For senior international student Marko Minic, a Marketing major from Serbia, (basket)ball is life! He came to the United States in 2016 to pursue an education in business and to continue playing the sport he loves.
“It’s business-oriented in America, and I felt that I could prosper here with an education in some sort of business, but I didn’t know what I wanted to study specifically,” he says. “I came to the conclusion that marketing was a good fit for me because I enjoy communicating and interacting with new people. I don’t just want to do the behind the scenes work; I want to be in the field of action.”
Marko decided to look into the Sports Communication and Media minor, which was brand new at the time, to combine his passion for sports and his knowledge in marketing. Dr. John Giannini, founding director of Rowan University’s Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact, was a mentor of sorts to Marko throughout his first year in the program, guiding him to find his niche in the industry.
“I got to know Dr. Giannini through my involvement in the Sports Communication Club, and he introduced me to an organization called Hoop Group. We decided it would be a great fit for an internship for me because of my interests. He connected me to the group and encouraged me to reach out for an opportunity he knew of, and the rest is history.”
This past summer, Marko accepted an offer as a marketing intern for Hoop Group, a renowned basketball training camp located in Pennsylvania. He spent his days capturing all that Hoop Group has to offer through its prestigious programs — photographing training sessions, managing the company social media accounts and staying in touch with camp alumni. He conducted player interviews each week for spotlights on the company blog, dabbled in Lightroom and Photoshop and weighed in on web design decisions.
But for Marko, the best part of the internship was the hands-on involvement with both basketball and marketing. “Being able to watch the games and be part of the action in an environment that I’ve grown up around, and being able to provide valuable materials to the company was the most rewarding part for me,” he says. “I learned a lot about editing and content design and had a nice mixture of both behind-the-scenes work in the office and being out in the action, photographing players and getting to know people. To see things from the other perspective, being on the production side of things, was pretty cool for me, since I had never thought about the detailed work that goes into events like this.”
As Marko enters his senior year, his schedule is brimming with a combination of academic and athletic commitments: “Nowadays, I have less time to dedicate solely to sports, so luckily Rowan has so many options to still play on club or intramural teams while balancing everything else in life.”
The “everything else in life” just happens to consist of more great opportunities for Marko, such as an internship this semester with the Rowan Recreation Center and with Rowan Athletics next semester!
“I’ve learned that my professors are really here to support my career. That small positive word of mouth really put me on top and helped me stand out among the rest of the applicants [for Hoop Group],” he reflects. “Everything I’m doing is pretty exciting and rewarding right now, so I’m looking forward to the future.”
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Story and photography by:
Nicole Cier, senior writing arts major