The acceptance speeches from CAA Sports co-head Howie Nuchow and Vanderbilt AD Candice Storey Lee resonated with Sports Business Awards attendees, combining a pitch for supporting women in sports with a reminder that education remains an important aspect of college athletics.
In accepting Best in Talent Representation, Nuchow noted the growth of the agency, including the number of women leaders at CAA: “We first won this award in 2009, and it was our third year when we were a startup, and I think it’s important to acknowledge what’s changed in all those years. We had 36 employees, and I think only 11 or 12 were women. I think it’s really important for us to look at the difference — that today, as we receive this award, we have over 500 women employees globally and over 51% of our workforce in the U.S.” He closed by saying. “This is the golden age of sports, and we’re all very lucky to be a part of it. ... It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
In accepting AD of the Year, Lee said she was proud that “in the midst of having arguably the most competitive year in our history, we also had the best academic year in our history.” She noted that each of the school’s teams earned over a 3.1 GPA, and they finished with the cumulative GPA of nearly 3.5 at Vanderbilt. She closed by sharing the vision and philosophy at Vanderbilt: “You can be student and athlete. You can be innovative and values-driven. You can be confident, but you can also be coachable, and you can be serious about your work. But you can also do it with joy.”
