It's difficult to believe that after playing high school sports for Lakeland Union High School, continuing her soccer career on to the college level at St. Cloud State in Minnesota, that now at 21 years of age, Lisa Drossart's career in athletics might have just taken its most significant turn.

"It's not so much that I look for a challenge, it's more of the fact that athletics is just a passion of mine that I don't think I'll ever be able to give up," she said. "It comes with being part of a team atmosphere."

It was Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, when Drossart, then a sophomore forward at St. Cloud State, drilled a goal past the Northwest Missouri State goalie in the 85th minute. The goal was the eventual game-winner for the Lady Huskies soccer team.

Now, this September, two years after her first collegiate goal and even more countless years after first getting involved in the realm of sports will come what Drossart says is the next and most important step in her sports career.

"When I decided I wasn't going to play soccer anymore, I decided I wanted to be a coach," Drossart said. "That was one of the big things that drove me to never want to leave the world of athletics."

The Minocqua native and her recently declared major of retail, is a student at the UW-Madison where she has recently been accepted into the school of human ecology.

First as an student-athlete and now more importantly as a student specifically, Drossart continues to achieve her goals and she is doing so at a recognizable level.

Having already achieved a business certificate from her studies at both St. Cloud State and Madison, Drossart will take on a new venture this autumn when she and eight other fortunate applicants into the marketing intern program will begin their trek toward what they hope is a profession in the sports management, affairs, public relations or another area around which the sports world revolves, and more importantly evolves.

When she learned just a few weeks ago that she was accepted into the highly sought-after program, she had one thought and one thought only - "It was like a dream come true," Drossart said. "I actually didn't expect to get it."

It was Drossart's second go-round with the application process into the marketing interns program at the UW. She said what made her stand out this time around was the association with other athletic organizations she's been able to add to her resume. First with the Chicago Fire in Chicago and now with the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods Baseball League.

"The first time didn't quite have the credentials to make the cut, but after my internship with The Fire, and when I told them I was working with the Mallards, I guess it made a difference," Drossart said.

The Chicago Fire is a professional soccer team that participates inside the United States affiliated Major League Soccer.

The Northwoods League is an amateur baseball league that's home to some of the nation's most dynamic and potent college talent who are looking to up their stock and fine tune their skills with the hopes of making it with a big league club.

Drossart was one of nine applicants into the 2009-10 athletic marketing internship program. They all learned they were selected for the program in April.

According to Amanda Benzine, intern program co-supervisor, this class of interns brought forth one of the toughest selections they've had. With that though, she feels, came nine quality interns which she and her supervisor, Adam Ahearn, feel are going to bring many benefits to the prestigious program.

"We are very excited about this group of individuals and look forward to their first day on the job," Benzine said.

"We hope the staff will learn a lot and help [the marketing program] achieve our marketing goals through hard work and dedication," Ahearn said.

She'll begin in the fall working with the UW-Badgers football program.

With the initial program itinerary beginning with the Badgers football program comes learning the ins-and-outs of game day activities inside Camp Randall Stadium, coordinating game day activities for special events and guests such as alumni and community organizations as well as the marketing and tickets sales end of things.

As a person who upon graduation would like to get involved in some sort of facilities management, Drossart said her current stint with the Madison Mallards, along with the upcoming internship with the Badgers are giving her the opportunity of a lifetime.

"It's going to be a lot of fun, but I hope a lot of new experiences as well," Drossart said. "Our assignments begin in August and our tasks will change from day-to-day. It could be anything from alumni relations to game-day giveaways to the Red Hat Club."

While it will be a lot of high pressure, time sensitive deadlines she'll be working against on most weekend games, with the internship also comes the opportunity to sit back, relax and just enjoy two home games during the upcoming season.

After the football season, she and the eight other interns will be mixed in with the other programs at Madison which include, but are not limited to, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's hockey.

While having worked the program in Chicago with the MLS affiliate Fire, Drossart hopes the opportunity with the Badgers this autumn and Mallards this summer will allow her to learn some aspects of the sports world she hasn't yet been in contact with fully.

"Right now I am working in ticket sales for the Mallards which is good because it seems a lot of programs that are looking to hire are looking for someone with a good understanding of how to market, sell and promote ticket sales," Drossart said. "I am hoping throughout the summer I can learn a little bit more about the management of the ticket office as well."

The UW-Madison student hopes she'll be walking across the stage, receiving her diploma in December 2010.

After graduation, she hopes that her hard work, dedication to the sports world and experiences over the past four to five years will show its value.

"As far as long-term, I'd realistically like to go somewhere in Major League Baseball or anywhere else that's got a good fan base," she said. "Then again, as much as I love professional sports, I could see myself managing a smaller sports facility in which the community can benefit from as well. I don't think I'll be too picky at first."

As focused a student as she was an athlete, Drossart admits that at the age of just 21, she's living her sports dream.

"I always said I wanted to play college sports and work for a college sports program. I'm proud to say I've checked those two things off my list already."

Drossart will remain in Madison this summer, working as a part-time employee of the Mallards. She'll begin her internship with the UW-Badgers in August.



source : http://www.lakelandtimes.com