help you."
Baylor Bear Insider
Emily Van Slate had a very narrow view of what an athletics department looks like and how many people it actually takes to run the ship at the NCAA Division I level.
"I had this perception that within an athletics department, there aren't that many jobs," said Van Slate, a rising junior libero and defensive specialist with the Baylor volleyball team. "I guess maybe I just thought it was simpler than it really is."
Along with volleyball teammates Marieke van der Mark and Shanel Bramschreiber, Van Slate got a far different picture from the virtual NCAA Career in Sports Forum that they were a part of last week.
Typically held at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, the three-day program was conducted online and included more than 300 student-athletes from across the nation and included representatives and speakers from NCAA Division I, II and III schools.
"As student-athletes, they get the experience of competing in their sport and seeing things from that side," said Cori Pinket, Baylor's Assistant AD for Character Formation and a presenter at the Career in Sports Forum, "but not everybody draws the connection that you can also work in a variety of different ways and still be connected to college athletics after you graduate."
As a pre-business major from Houston, Van Slate said "working in athletics was never really something that came to mind until now. This opened my eyes to the different opportunities in the athletics department."
Van der Mark knew she had an interest in staying involved with sports, probably in coaching, but the forum helped her see how many other options are actually out there.
"It really made me think about what I want to do next," said van der Mark, a rising junior from The Netherlands who had a breakout sophomore season that saw her average 1.86 blocks per set for a 29-2 team that won the Big 12 championship and advanced to the program's first Final Four. "I don't really have to do coaching just to stay involved, I can do something else with it as well."
Like the others, Bramschreiber "had no idea" about all the opportunities in collegiate athletics.
"I've always known that I wanted to be in the sports field," said Bramschreiber, a junior defensive specialist from Plano, Texas, who started in 30 of 31 matches last season and averaged 1.72 digs per set. "I didn't necessarily know which area, so it was really nice to see so many different aspects and getting to hear from people coming from so many different branches."
The list of presenters for the NCAA Forum included Director of Athletics Meg Stevens from Averitt University, Andrew Gavin from UW-Parkside, Amanda Braun from UW-Milwaukee and Dr. G. Anthony Grant from MIT, as well as coaches and administrators from all levels of the NCAA.
Pinkett was part of a presentation panel that included former Baylor academic advisor Liz Reyes, who is now the manager for alumni and community relations with the Cleveland Browns.
"The forum challenges the participants to think about their strengths and tools and things they do well outside of their sport," Pinkett said, "and how that can translate into the career you could have in the future."
In a self-examination exercise, Bramschreiber discovered that her No. 1 strength is being an achiever, "which it's crazy how accurately it lines up . . . and how you can see it in all areas of your life," she said.
Van Slate said her top five areas of strength were positivity, developer, belief, includer and restorative "which are all very similar."
Reading the description of belief, she saw that it was someone who "usually understands there's something greater than themselves. They're willing to work with people, work for people, and encourage. That was affirming for me, because I feel like that's a big part of my personality is just encouraging those around me."
It was no surprise that van der Mark's No. 1 strength was positivity. "That fits me to a tee," she said.
"I figured out that I need to focus more on my strengths and how I can use that to make other people better, instead of focusing on the things that I'm bad at," she said. "If I'm bad at it, yes, I need to make it better. But also, know that I'm really good at this, so I need to perfect my strengths, in a way."
In a session on "Finding Your Why," led by Ole Miss head women's basketball coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin, Bramschreiber said her takeaway was to "use the system, don't let it use you."
"That sounds bad, but we have so many resources available while we're here, so we need to try to get the most out of that," she said.
With the forum sparking an interest on the business side of the athletics department, Van Slate was excited when former Baylor volleyball All-American Katie Staiger Smith reached out to her. One of several former collegiate student-athletes working in the Baylor Athletics department, Staiger Smith is an associate director of business operations.
"She's kind of behind the scenes, working in the business department, and that's something I'm really interested in," Van Slate said. "I realized at the forum that that's where my heart is. The next step for me would be going through all the internal jobs in the athletics department and reaching out to those people at Baylor and asking them about their jobs – what they do, how they like it, what their day-to-day looks like. And then see if I'm interested."
Hearing how many times Baylor was used as an example of the way an organization should be run was just affirmation to van der Mark of how fortunate she is to be at Baylor.
"Just knowing that I have a really good step to get where I want to be," she said. "We are so lucky to have such amazing people helping us, getting where we want to be. No matter where we want to go, we can go to anyone in the athletics department, and they will help you."
Baylor Softball: Highlights vs Houston (Game 2) | April 3, 2026
Friday, April 03
Baylor Softball: Highlights vs Houston (Game 1) | April 2, 2026
Friday, April 03
Baylor Basketball (M): Postgame vs. Minnesota | April 1, 2026
Friday, April 03
Baylor Baseball: Highlights vs. BYU (Game 1) | April 2, 2026
Friday, April 03
