Winning a Rush for students who make their business case

Their group noted that the Rush do not have an app, so they thought that would be a good idea to look at.

The nine teams that participated came from across northern Saskatchewan, some from as far away as La Ronge, and were given a bit of prep work before a two-hour timeframe to come up with ideas to address the scenario presented by Tyler Warwick, VP of Business Operations with the Saskatchewan Entertainment Group (SEG).

In the two hours, they had to read the case, come up with a solution, put together a presentation, and rehearse it before it was presented.

Warwick worked with SaskPoly to create the rubric on what they were looking for from the teams.

“Part of that is in line with the sport management program here at Sask Polytech and the business program,” he said. “Part of that was engaging Gen Z and the next generation of fans and how they consume sports, what they’re looking for in brands and how they spend their disposable income.”

He said that he saw some good ideas put forward by the various teams of students and some will become part of their marketing strategy in the future. He also wants to help convince them to consider sports management as a career.

“I hope that they learn about the potential opportunities to work in the sports industry. It’s a ton of fun and it’s something I’m passionate about,” said Warwick.

For at least some of the winners, who were there as part of their high school entrepreneur class, the adventure did expand their horizons.

“I never really thought I would be, but after taking this class, it’s definitely sparked an interest,” said Masko.

Blanchard has her sights set on being a psychologist, but with a private practice, that is still private business.

For Josh Glew, an instructor at Sask Polytech who was also an instructor for the event, said the idea is to be unique so they structured the rubric in a way that rewarded that.

“It’s mostly about their ability to come up with a new idea and present it to the Rush. We’re not looking at typical things like traditional business frameworks or how well they have business prep. It’s about the ideas the students generate and how well they’re able to express those ideas,” he said.

This is the first year that Sask Polytech hosted the competition in northern Saskatchewan.

The first two years were in Moose Jaw alone, with the Moose Jaw Warriors and then the Saskatchewan Roughriders being the case team.

Using a team, the students can see close to home was a deliberate choice.

“Doing practical hands-on work like this gives the students a chance to work with a real business and also hopefully see the results of their work put into action,” Glew said.

This year, they expanded to Prince Albert so northern students would have an easier time participating, but also held the event simultaneously in Moose Jaw.

Groups came from Stanley Mission, La Loche and La Ronge as well.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Winning a Rush for students who make their business case

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