NBA All-Star Weekend Brings Opportunity to UIndy Sport Management Students
Written by Addison Campbell
This year, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend was held in downtown Indianapolis, just a mere 10 minutes from the University of Indianapolis campus, which opened many doors for UIndy students. Jacob Sunde, a junior sport management major, had the opportunity to volunteer for multiple events throughout the weekend.
The NBA All-Star Weekend brought a lot of big names to Indianapolis and overall excitement to the city. Not only were UIndy students granted the opportunity to volunteer at these events, but the NBA offered volunteer positions to 6,000 people. The All-Star Weekend brought the community together and set a goal of providing one million meals that will be transported across the state to those in need.
Because of the University’s connections, Jacob was given many opportunities, one being able to serve as a Team Attendant for the G League All-Star games. During this time, he made sure each player had clean towels, water and snacks. He also helped the players warm-up and caught their rebounds for them.
The next event Jacob got to work at was the Volunteer Pick-up, where he handed out care packages to everyone who volunteered at least twice for the All-Star Weekend events. Jacob also helped by organizing the packages and handing them to each volunteer once they came, and handed out gift packages to All-Star Donors.
The NBA 24-hour care service was “the best experience during the all-star weekend” for Jacob. At this event, he packaged up rice casseroles for the hungry, and refilled all the food and made sure everything was running smoothly. Jacob shared that, “my shift was at night and just to see the energy and bond of 100 random strangers that late at night just to help a good cause was incredible.”
The last volunteer opportunity Jacob was given was working as a Jordan Brand Ambassador, where he helped kids register for the Flight Suite 23 event at the NBA Crossover. During this time, Jacob also managed all the shoes and helped prepare for the Jordan athletes to come.
Jacob stated that, “this volunteer experience gave me the opportunity to learn what different environments and different parts there are when it comes to Sport Management. It also gave me the opportunity to make new connections that could potentially help me down the road.”
Indianapolis offers students so many opportunities and career paths, which puts UIndy in a great location. Jacob expressed how important a community is by saying, “I am not from Indy, but to see everyone from this community come together to help for such an important event for this city was incredible.”