¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ

Sterling Nabours, a junior sports marketing and data analytics student in ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ’s Sports Industry Program is gaining international experience with St Johnstone FC, a professional football club in Scotland’s Championship division.

As reported by The Courier, one of the United Kingdom’s largest regional newspapers, Nabours is contributing to the club’s recruitment and opponent analysis efforts through ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ’s sports analytics program.

“There is a really high-end sports analytics program in the States that we are quite close with,” said club owner Adam Webb. “They are contributing a full-time, dedicated intern for our club, doing a lot of analysis on potential players and recruitment, as well as upcoming opponents.”

Webb praised Nabour’s contributions. “He’s a really smart kid, up and coming,” he said. “He will be coming over to Scotland this summer to meet the players in person.”

“My work with St. Johnstone has been great so far,” said Nabours. “Dr. White made the connection for me, and he has advised me throughout all that I’ve done, so I’m very thankful for the Sports Industry Program for this opportunity. At St. Johnstone, I work with the manager and his coaching staff, as well as the director of football on a daily basis. Recently, I got to go visit the club, and get to be a part of meetings, training, and matches on the ground in Perth! It’s been a dream come true for me, and I hope to be even more involved with the club going forward.”

Darin White, founder of the Sports Industry Program housed in ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ’s Brock School of Business, said the sports business and analytics track places students in hands-on roles. In this case, the Scottish soccer club has extended the student’s involvement into a yearlong sports residency.

The sports residency is a defining feature of Brock School of Business’ Fast Track in Sports Business MBA program. The residency model allows students to work full time with a professional sports organization while completing their course work.

“¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ has an incredible facility,” Webb said. “It’s pretty ‘space-age’ and one of the best sports analytics programs in our country.”

This international partnership highlights ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ’s reputation for preparing students for real-world success, having ranked No. 8 in the nation for career preparation by The Wall Street Journal in 2024.

“We can benefit from people who are training to be the best,” Webb said. “Hopefully we can be part of that training and make them excellent by helping them improve a club such as ours.”