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Adidas Partners in Sports

by Buck Jones, program director

Creating Opportunities for Tomorrow's
Sports Leaders


Recipients of Partners in Sports scholarships for 2005 were recognized and presented with certificates at an awards ceremony this spring. Pictured, left to right, are Chip Kain, Meghan Hill, Buck Jones (then program director), and Steven Short.

On April 30, 1998, adidas Partners in Sports was created to improve and enhance the educational experiences afforded students in the sport management program at the University of Tennessee. The financial support of adidas was invaluable in this process and is believed to be the only arrangement in existence in which a collegiate athletics sponsor is directly involved in sponsorship of an academic program as well.

Partners in Sports encourages the development of leaders for the growing sports industry throughout the world and attempts to elevate the status of the sport management program at UT. Partners in Sports particularly focuses on the encouragement of "real-world" experiences and professional development of students, and funds are needed to support these goals.

Funds are generated in a variety of ways, including the following:

  1. Annual support in dollars and products from adidas
  2. Annual donation from Pilot Travel Centers
  3. Annual student memberships
  4. Fund-raising projects such as the golf tournament, fall conference, marketing projects, etc.
  5. Alumni gifts

Funds can only be used in a manner that will benefit students. Following are some of the things that have been done for students:

  1. The Partners in Resource Center was created and officially opened on December 1, 1999.
  2. Partners in Sports Scholarships were awarded for the first time in 2000, and the number and amount of the awards has increased each year
  3. Students have been provided travel support to attend professional meetings, and funds have been provided to bring guests to campus.
  4. Group and individual subscriptions are provided to various Web sites for class and job-hunting use.
  5. Materials, supplies, and equipment are provided for preparing résumés, reports, etc.


All funds are used to better prepare students at the University of Tennessee to compete in the highly competitive sports job market upon graduation.

Several groups are directly involved in supporting the program, including the following:

Student Partners—Current students support the program by enrolling as “student partners” and becoming active with a variety of activities designed to help their professional development. Recent activities have included selling


New program director Jim BeMiller (center) poses with two alumni of the Sport Management Program, Lawrence Johnson (Olympic Silver, ’00), left, and Tim Mack (Gold, ’04).

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of Adidas Partners in Sport

 

Contact CEHHS

335 Claxton Complex
1122 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996

Phone: 865-974-2201
Fax: 865-974-8718