Four R. L. Turner High School Sports and Entertainment Marketing students were recently named top 10 finalists in Sports Career Consulting’s Creative Design and Brand Marketing competition after participating in a virtual field trip conference in October.

Shrikar Tatavarty, Justin Bell, Tony Villegas, and Alberto Violante placed in the top 10 out of nearly 75 entries representing schools from nine different states. The competition was a part of a virtual field trip where they learned about brand design from top Nike, Disney, and Jordan designers.

“The competition was important because it was meant to bring out the creativity of students through their knowledge of brands and the sports industry,” Tatavarty said. “After high school, I want to study business and economics and use this to work in the Sports and Entertainment industry; possibly with data and analysis.”

For the contest, students were asked to apply what they learned during the field trip to develop a new brand for an athlete of their choice. Students were divided into groups of four or more to simulate the experience of working together on a team to develop an athlete's brand. Judges evaluated how well the students researched the athlete or celebrity with an emphasis on how well they told the athlete or celebrity's story as part of their brand building strategy. Judges viewed the team’s logo design concept, but the end goal was to allow students to showcase ideas and strategies for successful brand building therefore, the judge’s priority was to evaluate the team’s storytelling.

“I believe the contest wasn’t about the winner but was more for students to show off our creativity, and inspire us to advance in sports marketing,” Violante said.

The virtual field trip conference was hosted by Sports Career Consulting who is one of the high school’s online curriculum providers for Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes.

“My students created a Google slides presentation to present to the class and to submit for the contest,” said Theresa Davis, R. L. Turner Marketing teacher. “The slides had to be detailed as they could not verbally present it for the competition. Each student had a different real-world job that contributed to the project. They collaborated on all the aspects to create a final presentation that included their research behind the athlete that they used to create their brand/logo/slogan. They created a logo concept justifying their design, much like the Nike designer showed them how. They also created how this would appear on products and justified how they believed this brand would be successful.”

A group of judges evaluated all the entries to narrow them down to the top 10. The top three winners were then selected by Vice President of Design at Russell Athletic Jason Badden, who has more than 25 years of experience with Nike, Disney, and others.

CFBISD’s Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes provide students with a thorough understanding of the marketing concepts and theories that apply to sports and entertainment including publicity, sponsorship, endorsements, licensing, branding, event marketing, promotions, employability skills, and sports and entertainment marketing strategies. 

“I think the competition was a great way to get students involved with a real-world application of what they had learned in their Sports and Entertainment course and with the virtual field trip that provided them with a peek inside the real world of creative design and brand marketing,” Davis said. “They learned from experts in the field that had significant experience with an established brand.”

The Sports and Entertainment Marketing class is a part of the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department. CFB strives to develop students who are trained, certified and hirable upon graduation. In elementary and middle school, CTE students reflect on their life and career goals through exposure to in-demand career options and exploratory courses, so they can make informed decisions about their future. In high school, students prepare for their career path of choice through internships, certifications, and post-secondary opportunities, ensuring they graduate college, career, and life ready. 

CFBISD offers Programs of Study to students in many different industries. To learn more about what opportunities are available to students, visit the CTE Programs of Study webpage.