New Balance, BC Kick Off Partnership with Student-Athletes
June 27, 2021 | Boston College Athletics, Men's Soccer, Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
Two internships are just the tip of the ice berg of the two entities' new agreement.
A little less than a month ago, Jenn Medjid was on the turf at Johnny Unitas Stadium celebrating a national championship. Her two goals included one assist helped push Boston College past Syracuse, and her performance embedded her as part of a rock star women's lacrosse roster sweeping through the sports zeitgeist in Chestnut Hill.
The whirlwind that followed put her and her teammates at the top of the overall Boston scene. She celebrated with Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, a BC alumna in her own right, at the Massachusetts State House and appeared with both the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. She soaked in the cheers and spoils of an NCAA championship, the first such trophy for BC since men's hockey won the 2012 Frozen Four.
Medjid's biggest fans weren't necessarily the ones in the stands in Maryland or at Fenway Park and TD Garden, though. They were the ones who were on Zoom calls, working remotely for New Balance - her coworkers, as it were, in an internship that's part of BC's 10-year agreement with the Boston-based company.
"New Balance is a great opportunity and a new partnership that is really exciting," she said. "I thought this would be really cool. I've always wanted to somehow stay in sports, and this was a great opportunity. So I applied, went through two interviews and accepted the internship (position)."
Medjid's internship is one of two components of BC's largest financial footwear and apparel contract in the school's history. It paired 30 of the Eagles' 31 varsity sports with the locally-sourced company in a cornerstone agreement that kicked off in early June.
Both her spot and that of men's soccer's Walker Davey were offered to student-athletes as part of an initiative to incorporate BC internships into both licensed sales and overall sales operations starting this month and running through the summer out of New Balance's corporate offices in Brighton.
"I thought this was a great opportunity to almost be a voice for the BC student-athlete population at New Balance," Davey said. "It's really beneficial for the school to have a young voice come in to look at how to best sell to students and how to best go about what products the students probably want or don't want. That really pushed me towards my role, and to be one of the first ones involved in this great opportunity is just really cool."
Each of New Balance's two positions target initiatives designed to engineer expansion within the partnership with Boston College. Both Davey and Medjid learned of the roles through the athletics department's Student-Athlete Development area, and each applied and accepted the position through a professional interview process with a hiring manager.
Davey's role, for example, moved him into overall team sales operations and offered him an option to assist in New Balance's strategic development for basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track and both baseball and softball. It's the perfect role for the business analytics major to immerse in real world examples within his concentration while mixing his hybrid experience as both a student and an athlete.
"Stepping into the retail space and working with BC and other schools and clubs is really, really cool," he said. "Just being an athlete, gear is such a big component of the game, and being able to see the process and how (things) get from manufacturer down to the athlete is going to be great to see."
Medjid, meanwhile, is more targeted to New Balance's licensed development at Boston College in particular. Her internship works directly with the contact list and analyzes social media reports for trends and analytics while assisting in the recap and planning stages of the company's partnership with the Eagles.Â
It reaches well beyond the national championship lacrosse program and delves deep into the club sports and other campus activities, where New Balance committed to a level of uniqueness and customization unseen throughout college athletics.
"We're all really excited," she said. "A lot of people on my team and just in athletics in general really love New Balance. Their footwear is great, and we're excited to try something new in the lacrosse world. They make great cleats. For me, and for other athletes, this provides a lot of opportunity with these internships. Their headquarters are so close and it hits home for us. I think it's really cool for BC athletes to get all of this gear and receive all of these opportunities. It's really awesome.
"I'm in the business school," she added, "and I'm majoring in marketing and leadership, but I wanted to somehow work in sports. This is going to give me an idea of what the real world is like and meet people to make new connections in the working world."
BC's agreement and partnership with New Balance fuses the two entities, but the agreement is much deeper than just a lucrative deal in its infancy. The company is enabling customized looks for BC and is offering more apparel and gear to its athletes, but the true value is unseed in areas like internships, which often help bridge student-athletes into life after sports. It's helped build morale on both ends as the employees feel a connection to the Eagles and the student-athletes take a personalized, invested stake in their uniforms, shirts and equipment.
"There are some high profile (European association football) athletes like Raheem Sterling and (Sadio Mane) that wear New Balance," Davey said, "and for me as a soccer player, if these high profile athletes trust those cleats, then they must be pretty good. It makes me excited to try them out. I always geared towards (other brands), but I think the switch to New Balance is emerging in the gear market. It shows there are things we can learn, but they're also succeeding and edging their way into the space. In terms of BC, we're going to get a lot more gear, and that's one of the best days of the year. It's like Christmas coming early. We're definitely excited as a team to see what New Balance has to offer and where we can go from here.
"I think this is just a great opportunity," he said. "I can get into the workforce and put to use what I've done in school with statistics or marketing components. I will really have the opportunity to use that knowledge and put my best foot forward into what I'm going to do."
