From Student-Athlete to NCAA Intern
Kelsi Mahoney Discusses Her Career Path, Conference Tournaments, and Final Four Prep
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On March 19, exactly one week after the NCAA canceled March Madness due to the coronavirus, I called former George Washington women’s basketball player Kelsi Mahoney. “It was devastating,” she told me.
Mahoney spoke not only as a former player and a fan of the sport, but also as an NCAA postgraduate intern whose work centered around preparing for the 2020 Women’s Final Four in New Orleans. “It's been a really hard week for a lot of us here,” she said.
Mahoney graduated from GW in May 2019 after four years on the women’s basketball team. The 6-foot-1 forward played in 96 career games, was part of two NCAA Tournament teams, and had career averages of 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds. As a rising senior, Mahoney had interned in the Washington Nationals’ ballpark operations department, which gave her insight into what a career in professional sports would be like. But she was drawn to the NCAA internship because of what she had observed in three-plus years of college athletics. “GW is a really tight-knit community. I know everybody that works in the athletic department, top to bottom,” she explained. “So … to see what they did on the back end as I was a student-athlete, I was kind of excited to see how it kind of fit at the national office.”
(Mahoney (1) in a game against Dayton on January 12, 2019. Photo credit: GW Athletics.)
Mahoney secured a slot in the NCAA’s competitive internship program in December 2018, fitting her job search around the demands of being a Division I women’s basketball player. She memorably flew back from her interview with the NCAA in Indianapolis on the day her team hosted nationally ranked Maryland. “That was a really neat experience to … go to the national office in Indy and play the game that night,” she reflected. Mahoney led her team with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, and chipped in four rebounds in 32 minutes.
The game didn’t go Mahoney and GW’s way, but the interview did—and the NCAA even assigned her to work in her sport, a rarity for postgraduate interns. Before she officially joined the NCAA’s women’s basketball department last June, she flew to Tampa, Florida, for the 2019 Women’s Final Four. Mahoney shadowed her predecessor, former East Carolina women’s basketball player Kyani White-Tate, and got to see for herself what she’d be tasked with recreating for 2020. Mahoney even got to carry the American flag onto the court with other former student-athletes before the national championship game.
After moving to Indianapolis, Mahoney’s duties included coordinating travel to the Final Four for team bands, cheer squads, and mascots; planning a pregame tailgate for student-athletes’ families in New Orleans; and assisting with related events over Final Four weekend such as the Super Saturday Concert, student-athlete visits to local hospitals, and appearances by Team USA. Mahoney also helped support the NCAA selection committee meetings for all three divisions and was scheduled to travel to the Division II Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, until it was canceled.
In addition, Mahoney played an essential role in this season’s conference tournament championships by ensuring that the winners had physical tickets in hand to celebrate qualifying (also known as “punching their ticket”) for the NCAA Tournament. (As an example, you can see some Southeast Missouri State players holding tickets here after they won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on March 7.) “I had [a] hand in making sure those were all set up and got to the right conferences, had the right logos,” Mahoney explained. “… Seeing that come to life on a smaller scale for a couple of those conferences was … really awesome.”
Mahoney said that her experience at the 2019 Final Four was extremely helpful during her internship, but there was still a lot for her to learn on the fly. “I think the whole year was a learning curve,” she admitted. Her colleagues in the women’s basketball department helped her feel comfortable as she learned the ropes and empowered her to share her opinion. “The staff that I'm working with is an all-women staff here [in] the women's basketball department,” Mahoney said, “and they've really made me feel welcome and at home and able to make mistakes and learn from them. I think [that] was the best thing for me, and I thank them for it whenever I possibly can because it's helped me grow and be confident.” She also expressed gratitude and surprise at the access she has had to high-level staff, including vice president of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman and senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt.
That idea of the NCAA as an organization that empowers young adults is at odds with much of the public narrative, which characterizes the NCAA as behind the times at best and corrupt and anti-athlete at worst. Mahoney was aware of that narrative entering her internship—it was even discussed in one of her college classes—but said it does not match her experience. “The people that work at NCAA, they absolutely want the best for student-athletes,” she said. “… To see what the [Final Four] experience is and all the effort that goes into making sure that it is the best time for those student-athletes, whether they win or lose, has been remarkable. … There's a lot out there against the NCAA, but there's a lot of really good as well.”
(Mahoney (1) hugs GW head coach Jennifer Rizzotti on March 4, 2018. That day, GW beat Saint Joseph’s in the A-10 Tournament final to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. Photo credit: GW Athletics.)
After Mahoney’s internship concludes at the end of May, she hopes to continue supporting student-athletes, likely in a college athletic department or a conference office. She is particularly interested in fundraising, development, and student-athlete support because of the direct impact they have on student-athletes’ collegiate experiences. The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted hiring as many college campuses are closed, but Mahoney is confident that she will eventually find her perfect fit. “Enhancing the experience of, overall, the student-athletes is what my interests are, and the best thing is that that's everywhere in collegiate athletics,” she said. “So it's just a matter of timing and right place, right time.”
To some, it may look like Mahoney had unlucky timing for her internship, with the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament forcing much of her work to end prematurely. But Mahoney was upbeat about what she has learned during her internship and the contributions she has made in women’s basketball specifically. “Staying in basketball was probably the best thing I could have done,” she said. “It was comfortable, but I could also explore and challenge myself.”
Looking back to last April, Mahoney even found a silver lining: “I did get to go to a Final Four … [and] witness some great basketball games.”
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Congratulations Kelsi
We are proud for what you’ve accomplished. Aunt Sherrill and Uncle Joe
Congratulations Kelsi
We are proud for what you’ve accomplished. Aunt Sherrill and Uncle Joe