Here at URI, there are many ways to get involved on campus. As of now, the number one employer on campus is the Campus Recreation Department. Campus Recreation offers students the opportunity to work in a variety of different units: Marketing, Intramural Sports, Facilities and Operations, Aquatics, Fitness and Wellness, and much more. Intramural Sports provide students with various part-time on-campus jobs such as working the games as an official or a game manager. While working for Campus Recreation, many employees often do both! A great example of a student taking advantage of these opportunities is senior Sean Deady, the Program Assistant (PA) of Officials for Intramural Sports (IM Sports). 

Deady described his role in Intramural Sports as being responsible for overseeing all game officials in all of the IM Sports games that are offered throughout the academic year. With 16 different IM Sports leagues offered, and over 60 employed student referees, Deady consistently works hard to make sure everything runs smoothly within the program. He is the main point of contact for all of the student officials should they have any questions or concerns, and he encourages all of his officials to come to him if they have any questions. 

As a PA, Deady’s everyday tasks include creating the weekly work schedule for his officials, making sure each and every official knows which game they are officiating, and assisting in obtaining coverage if an official can’t make their shift. But Deady’s most important responsibility is selecting and training the referees for each sport. In order to be selected and hired, these officials have to show an advanced understanding of the rules of the specific sport they are officiating and how to officiate it. Veteran officials help take some of the workload off of Deady’s shoulders by assisting in the teaching of new officials. Deady and his clinicians are also responsible for evaluating new officials and providing them with feedback that helps them improve. 

Training new officials consist of A, B, and C clinics that include three steps: a presentation, drills, and a live practice. The first clinic is a presentation for the officials, where Deady goes over the rules and procedures of the job. The second clinic is when the officials go out onto the field or court and practice what they have learned from the presentation. Finally, the last clinic is when “we invite teams to come and scrimmage; it’s mainly practice for us [the officials] so the refs can mess up and get better [calling the games], so they at least get a live look before the real games,” said Deady. All these responsibilities might have been a lot at times, but Deady is grateful for all he has learned from working with Campus Recreation. 

Deady has turned into a real go-getter from where he started as a ref his freshman year. He explained why he pursued this job, admitting that as a freshman on campus, he was looking for a job to help pay the bills – not unlike many other students. Deady however, quickly realized that working for Campus Recreation provided much more for him than a paycheck.

At Campus Recreation, Deady not only learned how to manage different teams but he also made lasting connections. “It’s definitely good because not only do I make connections with co-workers, [but] I branch out and make connections with participants as well,” said Deady. Getting a job on campus is a great way to make new relationships and friends, as we can see through Sean’s experience.

In addition to making new connections, working for Campus Recreation provided Deady with the opportunity to “work up in the chain of command.” His goals and his determination combined with “really enjoying” the job helped Deady move into the position of a PA. Earning his position as Program Assistant of Officials for Intramural Sports, at the start of his junior year. Sean’s success within Campus Recreation has helped him develop important life skills. Deady notes that he became more comfortable in his communication skills when presenting in front of his peers from having to lead the official’s training clinics. “In the classroom, I [now] feel very confident because I’m used to presenting to my officials, so the classroom is not much different.”

What’s Next For Sean?

With a month left in his senior year, Sean plans to further his education as a graduate student at Virginia Tech University, where Deady will be taking what he’s learned at Campus Rec and work as the Graduate Assistant of Intramural Sports. Deady accepted this position because of his interest in working in intramural sports and seeing how a larger school runs their intramural program. 

While Deady is not set on what he is studying in graduate school, he hopes to study something in Education. Sean loves teaching and sharing his love for sports with others. His favorite part of his job as the PA of IM Sports at URI is working with the underclassmen. “I was in their shoes, so I can help them with some of their problems,” said Deady. It is this passion for teaching and for helping others that might have not been found, if Sean had never got a job as a referee, to make a couple extra bucks as a freshman.  

As for Sean’s plans after his two years attending Virginia Tech? He simply doesn’t know yet. But this new chapter for Deady will most certainly help him write his next chapter, similarly to how his time at URI helped him find his upcoming chapter at Virginia Tech.