On Friday, Feb. 18, the UPMC Events Center is hosting the 45th annual Sports Management Summit which features professionals around the Pittsburgh region and gives students the opportunity to connect network with those professionals.

RMU Sentry Media had the chance to sit down with Pittsburgh Pirates manager of Community Outreach Joel Gray to discuss this year’s upcoming Summit.

Gray, a 2014 alumnus of the university, spoke on his time as a student at previous sports management summits,

“It honestly was a little intimidating,” Gray said. “The teachers did a really good job discussing how important it was to show face there and get ready to met sports professionals. Imagine 20 professional teams along with some colligate and high school opportunities. I went my last two years at Robert Morris and I was still working the network that I grew with the Pittsburgh Steelers and I really appreciated that there were other team opportunities. I really started to see the other opportunities here in Pittsburgh so the last two years I wanted to see what was out there and get to know people because it grew my network.”

The summit was an intimidating time for Gray, but he explained the importance of this year’s event and why students should come even if they are on the fence about attending,

“I think that we are going to create a really fun atmosphere because we understand the state of the students right now,” said Gray. “Covid has struck a lot of futures and put people in some tough positions so us as professionals, we really just want to spend time with you all and get to know you. A conversation with me could be a job interview you just don’t know that. Walk into that conversation with confidence, but understand that we are there to support and I think that is the biggest thing that relaxed my fear of the summit was that seeing how much the professionals wanted to support my journey and my career.”

You can listen to the full interview here.