Women in Sports Conference Experience

By: Mallory Morrow

Edited By: Kylie Augis

I had the opportunity to attend the Women in Sports Conference July 14 through July 16 in Nashville, Tennessee. The whole thing was made possible thanks to Girls Club, Living Sport and several sponsors. There were so many valuable lessons learned and memories made. Below I am going to share my experiences from the networking mixer, the conference day and the tour of Nissan Stadium.

Networking Mixer

Everyone arrived July 14 to check in and meet each other at the networking mixer that night. There was a great energy upon arriving at the networking mixer seeing so many girls introducing themselves to each other and talking about something we all have in common, our love for sports. I got to introduce myself to Delaney Galbraith, CEO and Founder of Girls Club, which was great to finally do in person. Walking around for two hours meeting girls from all over the United States and Canada, exchanging business cards with each other and connecting over common interests made it an amazing time.

Conference Day

The conference day began bright and early with headshots then we got right into listening to all of the speakers. There were so many speakers throughout the nine hour day that spoke on several different topics surrounding working in sports. My favorite speaker of the weekend was Lyndsay Rowley, Rink-side Reporter and TV Host for the Nashville Predators. As an aspiring reporter both the insight that Rowley shared about her journey and all of the helpful tips she gave are incredibly valuable to me. Another speaker that stuck out to me was Hayley Cohen, Director of Marketing at VaynerSports. Cohen was the opening keynote speaker and shared many beneficial key things on what it takes to work as a woman in sports. I came out of the conference day inspired by every single one of the speakers.

Nissan Stadium Tour

The last day of the conference weekend was for the VIP attendees and we got the chance to tour Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. The tour consisted of a look inside a suite, press row, an interview room, the locker room, the mascot’s room and more. My favorite part was learning the history behind press row. It was also cool getting to look inside the locker room and taking a photo holding up a jersey of Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans defensive end and former Mississippi State University player. The tour was another fun opportunity to bond with all of the new friends from the weekend.

My favorite moment from the weekend is when I heard a girl sitting behind me at the conference mention Mississippi State University, the school I go to. Turns out she will be an incoming freshman at MSU, we are from the same hometown, we share the same major and have several similar interests. It is truly a small world and we would not have connected had it not been for the conference.

I am so grateful I got to attend the first annual Women in Sports Conference. I met so many amazing women, heard from great speakers and made the best memories. A big thank you to Girls Club and Living Sport for hosting as well as all of the sponsors who made it possible. I look forward to more events like this in the future and I highly recommend that any women in sports attend.

All Photos Courtesy of Mallory Morrow