From playing basketball in his driveway as a kid to working as a student manager for the U-M football team, sports always played a central role in Thomas Dozeman’s life.
Before transferring to U-M to pursue a degree in sport management, the School of Kinesiology senior and Grand Rapids native played basketball for Albion College.
Once at U-M, his passion for sports never wavered. During his college career, he produced creative and marketing content for two sports startups: SPORTalk, a social media platform for sports fans, and StadiumBee, an app similar to Yelp for rating and reviewing sports venues.
Last year, he received the opportunity to be a student manager for the football program, where he worked directly with coaches and personnel during practices and games.
Dozeman said working with the Wolverines provided his most meaningful college experience, noting the large impact of the team, not just on U-M and students but on the greater community as well.
“Going to work every day was a really cool experience — just realizing you’re working for a huge national football program and the effort that goes in behind the scenes from everyone who’s associated with it,” he said.
“I had a great experience there and I really enjoyed that and I will always take that with me going forward when I’m looking back on my college career.”
Dozeman, who will also graduate with an entrepreneurship minor, plans to attend law school after graduation. His dream is to pursue sports law and work on labor negotiations for athletes.
“Working in the sports environment, I think there’s nothing like it,” he said. “Seeing how many people care about sports and how sports impacts society and the world around us, it’s just very addicting and incredible to be around.”
