Tobi Joshuasville, a rising senior year Sport Management major, was recently selected to participate in the upcoming 2020 NCAA Annual Career in Sports Forum. The forum will be held virtually May 27-29th.

Tobi was one of 400 students to be accepted from around the country to attend and learn more about careers in the sports industry from athletics administrators and sports industry experts.

"What I am looking forward to during this event is to learn how to strengthen my weaknesses and utilize my strengths," said Tobi. "I will also be learning how to develop the skills to become a leader. This event will give me a deep insight on the many careers that are available in the NCAA."

– Tobi Joshuaville, Sport Management major

This is a program to help develop future athletic career-minded individuals," said Christine Hagedorn, Assistant Professor and Head of the Business Department. "We had nominated Tobi for this program last fall and we were thrilled when Tobi was selected as part of a very elite group to attend the NCAA National Convention, all expenses paid.

The three-day forum prepares junior and senior student-athletes for a career after graduation. The forum helps student-athletes learn more about themselves as leaders by exposing them to projects that require critical thinking as well as practical experiences that will strengthen their personal and professional skills and competencies. Students gain a deeper understanding of roles within the athletics industry and how their personal and professional interests align with potential career paths.

In January, Tobi was flown to California to attend the NCAA National Convention with the country’s college and university presidents, ADs, and head coaches. He was assigned a mentor and had four days of career development. The second part of the program was to be the career forum in Indianapolis, which was moved online due to the pandemic.

Tobi has overcome many challenges, and the obstacles he has faced continue to push him forward to reach his goals. He was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States when he was a young child, with no father figure in his life. Tobi lived in a foster home for a couple of years with one of his younger brothers until he was five years old. He was able to live with his mother a few years later, and his mother soon remarried a man who loved Tobi and his brother as if they were his own children. Tragically, after just one year of being married to his mother, Tobi’s stepfather was killed in car accident.

"I grew up not knowing what I wanted to do in life," he said. "I always played sports because that was my safe zone."

Tobi, who is also a member of the Rosemont men’s basketball team, is supporting himself through college while helping his mother and family and dreams of becoming an athletic director.

Careers for Sport Management Majors

For Tobi, this program is a perfect alignment for his career goals. Forum speakers include directors of athletics, representatives from athletics academic services, athletic conference offices, head coaches, and officials in business and professional sports.

"As a sport management major, my career goal is to become an Athletic Director," he said. "I always grew up playing and watching sports. I feel as if it’s my calling to be an Athletic Director because everything they do is very interesting to me from budgeting every sport to making sure all the athletes and coaches are happy and satisfied."

Tobi is already well on his way to accomplishing his goal. Tobi has completed two internships so far, one at Rosemont and one at Villanova.

"The job is not easy, and I like that type of challenge to be able to take care of multiple things at once," he said.

Becoming an athletic director is about more than sports to Tobi.

"Sports is my way to connect with people, and I want to use sports to help young adults find their calling in life," he said. "Many students only know the sport that they play and when they no longer are able to play that sport they do not know what their next step is, so I want to guide them and help them figure out what that next step is so they can have a successful career."

He wants other students to know that obstacles should not stand in the way of achieving their goals.

"The challenges that I have faced shouldn’t bring me down but should help me reach my goals," he said. "When I met Professor Hagedorn, she helped me so much. I have had many obstacles in my life. I want young adults to know that obstacles are meant to be broken. It is how you overcome the obstacle that makes you great and successful. If I am able to get that message across to all young adults that I connect with, then I will have done my job.