Photo courtesy of Charley Clark
Recently I had the privilege of attending the 2026 National Championship with Professor Michaela Kourmoulis, Dr. Matt Vos, and 11 fellow Covenant students. This trip was an unforgettable experience, giving us a small but helpful insight into the necessary duties of hosting a massive event.
Despite not arriving at our AirBnB until 2 a.m., we started our itinerary quickly later that Thursday, touring the athletic facilities of Florida International University (FIU) and University of Miami. At FIU, we saw inside their football and baseball stadiums, and at Miami, we toured all of their football weight rooms and training rooms and heard a presentation from Jessica Lopez, the director of football academics and executive operations, about the changing landscape of college football with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal.
The next day, we began our volunteering tasks at FanFest. I wasn’t sure what exactly was going to be required of me, but we were instructed well for our tasks of working the 40 yard dash, taking pictures of the trophies on display and helping fans interact with animals. Aided by the lack of traffic on the first day of the event, everything went smoothly, and we had a great time. Even when our group was called in as extra volunteers a couple days later, when we weren’t originally scheduled, there was little problem completing our tasks. In the afternoon on Friday we attended FanFest as fans, one of the highlights of the trip.
While most of our group worked in community service Saturday morning, I was able to attend media day with fellow student Ian Fox ’29, with permission from Professor Kourmoulis. This is because I set up an interview with content creators Snapback Sports in order to get some advice and learn about their success. The interview was my personal highlight from the trip, as Jack, Casey, Tim and Dawson were extremely generous with their time and gave me some great
insight into sports content creation, as well as some encouragement in my own career pursuits. I also was able to meet JD Pickell and Andy Staples from On3 and got pictures with ESPN legends Rece Davis, Chris Russo and Kirk Herbstreit.
On Gameday, our shift began later than expected due to, we thought, a
miscommunication about where volunteers were supposed to work. But despite this hiccup, the job itself was simple: keep the stadium clean and green. Working with the organization Playoff Green, we topsorted recycling bins and instructed people on where to throw their waste. We continued this inside Hard Rock stadium. Although we had to leave at the conclusion of the first quarter, being inside for introductions was electric, and we were still able to watch the game on TV before our flight back early the next morning.
In conclusion, volunteering at the National Championship was unforgettable. The atmosphere was elite, and we learned a lot about various aspects of college athletics. I am thankful to Professor Kourmoulis for selecting me for this event and appreciate all of my fellow students whom I was blessed to volunteer with.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Charley Clark.