INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Last year, COVID-19 shut down their chance to experience the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly a decade since their students have been working the big game in 2014.
But this year, it's game on, as Baldwin Wallace University's Sport Management Club put its program back in full-swing. This weekend, roughly 30 sports management undergrads have made their way from The Land to LA for a field day at SoFi Stadium.
"There's other schools out here and they're not able to do what we're hoping to be able to work the Super Bowl," student Andrew Cregan said. "The people that you're meeting, the opportunities that you can set up for your future are second to none."
"Being a female in the sports industry [that's] male-dominated and [to] have these opportunities to get your foot in the door and make connections in the industry is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that young women usually don't get," Hannah Dick, one of five females to make the trip, added.
The students say they're thrilled to be at Super bowl LVI, not only representing their school, but Northeast Ohio.
"Representing a hard-working Cleveland, this blue-collar [community], just coming out here and showing that we've got great work-ethic and we are able do anything that we want," Austin Stafford declared.
The program gives students the opportunity to work and network at some of the nation's major sporting events.
"Being a senior right now, all of the things I've been able to put on my resume and bring up in interviews will definitely make my career a lot easier," Stafford said.
Charles Campisi, the program chair, says this will be one of the best opportunities for them yet.
"This is the industry they want to be in," he told 3News, "so we need to provide the opportunities. ... Whether its the Super Bowl, the college football national championship, the Formula One races, the Kentucky Derby, the Final Four, we're sending students to all these places so they can get that experience running the events in addition to working with our local teams, whether its the Browns, the Cavs, the Guardians."