Students of the Month

Umar Muhammad is an entrepreneur, professor, and a coach for the first cycling team at an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the country. He’s also the United States Sports Academy’s latest Student of the Month. Muhammad, who teaches sport management at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., is pursuing his Doctor of Education degree in Sports Management from the Academy. At St. Augustine’s, Muhammad is coaching the cycling team with fellow Academy alumnus Dr. Mark Janas. “We’re excited to be the first HBCU to formally have a collegiate cycling team,” Muhammad said. “What many may not realize is that while cycling might be new to most HBCU’s, African Americans have made huge contributions to the sport of cycling. In fact, cycling’s first superstar, and arguably sport’s first international [...]

Diego Real earned accolades for his work training young soldiers during his six-year stint as a Training Sergeant for the U.S. Army. In fact, many of his peers encouraged him to become a coach when he retired from the service. The United States Sports Academy’s latest Student of the Month, Real followed the advice from his peers and is pursuing a Bachelor of Sports Science degree in sports coaching from the institution. A native of Mexico and Iowa resident, Real hopes to use his Academy degree to become a soccer coach and aide the growth of the sport in the United States. “I would like to teach committed young people the skills I learned at the soccer academies in Mexico and other countries in order to improve the soccer culture [...]

Cheryl Tabone works as a coach, adjunct professor, and a nonprofit organization president in the Buffalo, N.Y. area. The United States Sports Academy’s Student of the Month, Tabone hopes that her doctoral education from the institution will help her earn an athletic director position at the collegiate level. Tabone already earned a Master of Sports Science dual degree in Sports Coaching and Sports Medicine from the Academy in 2018. Now, she’s seeking her Doctor of Education degree in Sports Management with a specialization in sports leadership and a focus in sports medicine. The Fredonia, N.Y., resident is also breaking down barriers in her field. She’s an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team at Buffalo State University (BSU), where she’s the only female coach on a men’s team in the [...]

Cory Baker is a high school basketball coach trying to bring people in his community together through the sport. The United States Sports Academy’s Student of the Month, Baker is using what he’s learned in his Bachelor of Sports Science degree program to aide his efforts in organizing a Hoop it Up basketball tournament in the Winston-Salem, N.C., area. Baker is pursuing his Academy bachelor’s degree in sports management. He said his courses on fundraising in sports and sports marketing and promotions have been beneficial in his quest to help his community. Baker – the head junior varsity basketball coach at Parkland (N.C.) Magnet High School – is organizing the Hoop it Up tournament as his degree program mentorship. The 3x3 basketball tournament for all ages is currently scheduled for [...]

The United States Sports Academy’s student of the Month Daniel Kane said he’s looking forward to earning his doctoral degree and using it to progress through the ranks of the teaching profession in higher education. Kane is a faculty member in the department of tourism and hospitality at Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system in Brooklyn. Kane, an Academy Doctor of Education degree student, discovered the institution on the recommendation of alumnus and national faculty member Dr. Anthony Borgese, who is the chair of Kane’s department at Kingsborough. “I found out about the Academy from Dr. Borgese when I taught an introduction to sports management course with him,” Kane said. “I couldn’t be happier with the result. The Academy is the best program [...]

Amphone Rasasombath was already working in the patient care field when she decided to pursue her Bachelor of Sports Science degree in Sports Strength and Conditioning from the United States Sports Academy. Now, the institution’s Student of the Month is nearing the end of her bachelor’s program and eyeing a career boost in the personal training field. A native of Seattle, Wash., Rasasombath said she heard about the Academy from a friend. After graduating from Rainier Beach High School, she discovered a passion for health and fitness and earned a certificate in the field from the ACE Academy. She works as a personal fitness and aerobic trainer and would like to pursue a doctorate in the personal training discipline. “I was looking for somewhere to get a bachelor’s degree and [...]

United States Sports Academy January 2020 Student of the Month Ciara Taylor said the institution’s flexible learning options have helped in her career as a high school athletic trainer in Birmingham, Ala. Taylor is in her third year in the Academy’s Doctor of Education degree program in sports management. She works as an athletic trainer for Oak Mountain (Ala.) High School through PlaySafe, a non-profit organization that provides essential sports medicine services to youth, community, and secondary schools in the Birmingham area. “The Academy has been great because it is so flexible,” Taylor said. “As a high school athletic trainer, almost all of my work is in the afternoons and evenings. The Academy allows me to do my school work in the mornings before I go to work. I can [...]

Because of his dedication to learning and his successful mentorship program, doctoral degree candidate Jonathan Rosenberg was named the United States Sports Academy’s December 2019 Student of the Month. Rosenberg is the director of the sports management program at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, N.Y. He is seeking his Doctor of Education degree in Sports Management with an Olympism emphasis from the Academy. He is currently in the dissertation phase and attended the Academy’s inaugural Dissertation Writing Intensive Workshop last fall. “I chose the Academy because, first and foremost, I knew I would get a great education,” Rosenberg said. “But also, the Academy affords me the opportunity to work at my own pace. I work full time in education, so there are some days when I have [...]

Brandon Fox is a former two-sport athlete who earned all-state honors in high school football and when he finishes his United States Sports Academy bachelor’s degree, he’d like to use that experience to coach at the collegiate level. A resident of Littleton, Colo., Fox is the Academy’s Student of the Month for November. He’s currently pursuing his Bachelor of Sports Science degree in sports management while working full time for a landscaping business in his hometown. “I have been interested in sports my whole life and when I was thinking about what I wanted to do in college, I went through several different degree paths but always came back to sports,” Fox said. “I love learning about sports at the Academy because it is more than just X’s and O’s. [...]

Studying sports management at the United States Sports Academy runs in the blood for Student of the Month Carmen Ward. Ward, of Pace, Fla., is pursuing her Bachelor of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy. Her brother, Allen Ward, also earned his bachelor’s degree from the institution in 2015. “I studied somewhere else when I graduated from high school, but I always knew I wanted to do something in sports for my career,” Ward said. “I knew that my brother had a really good experience studying at the Academy, and of course he encouraged me to try it out. My experience has been wonderful so far.” Ward works as a paraprofessional at S.S. Dixon Intermediate School in her hometown of Pace, Fla. There, she serves as a [...]

Golf is the foundation upon which United States Sports Academy Student of the Month Kerrilyn Curtin’s life has been built. Curtin works full time as the market research director for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and is raising a family with her husband, Brian, who is the general manager of a golf club in New York. Because of the Academy’s flexible learning options, she’s also able to pursue her Doctor of Education degree in sports management from the institution at the same time. “The Academy has provided me the flexibility to be a full time working mother and to pursue my doctorate at the same time,” Curtin said. “For someone like me, who works full time and has a family and a busy life, the Academy’s scheduling options are [...]

Because of his dedication to earning not just one or two, but three degrees from the institution, Dennis Figures of Bryan, Texas, has been selected as the United States Sports Academy’s first Student of the Month. Figures, who hopes to work as a sports analyst in broadcast television or teach sports management at the collegiate level, was inspired by a friend to pursue his bachelor’s degree from the Academy. When he researched the institution, Figures was moved by the stories of alumni like Mike Leach, who went on to become one of the most recognized and respected coaches in college football at Texas Tech University and now at Washington State University. “When I saw the kind of people who had earned their degree from the Academy, and when I read [...]