Athletics + Internships + Double Major = One Promising Future
As we countdown to Commencement, we’re spotlighting Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ’s outstanding 2024 graduates. Learn more about Percy Sibanda ’24, Tiago Frazao ’24, Celia Mastromattei ’24, Madison Durfee ’24, , Noah Macallister ’24, Carissa Szabo '24, and .
Some students enter college unsure of the path they want to pursue for their studies and future careers.
Not Taylor Yates ’24.
Before even graduating high school, Yates had already set his sights on a career in sport management.
“During my junior year of high school, I took a sports promotion and marketing class, and I loved it,” Yates said. “That became my focus, and that’s all that I thought I would study during college.”
But it was after taking a college-level accounting course during his senior year that his plans began to take shape.
“I enjoyed accounting,” Yates explained. “I started looking into a double major and how it would benefit me in the future. Sports is a really hard industry to get into. I thought having an accounting degree in addition to my sport management degree would help me stand out.”
However, during his college search, Yates found that Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ was one of the few schools that could accommodate his dream of a double major.
“Not all colleges allow it because in some programs the degrees are in different schools—the sport management degree is in the sports science school, while the accounting degree is in the business school,” he explained. “When I toured Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ, I was able to speak directly with Dean Torrance [Aileen Torrance, Associate Dean of the Curtis L. Gerrish School of Business], and she said, ‘Yes, you definitely can do that here.’”
But it’s not just in the classroom where Yates has laid the foundation for his future professional life in the sports industry. In high school, he was a multi-sport athlete, playing both baseball and basketball—talents he brought along with him to Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ.
After connecting with men’s basketball Head Coach Kevin Bettencourt, Yates landed himself a spot as one of the team’s managers. In this role, he oversaw set-up for practices, ran the shot clock, and was in charge of equipment when the team traveled for games.
Even though Yates was immersed in the basketball world, he still wasn’t quite ready to leave his time playing at center court behind.
“During winter break, there’s nobody at school besides the basketball teams, so I practiced with the team,” he said. “That led to conversations with the coaches about me trying out, and it came to fruition. My senior year is the first time I’ve played two sports.”
That’s right. In addition to earning a spot as the basketball team’s forward, Yates has also been a pitcher on the Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ baseball team for three years.
“It’s a lot of work to do all of it, but everyone in the Athletics Department has been so supportive and given me the flexibility when I need it,” he says.
Even with all of his athletic commitments, Yates has made sure to spend time away from the court and the field to broaden his Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ experience, starting with multiple internships—many with an eye toward sports, of course.
First up was a position at Adapt-X, a company that provides adaptive fitness training to individuals with disabilities. Next, he completed an internship with the sports podcast , hosted by Kelly Johnson, where his responsibilities ran the gamut from social media to planning interviews to securing guests for future shows.
“On the podcast, there are conversations with college and professional athletes about their daily grind, what their typical day is like, and how they get through it all,” said Yates. “It was really interesting and mixed sports with business.”
He added: “I secured an interview with , a social media marketer for Snapback Sports, which has nearly one million followers on Snapchat. I was the person who brought up his name as an idea for a potential guest. I got to write the questions for our interview with him, which was pretty cool.”
Another internship at the YMCA of the North Shore gave Yates exposure to accounting, budgeting, and marketing. Rounding out his professional experience were two internships at Kittell Branagan & Sargent, an accounting firm in Yates’s hometown of St. Albans, Vt., which gave him the chance to put his accounting skills to work, helping clients with bookkeeping, taxes, and auditing.
It’s all been in pursuit of his ultimate professional goal: a top executive role in the sports world.
“My dream career is to work as a CFO of a sports-related organization, whether it’s a team or apparel company or some other aspect,” he said. “Being able to see how these organizations operate from a high level and to make decisions for them would be pretty cool.”
But to claim Yates’s passions are solely athletic would be a disservice to all he has accomplished during his four years at Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ.
His academic accolades are numerous: He’s a six-time honoree on the Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ Dean’s List, has twice been named to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Academic All-Conference Team, and is a member of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society, which recognizes the achievements of students studying business, management, and administration.
“I’m proud of my academic standing,” said Yates. “I’ve had straight A’s in the classroom while maintaining my double major.”
Oh, and one more thing: Since his sophomore year, he’s been balancing it all with his duties as a Resident Assistant for Winthrop, Gloucester, and Standish Halls—an experience he credits with helping him become involved on campus and making new connections.
While Yates may be earning his bachelor’s degree this spring, Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ hasn’t seen the last of him. In the fall, he’ll return to campus to begin pursuing his MBA.
And to those new Gulls who will be joining the Nest for the first time this fall? Yates has some advice.
“One of the best things you can do is go out and make connections,” he said. “Once you get involved in one thing, other opportunities open up, and before you know it, you get involved in everything. Those relationships will benefit you for your entire life.”