A moment of gratitude to Dr. Elizabeth Taylor, Dr. Ashley Gardner, and Dr. Jonathan Howe for the extensive efforts, preparation, and facilitation on both the front and back ends to make this wonderful event happen and run smoothly.
In addition, a special thanks to the University of Cincinnati’s Sport Administration program,LSU School of Kinesiology, PHL Sports, Sport Business Research Network, Syracuse University Falk College of Sport, and the University of Tennessee Knoxville Sport Management program for sponsoring the 2026 ASMA conference.
About the Event
The 2026 Applied Sport Management Conference at Temple University was a two-day event home to several competitions, casual presentations, as well as numerous panels and opportunities for networking for students and program leadership in the sports industry across the country.
Sport Industry Research Center at ASMA 2026
The Dr. Samantha Roberts Case Study Competition is one of two competitions where groups of 3-4 students are provided with a detailed case study and guidelines one month before ASMA. Students were asked to submit a written document and presentation for this case study one week before the competition. Dr. Aubrey Kent was heavily involved in writing this case study, granting undergraduate and graduate students a challenging yet engaging experience.
SIRC PhD students Pratyush Yadav and Candice Wang acted as moderators for multiple presentation blocks throughout the event. Tasked with preparing timecards, ensuring projects are ready for presentation, solving on-the-spot technological issues, and guiding both the presentation and the following discussion, these two excelled in creating a seamless experience for both the participants and the audience.
PhD student Shreyas Rao equally contributed to the moderation of panel sessions, while additionally delivering his project presentation, titled “Issues of Capacity and Equity within the Youth Sport Landscape: A City-Level Analysis”, a Youth Sport Facility and Program Assessment conducted by SIRC in partnership with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR).Other key members of this project include SIRC’s Dr. Gareth Jones, Mike Barsotti of PPR, andBecca Fagan of the Philadelphia Youth Sport Collaborative. Shreyas spoke on issues of accessibility and inequity for youth seeking sport opportunities, whether it be due to race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Through collaboration with PPR and PYSC, Shreyas analyzed the input of city and program leadership to assess the current state of youth sport organizations in the city of Philadelphia. Through this, the areas for improvement in available resources, programming, and training were recognized and transformed into actionable recommendations for positive future change.
Undergraduate student Christian Cavanaugh represented SIRC through the presentation of “Sole Purpose: Volunteer Motives, Identity, and Involvement in a Youth Running Program”, a project spearheaded by Dr. Gareth Jones, Dr. Christine Wegner, Dr. Bradley J. Baker, and Dr. Mariana Folco. Through this presentation, questions surrounding a youth running program’s volunteer motivations and intentions were uncovered through the analysis of volunteer coaches’ identity and involvement. Uncovering what drives and differentiates volunteers allowed for detailed recommendations to be provided to the youth running program to maximize output and satisfaction in volunteers, along with sparking potential ideas for future research within the topic.
Closing
Throughout preparing for, participating in, and facilitating this event, the Sport Industry Research Center is proud to have played such a meaningful role in the 2026 Applied Sport Management Conference at Temple University.