Student Profile: Aiming For A Different Kind Of Sports Career

Sarah Williams has involved herself in athletics for most of her college career. But the Nichols College senior from Enfield, Conn., hasn’t filled the role of leading scorer or stalwart defender. Rather, she has focused on the operations and finances that keep college teams on the field, court, and ice.

A major in sport management and minor in accounting have provided Williams with the “sports equipment” with which she plans to score big after graduating Nichols next spring.
“I’m looking into doing something behind the scenes in sports,” she said. “I enjoy numbers, and I’m hoping to work for a firm that covers the financials for sports teams. But I’m definitely looking at college athletics as well.”

Along those lines, Williams recently completed an internship with the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the athletic league in which Nichols teams compete, and where she worked alongside the conference commissioner.

“People take their job seriously there, and do it really well,” Williams said. “I learned a lot about how to run a business in sports, and it opened doors to a lot of great people.”

It also helped that her job there involved compiling conference records and team statistics in over 20 categories since 1965. Working with those numbers provided valuable experience in data analytics, she said.
Williams calculated that her accounting background also will provide a career boost.
“In colleges, budgets need to be done in order to make the sports happen,” she said.

Her studies at Nichols College have offered her another advantage.

“You really get to know the faculty here, and they become mentors,” Williams pointed out. “Because of these relationships, I had the opportunity to attend the NCAA convention last year. And I’m going again this year.”

About Nichols College

Within a supportive community, Nichols College transforms today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders through a dynamic, career-focused business and professional education.

Media Contacts

Denise Kelley
Writer/Editor
denise.kelley@nichols.edu
508-213-2219