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Competition runs through the veins of senior student-athlete Kirsten Boyd. With extensive experience working at professional sporting events through LaGrange College’s Sports Management Club, she beat out 300 applicants for a social media position at the New York headquarters of Major League Soccer.

“During the interview process, the hiring manager said, ‘You have done more than people who have been in this position for 20 years,’” she said.

A Sports Management and Spanish double major from Alabaster, Alabama, Boyd interned as a social media strategist for Sideline Sports Network in Brooklyn, New York. She also worked with her fellow LaGrange College club members at competitions for the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League Soccer. Boyd said one of her favorite events was last year’s Final Four basketball tournament in New Orleans.

“At the Final Four, I had the chance to go underneath the stadium at Caesars Superdome because of my connections,” she said. “It was fun to hang out below the stadium and meet the people working with graphic design and building things for VIP rooms.”

She said she learned about networking from the college’s Sports Management Club.

“The student organization taught me that it is not what you know but who you know,” Boyd said. “On paper, experiences are great but being able to connect with people is just as important. It means a lot to me that I have mentors in Major League Baseball, the National Football League, Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League.”

Associate Sports Management Professor Dr. Clay Bolton, who started teaching Boyd in August, said she is an example of hard work and dedication.

“Kirsten is in the rare place of being in the top percent of all students in sports management that I have seen in all my years in higher education,” he said. “Kirsten has made the most of all her opportunities both on and off campus. She is joining Major League Soccer at a time when it is exploding, and I see no ceiling for her career.”

Boyd, who starts her new MLS position after graduation in May, said she will be on the organization’s social media content team.

“I will be working on media and digital marketing for the league office and traveling to different states and seeing how different teams organize their social media platforms,” she said. “This includes making content such as Instagram reels, TikToks, Instagram posts and pushing the MLS brand to be more personable with newer fans.”

Having a job at the headquarters of Major League Soccer is a perfect fit for Boyd, who started playing the game at the age of 5.

“I love the fact that it is a world game that brings everyone together,” she said. “Also, since I am studying Spanish, working in soccer brings great opportunities to travel.”

Boyd did not limit herself to one sport. At the age of 9, she picked up volleyball. After playing volleyball through her junior year at LC, she decided to try her hand at tennis.

“Kirsten is a fierce competitor,” said Head Tennis Coach Drew Cantrell. “She picked up tennis very late in her collegiate career but has made up for lost time with a tenacious work ethic. She went from not ever having played to our number two player in a very short amount of time. She gets to practice early and is always the last player to leave.”

At the college, Boyd is the president and social media chair of the Sports Management Club and the vice president of business honor society Delta Mu Delta.

Associate Management and International Business Professor Dr. Linda McMullen, who is Boyd’s advisor, said the senior has always had a “full steam ahead” desire to excel.

“She has a work ethic that means she does not shortcut assignments, whether working independently or on a team with her peers,” Dr. McMullen said.

The Business Department Chair explained how the program at LaGrange College benefits students like Kirsten.

“We have small classes that allow us to really know our students, which means we know with whom to recommend internships and interviews for possible career opportunities,” Dr. McMullen said. “Our hands-on, applied focus keeps the emphasis on real-world problems and issues, so that students are fully prepared to enter the workplace.”