More than 25 employers recruited student-athletes at the first Athletics Co-op Fair, highlighting the life skills derived from a devotion to sports.
Abigail Hassman’s view was affirmed as she made her way through the crowded room: Time and again she heard of how highly Northeastern University student-athletes are valued by employers.
“A lot of people that I talked to said, ‘We’re on the lookout for athletes — we understand the commitment that it takes to be an athlete and how that is really valued in the workplace,’” said Hassman, a champion cross-country runner at Northeastern. “So that was nice to hear.”
Hassman was among those attending the first Athletics Co-op Fair, a Jan. 14 event at Cabot Physical Education Center connecting more than 25 employers to as many as 450 student-athletes representing 18 Northeastern teams.
Hassman said the ideal for student-athletes at Northeastern is to balance devotion to their sport with academic pursuits that will help fulfill long-term career goals. She has doubled down on that pursuit as president of Northeastern’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Employers recognize that sense of balance among Northeastern student-athletes, Hassman added.
“Our coaches, as early as the recruiting process, highlight that they’re going to put school first and work around our schedules to create the best opportunity to fit in both the best we can,” said Hassman, a three-time Coastal Athletic Conference cross-country champion who will graduate this spring in health science and psychology. “They definitely have done that throughout my time here, whether I was in classes or on co-op. We always had a schedule that made it all fit in and work.”
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Those skills of time management and discipline make Northeastern student-athletes desirable for employers, said Don Worden, who co-founded Pro Sports Therapy in 1999 after serving as a physical therapist and assistant athletic trainer for the Boston Bruins.
“They are absolutely driven,” Worden said of the Huskies he met at the co-op fair. “To be a student-athlete at this level you have to be able to juggle your sport and your academics — and that carries forward into the rest of their lives. Their time management skills are excellent and they are highly motivated people.”
Ed Lacerte, the legendary athletic trainer of the Boston Celtics as well as the 1992 Olympic men’s basketball Dream Team, said co-ops provide an additional advantage to Northeastern student-athletes.
“We’ve always had co-op students from Northeastern for the last 25 years that we’ve had a private practice,” said Lacerte, who co-founded Pro Sports Therapy with Worden. “Co-op can help you find what you want to do. It can help you find what you don’t want to do as well.”
Graduate student Savion Thompson, a hurdler, long-jumper and triple-jumper at Northeastern, attended the job fair to explore opportunities in public health.
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“It’s something that’s super important to me to impact communities — especially disadvantaged populations,” said Thompson, who attended high school in Reidsville, North Carolina. “I’m from a rural town and something I’ve started to learn in class is that your ZIP code can be as important as anything else.”
Thompson said Northeastern has helped him pursue his love for track alongside his professional dream of helping people in need.
“It was about how the [track] team worked together and how the university could set me up for success after I graduated,” Thompson said of his decision to enroll. “I came here and have loved it ever since.”
Martin O’Reilly, co-founder and chief executive officer of Output Sports, was recruiting at Northeastern to help drive the expansion of his business from Ireland to Boston.
“A lot of our staff, both in Ireland and here, are former student-athletes,” said O’Reilly, whose company produces wearable sensors to help manage strength, power and movement. “So many of the skills you learn as an athlete transfer to being effective in the workplace as well.
“Scheduling and planning is a basic — but then also having the attitude to constantly develop and get to the next stage of your career, managing different types of team personalities, liaising with customers and — because we’re in sports technology — understanding what’s important to the athletes and the coaches. So for us they’ve learned a great set of skills through sport that they can transfer to business.”