A panel of women in sports all said they had no idea they’d end up where they did in Wichita sports. Now, they’re working in a variety of positions, from minor league to college-level sports.
Three women involved in the city’s sports industry visited the Wichita State campus to tell their stories, offer advice and more on Thursday afternoon.
Tara Tallman used to work in hospitality as a hotel employee for 10 years. After a “come to Jesus talk” with her parents, Tallman pivoted to trying to find a job in sports. Now, she’s the assistant general manager for the Wichita Wind Surge.
Tallman said the hardest obstacle to overcome was her mindset.
“If I had really sat down and thought about what I wanted to do when I was in high school, sports would have been at the top of the list, but I just assumed that I couldn’t work in sports,” Tallman said. “There’s definitely been women in sports in my lifetime, but I never would have imagined that we would have female (general managers) of professional teams and female coaches.”
Madison Stein hopped between multiple different career points before settling on sports administration. The former softball student-athlete serves as the deputy athletics director/senior woman administrator for Wichita State Athletics.
Stein said finding a mentor in the field was a challenge. She said she originally thought she could only have women mentors.
“Over time, I’ve learned that some of my best mentors and people that have really allowed me to grow and flourish are males that have been able to say like, ‘I’m going to endorse this woman,’” Stein said.
Angie Smith, a New Jersey native, said going to sports games was her version of going to Disney World. Smith went from watching games played by the New York Jets to interning with the football team for over three years.
Now, Smith serves as the director of operations, social media and corporate fulfillment for the Wichita Thunder hockey team.
“I, for whatever reason, somehow ended up in Kansas,” Smith said.
Smith said she didn’t originally think she’d end up working full-time in sports.
“Working in sports or really anything you want to do, you set your mind to it, you’ll get there,” Smith said. “I wanted to (work in sports), and I persevered and stuck with it, and here I am.”
The three touched on NIL — name, image, likeness — as it relates to female players. The NCAA NIL policy gives student-athletes the chance to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness.
Tallman and Stein agreed NIL can be great for colleges with the resources for it. Stein said colleges with fewer resources may see a larger issue.
“Now for the institutions that have smaller resource pools, or maybe don’t have the support of their state, whatever the case might be, I think that you’re seeing a gap widened there because you simply just can’t fund the things you need to be able to open up … opportunities,” Stein.
“I think that the players should be getting paid at every level, so it’s just something that we’re gonna have to figure out a workaround,” Tallman said.
The panelists were asked to share their thoughts on the growth in women’s sports. Tallman said showing diverse representation is crucial in sports.
“It’s important to be here in case anybody does want to hear a story, and they can relate to mine,” Tallman said. “Just knowing that you can work your way to where I am today, where I enjoy doing what I do every day.”
Each panelist noted the importance of networking in the field.
“Never stop networking,” Tallman said. “Keep introducing yourself; keep making sure everybody knows who you are and what you want.”
The event was hosted by the non-profit organization Women in Sports Inspiring the Next Generation (WISHING) and WSU’s sports management department.
Kristen Nett, president and founder of WISHING, said the group formed in December 2022 before getting official nonprofit status in March.
Nett, the coordinator of Kansas City Royals’ charities, said she wanted to offer opportunities to young girls and women who don’t have the resources to pursue a career in sports.
“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of great career exploration opportunities in high school, so I wanted to give back and provide, and since I work in sports, I thought why not,” Nett said.
Nett said the collaboration between the WSU department and WISHING came to fruition after the department shared a WISHING Instagram post.
“Wichita State sports management has a great social media presence, and they shared one of our posts one day, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s close to Kansas City,’” Nett said.
WISHING offers a mentorship program that provides virtual and now in-person events for those interested. More about the organization can be found on their LinkedIn. The organization can be contacted at [email protected].