"I have always worn their running sneakers," Medjid said, "but I didn't know too much about New Balance. I knew they were a great brand, so I'm just really excited to be a part of their program and to have them be a part of our program."
The whirlwind that followed put her and her teammates at the top of the overall Boston scene. She celebrated with Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, a BC alumna in her own right, at the Massachusetts State House and appeared with both the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. She soaked in the cheers and spoils of an NCAA championship, the first such trophy for BC since men's hockey won the 2012 Frozen Four.
Medjid's biggest fans weren't necessarily the ones in the stands in Maryland or at Fenway Park and TD Garden, though. They were the ones who were on Zoom calls, working remotely for New Balance - her coworkers, as it were, in an internship that's part of BC's 10-year agreement with the Boston-based company.
"New Balance is a great opportunity and a new partnership that is really exciting," she said. "I thought this would be really cool. I've always wanted to somehow stay in sports, and this was a great opportunity. So I applied, went through two interviews and accepted the internship (position)."
Medjid's internship is one of two components of BC's largest financial footwear and apparel contract in the school's history. It paired 30 of the Eagles' 31 varsity sports with the locally-sourced company in a cornerstone agreement that kicked off in early June.
Both her spot and that of men's soccer's Walker Davey were offered to student-athletes as part of an initiative to incorporate BC internships into both licensed sales and overall sales operations starting this month and running through the summer out of New Balance's corporate offices in Brighton.
"I thought this was a great opportunity to almost be a voice for the BC student-athlete population at New Balance," Davey said. "It's really beneficial for the school to have a young voice come in to look at how to best sell to students and how to best go about what products the students probably want or don't want. That really pushed me towards my role, and to be one of the first ones involved in this great opportunity is just really cool."
Each of New Balance's two positions target initiatives designed to engineer expansion within the partnership with Boston College. Both Davey and Medjid learned of the roles through the athletics department's Student-Athlete Development area, and each applied and accepted the position through a professional interview process with a hiring manager.
Davey's role, for example, moved him into overall team sales operations and offered him an option to assist in New Balance's strategic development for basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track and both baseball and softball. It's the perfect role for the business analytics major to immerse in real world examples within his concentration while mixing his hybrid experience as both a student and an athlete.
"Stepping into the retail space and working with BC and other schools and clubs is really, really cool," he said. "Just being an athlete, gear is such a big component of the game, and being able to see the process and how (things) get from manufacturer down to the athlete is going to be great to see."
Medjid, meanwhile, is more targeted to New Balance's licensed development at Boston College in particular. Her internship works directly with the contact list and analyzes social media reports for trends and analytics while assisting in the recap and planning stages of the company's partnership with the Eagles.Â
It reaches well beyond the national championship lacrosse program and delves deep into the club sports and other campus activities, where New Balance committed to a level of uniqueness and customization unseen throughout college athletics.
"We're all really excited," she said. "A lot of people on my team and just in athletics in general really love New Balance. Their footwear is great, and we're excited to try something new in the lacrosse world. They make great cleats. For me, and for other athletes, this provides a lot of opportunity with these internships. Their headquarters are so close and it hits home for us. I think it's really cool for BC athletes to get all of this gear and receive all of these opportunities. It's really awesome.
"I'm in the business school," she added, "and I'm majoring in marketing and leadership, but I wanted to somehow work in sports. This is going to give me an idea of what the real world is like and meet people to make new connections in the working world."
BC's agreement and partnership with New Balance fuses the two entities, but the agreement is much deeper than just a lucrative deal in its infancy. The company is enabling customized looks for BC and is offering more apparel and gear to its athletes, but the true value is unseed in areas like internships, which often help bridge student-athletes into life after sports. It's helped build morale on both ends as the employees feel a connection to the Eagles and the student-athletes take a personalized, invested stake in their uniforms, shirts and equipment.
"There are some high profile (European association football) athletes like Raheem Sterling and (Sadio Mane) that wear New Balance," Davey said, "and for me as a soccer player, if these high profile athletes trust those cleats, then they must be pretty good. It makes me excited to try them out. I always geared towards (other brands), but I think the switch to New Balance is emerging in the gear market. It shows there are things we can learn, but they're also succeeding and edging their way into the space. In terms of BC, we're going to get a lot more gear, and that's one of the best days of the year. It's like Christmas coming early. We're definitely excited as a team to see what New Balance has to offer and where we can go from here.
"I think this is just a great opportunity," he said. "I can get into the workforce and put to use what I've done in school with statistics or marketing components. I will really have the opportunity to use that knowledge and put my best foot forward into what I'm going to do."
"I have always worn their running sneakers," Medjid said, "but I didn't know too much about New Balance. I knew they were a great brand, so I'm just really excited to be a part of their program and to have them be a part of our program."
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's Soccer
A
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