Barksdale attends NCAA Career in Sports Forum

Breaira Barksdale had an opportunity to talk with NCAA President Mark Emmert, above.

Tusculum College women’s basketball student-athlete Breaira Barksdale attended the recent NCAA Career in Sports Forum, which was held June 8-11 in Indianapolis.

Barksdale was among nearly 300 student-athletes from Divisions I, II and III at the forum, which focused on assisting student-athletes with making a successful transition from competition to their future professions in intercollegiate athletics.

“It was a very humbling experience. I got the chance to meet and work with other student-athletes who are trying to get in the business. It’s a very competitive field,” said the native of Baltimore, Maryland. “My goal was to go in as open-minded as possible. I was expecting a lot, and got more than a lot out of it, whether it was learning an elevator speech or how to shake hands properly. The forum went into so much detail on how to get an extra edge. There was constant networking and connecting with all different types of people.”

The student-athletes who were selected for the Career in Sports Forum were chosen by a committee made up of administrators from member institutions, conference offices and affiliate member organizations. Also included were the 2013-14 Ethnic Minority & Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship recipients. Barksdale was the lone representative from the South Atlantic Conference at the forum, and is the first Tusculum student-athlete to attend the event.

“I would definitely encourage other student-athletes to apply next year. I have a lot to share about the forum and the NCAA, and what it takes to be successful in the business,” said Barksdale, who was able to meet and speak with NCAA President Mark Emmert during the forum. “The chance to mingle with people from all across the country was one of the best experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to meet people just like me, with ambition and hunger, and it allowed me to size myself up to see where I stand.”

Barksdale was a member of the women’s basketball team at Tusculum during the 2012-13 season, and was a second-team All-SAC honoree after averaging 10.6 points and a league-best 4.2 assists per game last season for the Pioneers. She also recorded a team-high 59 steals and led the Pioneers in field goals with 117 as Tusculum finished 16-13 overall and 8-10 in the SAC, advancing to the conference championship game for the fifth time in six years.

“I would love to coach or be an athletic administrator, and I was able to get direction on which people at the forum I should connect with,” Barksdale noted. “It was an opportunity to gain more knowledge of what path I’m supposed to take. Everyone there wanted to be a sponge and learn as much as they could.”

The annual Career in Sports Forum brings career leaders together to discuss their professional career paths and to enlighten student-athletes on career choices and future decisions they will need to consider.  Barksdale believes that this and other similar events sponsored by the NCAA are the true reflection of the organization.

“The NCAA gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but events like this are truly what the NCAA is all about,” she observed. “Their goal is to ensure the success of student-athletes by giving them the best resources possible. The most important message we received is that we are the future of college athletics.”