Trine's Gordon selected for NCAA forum

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has selected Trine University's Ryleigh Gordon for participation in the Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis.

Gordon, a native of Okemos, Michigan, was one of two student-athletes from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association selected for participation in the forum. Gordon is a sport management major who is a member of the women's golf team at Trine. As a junior, Gordon competed as a member of the top group of Thunder golfers throughout the year, helping the team to a fourth-place finish in the MIAA. Gordon set a new career-best mark in average score per round this season.

The NCAA is inviting more than 200 student-athletes and NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients with an interest in working within the sports industry to the Career in Sports Forum. A committee within the NCAA membership selected the participants.

"Supporting NCAA student-athlete leaders with their education is a key goal for the association," said Bernard Franklin, NCAA executive vice president of education and community engagement and chief inclusion officer. "Our Career in Sports Forum puts student-athletes and postgraduate scholarship recipients in a non-traditional academic setting where they can learn directly from successful leaders, which can have a positive impact on their future after graduation."

One of more than 20 annual programs and resources organized and directed by the NCAA leadership development department, the Career in Sports Forum provides college athletes with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with the primary focus on college athletics. The forum provides student-athletes interactive experiences with successful individuals in the sports business and a peek into their day-to-day duties and responsibilities.

Forum attendees will hear from keynote speakers and panelists, highlighted by LaChina Robinson, former women's basketball player at Georgia Tech and current TV analyst; Stevie Baker-Watson, director of athletics at DePauw University; and Craig McPhail, vice president of athletics and club sports at Lees-McRae College. The participants also learn best practices for gaining employment and gathering a better understanding of what future expectations will be once they get a job in sports at the Next Steps Fair, hosted in the NCAA Hall of Champions.

Search #LearnLead and follow the social conversation and events at the 2016 Career in Sports Forum, as well as all the leadership development programs in 2016.