Junior Chase Hartley marshalled rowers one Saturday morning at the 15^th Richmond International Dragon Boat Festival.

“Dragon Hunters, lane 2,” said Hartley into a megaphone. “Mystic Dragon Warriors, follow me.”

The work is part of his internship with Sports Backers. Hartley, who hopes to go into the sports industry, organized teams and led them to docks where long, slim boats topped with grinning dragon heads awaited on the James River. 

“I've always been interested in sports and fitness,” Hartley said. “I think fitness is a great way not only to meet people, but also to live a healthy lifestyle.”

He's learned to shift gears quickly at events. At the Dragon Boat Festival, excessive rain led to a last-minute change in the usual location to one further upriver.

"We put it together in the last 72 hours," he said. "Things happen, things change. You have to be able to adjust."

Connecting with Sports Backers

Hartley knew about Richmond-based Sports Backers having run in the nonprofit’s Monument Avenue 10K and half-marathons and as an event volunteer. He’s running the Great American 5000, a virtual team race across the U.S.

“I knew they did all the races, but I learned they do a lot more than that: Dragon Boat Festival, Bike Walk RVA. They do free fitness classes all around Richmond and the surrounding area, and Kids on the Move,” he said.

His mother is a longtime Sports Backer volunteer, and his father worked in the athletics world for more than 25 years.

Hartley, who has played sports since he was 3, works in the UR athletics department. "Sports are a big part of my life,” he said.

At UR, he’s one of two presidents of the Sports Analytics Club and helps run game days for Athletics, including playing the music, setting up the kids’ club, planning giveaways, and working the spotlight at the Robins Center.

“I think the biggest thing about sports is it brings the college and the surrounding community, and even people outside of the surrounding community, together," Hartley said. "It's a way to bond and enjoy each other's company while supporting your fellow Spiders."

Sports with a side of analytics

As a global studies major and business minor, Hartley took particular interest in a data analytics class taught by analytics and operations professor Tenace Setor.

“It was definitely one of the more challenging courses I've taken, but it was one of the most rewarding,” Hartley said. “Data is just so important to the workforce in so many different industries. Even if you don't want that to be your full-time career, I think it's important and beneficial to know about data, how to do some analytics.”

He had two meetings with Sports Backers and together they designed an internship that combined his love of sports with his new interest in analytics.

Recently, he presented data on demographics and donation trends for Sports Backers’ events and programs. He’s also helping analyze pre- and post-surveys for Fitness Warriors, another program.

The internship has opened his eyes to a future career, which could involve working for a professional sports team or something else. “Working at Sports Backers this this summer has been so rewarding, and I could see myself working at a nonprofit that's based around fitness, exercise, and sports.”