By Joan Tupponce

Let’s hear it for the home team. As Virginia Commonwealth University’s acclaimed Center for Sport Leadership wraps up its 25th anniversary year, a record five of its newest graduates are accepting jobs in the Ram family – with VCU Athletics.

Annie Bartley is among them. The former Randolph-Macon College lacrosse player applied to the CSL’s yearlong master’s program after hearing high praise from its graduates, and she embraced its engaging curriculum, leadership studies – and the opportunity build connections.

“Everyone I know that had come out of CSL had gained a network of professionals,” said Bartley, who will now serve as assistant director of marketing and promotions at VCU Athletics.

For CSL Executive Director Carrie LeCrom, Ph.D., Bartley and her fellow Ram newcomers reflect homegrown talent that VCU and its director of athletics, Ed McLaughlin, are happy to recruit.

“Over the years, our students have earned incredible opportunities to begin their careers at very prestigious sport organizations. What’s cool is this year, some of our very best are staying right here at VCU,” said LeCrom, who noted that the earlier record mark for CSL grads staying on campus was three. “Ed and his team recognize that some of the rising stars in the sport industry are right in their backyard.” 

Founded in 1999 and modeled after the VCU's renowned Brandcenter, the CSL has achieved a placement rate above 90%. Graduates have found work in top-level ranks including the NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR.

“We focus on developing leaders in the field,” LeCrom said. “One of our alums is athletic director at N.C. State. Others have served as tournament director for the U.S. Open, an assistant coach for the New York Jets and an assistant coach in the NBA.”

The numbers tell a story of success

The CSL is ranked in the global top 10 of graduate programs in sports business and management by SportBusiness, a London-based media and data service that ranked the CSL  No. 8 worldwide and No. 6 in North America in its 2024 Postgraduate Rankings. 

“That’s one of the things that gives us credibility with students outside of Virginia,” LeCrom said, adding the center hosts students from across the U.S. and abroad.

To gain practical experience, all CSL students work as graduate students at VCU or other sports organizations in the community, such as Sports Backers and University of Richmond athletics.

“One of the beauties of VCU and the CSL program is that students go off and do great things in sports. CSL alums help other alums, and that is the way it should be,” said McLaughlin of VCU Athletics.

CSL students bring varied backgrounds to the program, having earned undergraduate degrees in fields ranging from business and communications to arts and, as might be expected, sports.

“Our curriculum is broad and can apply to any part of the industry,” LeCrom said.

Jobs in all aspects of sports

Indeed, this year’s five graduates with jobs in VCU Athletics are working in marketing, development, baseball, and men’s and women’s basketball.

Campbell Ellis, a former VCU pitcher who is graduating from the CSL in December, has come full circle by accepting a job as director of pitching development with the baseball program. His ultimate goal is to secure a college pitching coach position at a Division 1 school.

Like Bartley, Ellis applied to the CSL after hearing from several program alums who spoke highly of their experience.

“That is what inspired me,” he said. “Being in the program put my foot in the door to sports leadership and coaching.”

Word-of-mouth endorsements are “super important to our program,” LeCrom said, as they can influence prospective graduate students from far and wide.

An alum who is making a mark

University of Oregon alum Matt Ensor, who now serves as senior director of communications for the Big 12 Conference with a focus on football, moved across the country to attend the CSL after researching sports administration graduate programs.

“The Center for Sport Leadership at VCU really stood out to me because of their focus on experience in college athletics but also the program’s position as an extension of the VCU Athletic Department,” he said. “I said yes to moving across the country to a place where I didn’t know anyone or have any family nearby, and I didn’t think twice. It was honestly one of the best decisions I have made in my life.”

Ensor credits the program with opening doors for him thanks to the relationships he built with CSL alumni.

“The program preaches and practices the power of networking, which in the industry of college athletics is crucial,” he said. “The alumni network of the program is so vast and reaches every corner of sports and higher education.”

It also taught Ensor the importance of work experience and mapping his career goals.

“My time in the CSL program was the ultimate springboard for my career,” he said.