What happens to School of Kinesiology students after they leave Cooke Hall? We recently reached out to Bella Iversen, a Sport Management graduate, and she told us about her life after school and shared words of wisdom.
Having grown up in Lakeville, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, Bella’s current position as a Box Office Associate for the Minnesota Twins has kept her close to home. But Bella hasn’t always lived near the Twin Cities. In her freshman year of college, Bella attended Iowa State only to find out it wasn’t for her: “In high school, I was a gymnast, and that experience along with my competitive nature, had me wanting to stay in sport. So I knew that I wanted to be in a place where sports were prevalent. That prompted me to transfer to the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, which, of course, is a mecca for sports.”
At first, Bella was unsure which career path she wanted to take in sport. But her Introduction to Sport Management course at the U of M provided her with the direction she needed. “After realizing the medical side of sport was too science-based for me, I shifted gears toward the business side of sport, where I took Intro to Sport Management. The interview assignments and subject matter in that class confirmed that sport management was something I actually wanted to do. My interest in sport management really started at the U of M and with that class.”
Bella’s subsequent experience studying abroad reaffirmed her decision to pursue sport management. “At the U of M, I had the opportunity of studying abroad with a sport management group in Beijing, China. I spent 14 days at Beijing Sport University with a bunch of Sport Management students learning about Chinese sports, culture, and history. It was a really good trip to connect with my peers and to just do something very different and outside my comfort zone. It also solidified that sports and sport management is where I want to be. Many future job positions ended up coming through the pipeline of friends I had developed abroad.”
Bella arrived at her current position with the Minnesota Twins by taking advantage of volunteer and internship opportunities provided by the U of M. “In my Intro to Sport Management course, it was required that we volunteer with an organization. I chose to volunteer at TwinsFest. Through volunteering, I was able to meet Minnesota Twins employees, and my sophomore year, I got a job selling and handling Twins raffle tickets. At that point, I knew the Twins were an organization that I liked working with, and I wanted to take that further. After learning from a U of M sport management email that there was an opportunity to work for the ticket operation department for the Minnesota Twins, I quickly applied. I worked that position for a year until I applied for the Minnesota Twins internship program in my last year of college. By networking with all the people that I had worked with in ticket operations, I was able to get a good word put in for me and got the internship.”
Since becoming a Box Office Associate, Bella has had to “learn all the ins and outs of ticket operations.”
But what Bella loves most about her job is “interacting with the fans. During the season, a major role of mine is interacting with our fans and doing ticket resolutions. I just love the excitement on kids’ faces when they get to have a cool opportunity and get to do something fun at one of our games.”
Bella’s advice to those pursuing a degree in sport management is to “just use your resources. Use your professors. For me, professors Clint Warren and Kevin King have been impactful people in my life and really pushed me to go after what I want. Professors know so many people in this town. The Twin Cities is a huge place, and the U of M is a huge stakeholder in that.”
In addition to networking, Bella advises students to “not be afraid to go after exactly what you want. Some lines of sport management can be a little bit intimidating, but don’t let that stop you from following your dreams. If you have a passion for something, just take it as far as you can.”
