Menlo-Magazine-Fall-2014

Former Men’s Soccer Player CraigMaking his Mark on the Sports IndustryIan Craig ‘13 on the Field at Toyota Park, home of the Chicago Fire.by Aaron GillespieSports Information DirectorMenlo College students have a myriadof opportunities to improve duringtheir time on campus. Whether itbe academically, athletically, or within thecommunity, Menlo College offers handson experience for those seeking it. FormerMen’s Soccer player Ian Craig ’13 transferredthose skills to a blossoming careerin professional sports.Within just a year after graduating, Craigsecured, and succeeded, in internshipswith Major League Soccer’s (MLS) SanJose Earthquakes in both Merchandiseand Ticket Sales. Through hard work andnetworking, Craig continued his rise in theindustry and recently relocated to Chicagoto accept a position as a Group Ticket SalesRepresentative with the Chicago Fire.His ability to network in the industry canbe directly attributed to his time as astudent-athlete at Menlo College.“The great thing about Menlo was, comingout of high school, I always wanted to workin sports and play college soccer. Menlogave me the opportunity to do both,”noted Craig. “I met several people here thatworked in the industry and gave me a lotof insight on how to advance myself andstand out from other people.”It all started, according to Craig, during theannual Men’s Soccer Alumni Game whenhe met alum Victor Rico ‘09 who wasworking with the Earthquakes at the time.Weeks later, Craig had multiple interviewsfor internships and eventually landed aplace on the Merchandise team.“It’s weird how one conversation canchange your life,” said Craig of his chatwith Rico.Just months into his experience with theFire, Craig has grown in his role, built anetwork and even carved out time for atwo week trip to the World Cup where hetraveled to Rio de Janeiro and El Salvadorand watched three matches.Craig plans to continue to progress withinthe MLS and eventually work for a Europeanclub to garner valuable experience thathe hopes to bring back to the U.S. to helpcontinue in the growth of the sport.Playing soccer at the college level, whilereceiving a great education in his desiredmajor of Sports Management, made MenloCollege the perfect fit for Craig.“Sports Management and the soccerexperience were huge for my career.”Student-Athletes Achieveat High LevelsMenlo College student-athletes are atalented group of individuals. Theyposted a phenomenal year in 2013-14and are off to a stellar start in 2014-15.Last season, over 50% of all student-athletesheld a GPA of 3.0 or better and eightof the department’s 13 programs werehonored by the National Association ofIntercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as ScholarTeams for maintaining a GPA of 3.0 orgreater. In 2013-14, seven student-athletesearned a place on the Capital One/CoSIDAAcademic All-District list and three wenton to claim Capital One/CoSIDA AcademicAll-American honors – all firsts in schoolhistory. Ten of 15 resident advisors and nineof 13 student government members participatedon athletic teams. Each student-athletecompleted a minimum of 30 hours ofcommunity service during the season.Athletically, the department posted a124-101-4 overall record (55%) including animpressive 63-37-2 (63%) mark in conferenceplay and 66-35-2 (65%) record inhome contests. Fourteen student-athletesachieved All-American status, two teams(women’s basketball and volleyball) wontheir respective conference tournamentsand competed in the national tournament,eight qualified individually for theirrespective national tournaments and 19student-athletes earned Daktronics-NAIAScholar-Athlete accolades. Three playersearned conference player of the year honors.Other awardees included defender ofthe year, and newcomer of the year.In addition to their responsibilities in theclassroom and on the field, many Menlostudent-athletes work on campus andassist the Athletic Department in gameoperations and sports information.Community service efforts includedcanned food drives, Christmas gift donationsand volunteering at local food banks.Student-Athletes continuallyachieve at high levelswith a service-mindedapproach.MENLO COLLEGE 37