How Turning Down a GA Position Paid Off For Sasha
Sometimes we have an initial call that knocks our socks off. Today's TG Story about Sasha Aronson was one of those calls.
When we circled back around to talk to him about what he is up to this year, we weren't surprised to hear he was involved in everything-yes, everything. From playing on the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) 4's team to studying for his Master’s in Sport Management, Politics, and International Development degree, working operations for the BBL team, coaching the NBL team, and even helping with the U11 team, Sasha proves you can always make more out of your experience. We keep wondering where he finds hours in the day.
Sasha's path to TG looks a little different than our typical athletes’. As the Head Manager at Tulane University, Sasha started out on the club team and worked his way up in the managerial ranks with the basketball program. His sophomore year saw a coaching change within the Division I program, and with it, he saw the huge impact a coach could have on building a positive culture in a team. Sasha was hooked. "I think it was the first time I went on a road trip with the DI basketball team. I saw the environment, the sold-out arena, and I just felt like I wanted to be in this environment forever." He also immediately recognized his efforts in the gym with the players paid off on the court. "Seeing work translate and the commitment from me, the lowest person on the totem pole, making a difference. The work I put in every day, you see the result of [it]." He knew he wanted to learn more about the x's and o's of the game and how to run a program. Even though he already had a graduate assistant offer stateside, he worried he would be pigeonholed into doing one thing on a coaching staff with so many people. That's when a coach told him about the opportunity to play and learn more about the game in England.
So, Sasha did a quick Google search, and TeamGLEAS came up with an option to help him get abroad. "I knew I could learn about the game and the system here. I also get the opportunity to play a couple times a week." Of his BUCS team, Sasha says the level is close to his club level at Tulane, just more organized, and the gym atmosphere gives a better experience with live stream and commentators. "Loughborough cares a lot about BUCS. They expect to win and be at the top of the league." Working through Loughborough's BBL, NBL, and BUCS connections has been a wonderful experience because they all fall under one big umbrella. So, the coaches know the players, and the players coach the younger teams; it's like a big community. That allows Sasha to get so much more out of his opportunity abroad. He knew he wanted to work, volunteer, learn, and gain as much experience in the gym wherever he landed in the UK. But Sasha exceeded even our expectations when we realized how busy he was. He runs ops for the BBL games, gets to be in the room with the coaching staff at the NBL level, and plays at the BUCS level. All of this…And he's getting his master's degree?
Well, there’s more. Since we connected with Sasha for this interview, we learned that he was nominated by his peers and awarded an Athena SWAN Student Extra Mile Award. Loughborough’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS) recognizes students for their excellence who have given extra to the School in a variety of categories. Sasha was awarded the Postgraduate Outstanding Leadership Award for the 2022/23 season (SOURCE).
During his process with TeamGLEAS, Sasha, like most of our TGers, was deciding between several universities. However, he was thrilled with his choice to attend Loughborough. A big part of that is not only all of the connections with basketball but also that Loughborough University has been ranked #1 in the world for sport-related studies (yes, you read that right!) based on the QS World University rankings for the last SIX years running (SOURCE). Sasha says his Sport Management, Politics, and International Development program is already relevant in his work with the Loughborough club at all levels. He can directly apply his coursework through his affiliation with the Riders, and in talking with friends and colleagues in the professional sports world, he already recognizes real-life situations that have appeared in his studies. "That's something I didn't necessarily get at an undergrad level," Sasha says. Of the coursework, "You only have a couple of assignments per class, but what's good about that versus the American system is that I'm not required to submit a bunch of smaller little essays. I'm accountable to myself, and it's a little easier to balance. It's a benefit for someone who wants to gain as much experience as possible outside of studies; the education structure makes that possible."
His best advice on traveling abroad for any of you wondering if you should? "If you're a self-starter, if you really know if you want to continue playing or working, this is a really good opportunity to spread your wings and get good experience. There's a lot of need here and, as a result, a lot of opportunity. And if you want to develop yourself as somebody working in athletics, if you want to develop yourself as an athlete, I think this is a really good way to do it because they will give you the freedom to be the athlete, be the worker you want to be."
