3 Countries, 1 Month of International Sports
Assistant Professor and Sport Management Program Coordinator Maddie Herman, EdD, spent a month in Europe this summer working and attending multiple international sport events, where she learned a whole new level of fandom and what it takes to pull off major, multi-national sporting events.
London, England
Working with Living Sport, Dr. Herman experienced Major League Baseball’s London series between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.
Before the series, she toured London Stadium where the series took place and got a behind-the-scenes look at the set-up of major league baseball games in an Olympic stadium in England.
Most interesting was seeing how London integrated Philadelphia and New York culture into the concessions and game presentation.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Next, Dr. Herman ventured north to beautiful Scotland to attend the British Open, a major golf tournament open to both professional and amateur golfers, where she met many professional golfers including her favorites — Tiger Woods, Xander Shauffele, and Scottie Scheffler.
Schuffele signed his glove and gave it to Dr. Herman at the 18th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club. Shauffele went on to win the British Open, and Scheffler won gold at the Olympics a few weeks later.
While in Scotland, Dr. Herman toured St. Andrews Links, home to the world’s oldest golf course. After the tour, she played golf on what was St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club, established for only female golf players to use.
Paris, France
Finally, Dr. Herman wrapped up with three weeks in Paris for a behind-the-scenes look at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where Living Sport volunteered with Team USA at the Team USA Welcome Center, High Performance Center, and Team USA House.
She attended Olympic events such as women’s rugby, swimming, and water polo. Dr. Herman met Philadelphia’s own Dawn Staley, head coach of the three-time national champions South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. She also met three-time gold medalist track and field athlete LaShawn Merrit and track and field athlete Moushaumi Robinson.
Watching the Opening Ceremony at Team USA House and seeing Team USA play in Eiffel Tower Stadium from the Eiffel Tower were some of her most memorable moments!
See more photos on Instagram below!
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