In October of 2024, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana joined forces with Indiana Sports Corp and Big Ten to kick off a series of programming known as Careers in Sports. Careers in Sports aims to educate Littles in the BBBSCI program on the various careers in sports outside of becoming a professional athlete.
The initial Careers in Sports session allowed a group of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana Bigs and Littles to learn all about the media, press, and sports broadcasting prior to a Big Ten Championship football game. Littles gained a true hands-on experience as they were able to field questions at a press table inside of Lucas Oil Stadium, tour the CBS broadcast truck where all the magic happens, visit the press box – the highest seat in the house, and test out the pyrotechnics. They also gained valuable insight from speaking to the lead Athletic Trainer from St. Vincent.
Following these once-in-a-lifetime experiences, our Littles wrapped up the afternoon with a luncheon featuring Tony Petitti, Big Ten Commissioner, and Anthony Calhoun, WISH-TV Sports Anchor. They of course got to snap some photos with these two, capturing a day spent diving deeper into the professional world of sports! Not only that, but our matches were also gifted tickets to the Penn State versus Oregon Big Ten Championship football game so that they could see the media, press, and broadcasting in action on game day.
For the final Careers in Sports session in March, our Bigs and Littles learned all about the marketing, community engagement, broadcasting, and business that takes place when it comes to professional basketball. In preparation for the Big Ten Basketball games, matches started their day off at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for breakfast. Here, they had the opportunity to hear from Andy Katz, Digital Reporter, Analyst, and Host for NCAA. Katz shared valuable insight on his work as a key figure in NCAA tournament coverage – analyzing bracket predictions, sharing team performances, and providing behind-the-scenes content. Our Littles were also able to ask Katz questions about his career journey and day-to-day work. Following this excitement, our Bigs and Littles were given tickets to Big Ten Men’s basketball game that took place that same day!
We are incredibly grateful for our partnership with Indiana Sports Corp and Big Ten for allowing our matches to have such special, once-in-a-lifetime experiences! More importantly, we are so excited about the valuable information our Littles who are considering professional careers in the sports world are gaining from the Careers in Sports series.
