My interest in studying sport began with playing it. My first memories consist of swinging a large, orange baseball bat and hitting a white, plastic what felt like miles but was likely inches.
After deciding to leave my playing days behind and pursue my academics, I pursued my bachelor’s of science in Kinesiology at the Pennsylvania State University. I stayed in State College and received my master’s degree in the history and philosophy of sport at Penn State as well.
I was lucky enough to identify teaching as a passion of mine during my graduate work. So, I joined Teach for America and helped found a new public middle school in Springfield, Massachusetts as a 6th grade science teacher. After two years, I transitioned into the administration and acted as the Director of Operations for the school as it expanded from two grades, to a full middle school and high school.
Having loved both studying sport and managing teachers, I combined the interests and find myself pursuing my Ph.D. in sport management at the University of Michigan. My research interests revolve around patterns of organizational change within the institution of sport. Specifically, my passion is for explicating the influence of play on how sport organizations behave. I’d love to chat about it if you have a few minutes, or hours!
Adam Copeland, M.S. 