Syracuse Sun

Livia McQuade, a sport management major at the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, has taken her academic and professional journey from Syracuse to Paris for the Paralympic Games. This path was facilitated by an internship opportunity with the Olympus Sports Group (OSG), which she discovered on the Department of Sport Management Careers webpage.

McQuade reached out to Internship Placement Coordinator Beth Perez for more details about OSG, a management and marketing agency specializing in sponsorship opportunities and marketing strategies for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Through Perez, McQuade learned that recent sport management graduates Elena Randolph and Jacob Bennett had strongly endorsed OSG after their interviews, with Bennett working there as an athlete relations intern. Additionally, OSG’s Director of Athlete Relations Jessica Leonard is a sport management alumna from Falk College.

"Connecting with her jumpstarted this experience from the first interview all the way to the Paralympics," McQuade says.

"I preach that the Falk College is better known as the 'College of Opportunity' and this internship is the purest reflection of that," McQuade adds.

Thanks to her connections at Falk College and strong academic background, McQuade spent this past summer with OSG in Loveland, Colorado. She serves as executive vice president of the Sport Management Club in Falk College and co-chair of its 2024 Charity Sports Auction. She aims to work within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement after graduation.

Describing her experience working for OSG at the Paralympic Games in Paris, McQuade wrote about her role as an athlete relations intern under OSG Founder Ian Beck and Syracuse University alumna Jessica Leonard. Her responsibilities included reviewing contract negotiations for athlete partnerships, preparing speaking outlines for athletes, updating websites, and project managing an upcoming book release for prominent athlete Jessica Long.

At the beginning of September, McQuade paused her classes to attend the Paralympics with OSG's leadership team. They supported nine competing athletes by attending events such as para swimming, wheelchair rugby, para track and field, para-cycling, and wheelchair basketball. Their roles also involved managing media appearances at various venues like Team USA House and Toyota House.

Reflecting on her time at the games, McQuade notes: "Of all the places and moments we witnessed... being in a packed arena... was an 'I made it' moment for me."

She expresses gratitude for working with Ian Beck and Jessica Leonard at OSG. For now, she continues to work with them in a limited capacity while new intern Kirstyn Schechter takes over some responsibilities. McQuade will focus on coordinating media opportunities related to Jessica Long's new book "Beyond the Surface," set to publish on Oct. 1.

For those interested in careers in sports management or learning more about related programs offered by Falk College's Department of Sport Management can visit their webpage.

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