Anna Garvert, GCU’s Sports and Entertainment Business Club president, has gained professional experience working for NASCAR, the Arizona Cardinals, and most recently, at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Photo by Ralph Freso)
Anna Garvert’s fast-track plan to graduate in three years at Grand Canyon University started, fittingly, with a Zoom Crew promotions team position for NASCAR during the middle of her freshman year.
It continued last summer with the Cardinals as a guest experience associate. That was close to Garvert’s heart because of her longtime passion for football, which started as a kid watching Denver Broncos games with her father, Adam.
GCU students Anna Garvert (right) and Shay Milshteen (left), pictured with sports business icon Jerry Colangelo, assisted at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Despite her busy schedule before the start of her senior year, Garvert couldn’t say no to Neda Barrie, the Colangelo College of Business faculty chair of sports and entertainment, when she asked if she would be interested in assisting at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts, Sept. 5-6 with fellow GCU student Shay Milshteen.
“Heck yeah, I’ll miss classes,” Garvert said. “I’ll do whatever. That’s an incredible experience. And just to be in the room with those people is crazy. I knew it would be something I’d never forget.”
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame commitment butted up against Garvert’s duties as president of the Sports and Entertainment Business Club at GCU. But she realizes sacrifices are part of life when working in sports.
“It’s hard to develop that work-life balance,” said Garvert, who is scheduled to graduate in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in sports and entertainment management. “But I think once you do, it’s so rewarding because you see success in both things. You see success in your personal life. You see success while you were there.
“Our SEBC team was kind of on its own for four days, and to see them all kind of come together without me being here for them was really cool. I thought, ‘OK, it makes me breathe a little bit more knowing that my team can deliver even when I’m not here.’”
Sports and Entertainment Business Club President Anna Garvert said, “I want to be an asset to the women in a male-dominated industry.”
Working at the Hall of Fame event presented its share of challenges, from checking in guests, to escorting inductees and dignitaries to the media room, to working with their management teams, assisting with the red carpet walk, and filling in where needed.
The two-day event was highlighted by the induction of basketball elites, such as the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s gold medal team, assembled by Jerry Colangelo, who was the team director and serves as a GCU Board of Trustees member. Inductees included Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Sue Bird.
“In sports, it’s all about learning how to pivot,” said Garvert, who worked last spring as a gameday promotions assistant at Camelback Ranch, spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. “And I definitely learned over my time there … how can we move forward, fix things kind of on the fly.”
GCU alumna Nicole Schuermann, Position Sports communications coordinator, said of Garvert, “It was amazing to watch her grow over the course of the weekend, going from meeting the team at the airport and being unsure of what she was going to be a part of, to serving as a handler for Hall of Fame class members. Her confidence throughout the weekend soared, and her ability to adapt and excel in such a fast-paced environment was truly impressive.”
The experience also opened Garvert’s eyes to working full time in a sport other than football.
“I learned a lot about possible career opportunities,” Garvert said. “And I think I’ve always been passionate about event planning and to see how every PR department really tapped into the event planning.
“Player management is kind of the realm I want to go down. So I definitely say (working) in PR or community relations for a team. I’m not super picky. You can’t really be picky.”
Anna Garvert would like to pursue a career in sports player management after she graduates in 2026. (Photo by Ralph Freso)
Garvert, a native of Breckenridge, Colorado, wanted to attend a college in Arizona. She took advantage of dual enrollment at a local junior college to accelerate her path to a four-year college degree.
But she felt the University of Arizona was too big, and her mother, Katie, a high school principal, wouldn’t let her visit Arizona State. It snowed on her trip to Northern Arizona, leaving GCU as her lone option.
Garvert’s Discover GCU trip sealed the deal. She liked that, unlike many colleges, GCU combined business and sports management into one major. That, coupled with the Valley hosting NFL, MLB and NBA teams, provided an opportunity to work in any major sport or entertainment avenue.
She felt better about choosing GCU when she enrolled in a class taught by Barrie during her first semester.
“I felt like, ‘OK, God has me where He wants me. I am where I need to be, and I want to get to know her.’”
Garvert heeded Barrie’s advice, joining the SEBC, working for NASCAR and taking advantage of every opportunity.
Garvert has shared that advice with SEBC members, stressing “ultimately, at the end of the day, like it’s your job to take advantage of it.”
Initially, Garvert wasn’t sure she wanted to take over the president duties of the SEBC and its 400 members. But she prayed and heeded the words of her mother:
“Every morning you wake up, you have to know why you do what you do. And developing your why is very important.”
Since the start of the fall semester, “my why has developed even more,” said Garvert, the fourth female president in the 11-year history of the SEBC. “I want to be an asset to the women in a male-dominated industry, and to show them and prove to the women in the club like that it is possible, and to not give up on your dreams working in sports just because it’s less likely for females.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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