Ellen Foster, ’18: Rawlings Sport Business Management
Fernando Molina, ’18: Rawlings Sport Business Management

Fernando Molina, ’18, completed an internship through Maryville University working at the 2016 Senior PGA Championship in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

“That was the first of many amazing experiences that helped me grow as a professional,” says Molina, a recent graduate of Maryville’s Rawlings Sport Business Management program. “I also held an internship with the St. Louis Cardinals working in stadium operations, guest services, maintenance, security and lost and found. That experience was also invaluable.”

Adding to his impressive resume, Molina, a native of Guatemala, received a PGA Works Fellowship during his last semester. The entry-level employment program offers experience in all facets of the golf industry.

This summer, Molina will market one of the top annual tournaments in the sport during an extraordinary year—the 100th anniversary of the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.

That was the first of many amazing experiences that helped me grow as a professional. I also held an internship with the St. Louis Cardinals working in stadium operations, guest services, maintenance, security and lost and found. That experience was also invaluable.
– Fernando Molina

Jason Williams, EdD, assistant dean for the Simon School of Business and director of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program, says Molina’s experience is not uncommon. In fact, 92 percent of his graduates had secured a fulltime job in the industry within six months of graduation.

Another student who walked across the Commencement stage with a job waiting for her is Ellen Foster, ’18, a former Saints basketball and track star. Foster traces the idea of connecting her love of sports with a dream career to one particular class.

“Art Chou, one of the founders of Stadia Ventures—an incubator and investment firm for local sports startup companies—taught a class on sports entrepreneurs,” says Foster. “It was then I figured out I could get to do what I love long after I finished competing.”

Foster is working with Rapsodo, where she interned last spring. The company produces a technological device that combines a high-speed camera and state-of-the-art radar data to measure and analyze baseball and softball pitching and batting metrics. Rapsodo also produces a device that will simulate and analyze golf swings.

Foster works with all three products to help athletes and coaches improve pitches and measure their launch angle and velocity.

“Sports business is a highly competitive field, and our students are set up for success,” says Williams. “At least six of our grads are working now for the Cardinals organization. The list of organizations where our graduates are employed is a long one—including St. Louis Blues, San Diego Gulls, Kansas City Royals, Houston Rockets and University of Kentucky.”