A sport administration class taught by Richard Southall, associate professor of exercise and sport science, has a unique partnership with the Carolina RailHawks, a professional soccer team based in Cary.
Currently in its second year, the partnership provides real-life work experience for UNC students. Students in Southall’s sales and revenue production class apply their classroom learning through the real-world opportunity to work with and learn from sales executives with the Carolina RailHawks.
A portion of every ticket sold by the UNC students was donated by the RailHawks back to the class. Then the class in turn chose to donate the money raised to a charity of their choice. The most recent class of 15 students sold over 300 RailHawks tickets as part of its month-long summer seminar class and chose to donate the $1,000 raised to the UNC Children’s Hospital.
Southall sees tremendous value in the partnership.
“The educational philosophy of the sales and revenue production seminar is ‘bridging the gap between sales theory and real-world practice.’ Our partnership with the RailHawks provides this vital link for our students. It is the proverbial ‘win-win’ situation,” he said.
The check was presented by the UNC students to Chris Ellington, executive vice president and CFO of UNC Health Care, at halftime of the RailHawks final regular-season home game on Sept. 24.
The Carolina RailHawks team was established in 2006. It is a founding member of the North American Soccer League.
