Dr. Mónica Lebrón was part of Ohio University’s graduating class of 2003, earning a MS/MBA in Sports Administration. Dr. Lebrón has since built an extensive career in college athletics, currently holding the position of deputy athletics director of championship resources, as part of the executive leadership team at the University of Tennessee.
Why did you choose to take up a postgraduate degree in sports management?
My love for sports began at birth, but my love for athletics administration began with my work study job at Yale University. I was on financial aid at Yale, so in addition to going to school and playing softball I also had to work an on-campus job. My head coach asked me if I wanted to work for the administrative assistant of the AD. I said, “Sure, I don’t know what an AD does, but sign me up.” Three months later, I sat Mr. Beckett, our Director of Athletics (AD), down and asked, “How do I become you?” As I continued to work throughout my four-year playing career at Yale, I was encouraged to pursue a Sport Administration degree upon graduation. The more I explored it, the more I realised it was a perfect next step for me.
What was decisive in selecting the programme at Ohio University as your chosen course?
To determine which graduate school was the next best step for me, I asked anyone and everyone which Sport Administration graduate programmes were the best. The Ohio University Sport Administration programme was ranked #1, at the time, but it was also anecdotally one of the programmes that continued to be mentioned due in large part to the strong alumni. I knew I not only wanted to learn from those alums, but I also wanted to be one. In addition, I appreciated the dual degree aspect of the programme requiring students to earn an MBA prior to earning the Sport Administration degree which I knew would open more doors. Lastly, I was excited to explore a different region of the country, having grown up in San Jose, CA, and attending college in the northeast.
How has your time on the course influenced your career path in college sports?
There is no question that the most valuable asset to earning a degree from the Ohio University Sport Administration programme is the opportunity to forge meaningful and lasting relationships, not only with the classmates that attend with you, but the hundreds and thousands of alumni that earn the same degree. I have been calling on those classmates and other alumni since I graduated 20 years ago for any number of reasons from sharing industry best practices to recruiting top talent. I was even hired at the University of Tennessee by a friend I made 20 years ago, through the programme, in Danny White SAFM ’05. My experiences through the Ohio University Sport Administration programme have helped me almost every day of my career.
Are there any experiences from your time on the course that stand out as being particularly memorable/influential?
Experiential learning is such an invaluable tool and I continue to be most proud of the partnerships forged by the Ohio University Sport Administration programme for the purpose of providing hands-on learning for past, present, and future OU Sport Administration students. My classmates and I had those opportunities to travel the roads and work various sporting events and the opportunities for the students of today continue to grow exponentially.
How often do you utilise what you learned on the course within your current role? Can you provide some examples?
I believe the most valuable skill you can acquire from any level of education is the ability to think critically. Whether it be K-12, when you are establishing the notion of critical thinking, college, when you are sharpening those skills, or graduate school, when you are mastering them, critical thinking is the tool used most in one’s career and in life. I feel blessed to have crossed paths with some of the smartest sports minds an institution can attract through the Ohio University Sport Administration programme as they challenged me, and therefore pushed me as a critical thinker, to my utmost potential.
What would be your advice to new students starting out on the same course at Ohio this year?
My advice to current and future students is to nurture all relationships, both with peers and alumni. It is through those relationships that we continue to learn, grow, and lean on as we advance throughout our careers.
This article is part of the 2022 SportBusiness Postgraduate Rankings. To browse the entire report and view the overall tables, click here.