St. John's University Athletics
Student-Athlete Blog: Greetings From Nike World Campus!
7/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
July 2, 2009
Queens, N.Y. -
Each week this summer, senior Tom Manes will take Red Storm fans on a journey to Beaverton, Ore., where he is spending his summer away from cheesesteaks and his hometown of Philadelphia; to intern across the country at the Nike World Campus Headquarters.
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Greetings From Nike World Campus (July 29, 2009)
What's up everybody? I was so busy last week I was unable to write. So I'm sorry it's a bit late!
Professional athletes have been everywhere the last two weeks. It started two weeks ago when the Nike 6.0 athletes came to the Nike campus. The Nike 6.0 athletes come from the action sports at Nike. This category started a few years back and has been thriving ever since. Basically, 6.0 stands for the six Nike sponsored action sports: BMX, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, wakeboarding, and motocross. Nike set up ramps on one of its patios on campus so the athletes were able to showcase their talent for all the attendees. It was pretty sick being right next to them while they were doing all their tricks.
Last week was probably the best week I have had since I have been out here. On Monday, there was the opening meeting for Athletic Training called SAMM. These meetings ran all week and it is basically where Nike talks about its future plans and products that will go into market next year. Nike leaders from different countries partake in these meeting as well as certain retailers around the globe. Halfway through the meeting, a special guest came to the stage: Adrian Peterson. Since he is the focal point amongst athletic training here at Nike, it was good for everyone to see him in person. He went through some Q&A with the Vice President of our category. To note, he is an absolute beast in person!
Next up, Nike hosted its second annual 7-vs.-7 football tournament. The tournament was held on Nike's Ronaldo field. ESPN chose eight of the top high school teams in the country to participate in the tournament. I was chosen to be a captain/coach of one of the teams and we actually ended up going to the championship. Division I athletes filled the fields at Nike while putting on a show for all. Also, each team was given a professional football player to coach their team. Some of athletes that came out to coach were Andre Johnson, Jamarcus Russell, Quentin Jammer, Dennis Dixon, Willie Parker, Antonio Cromartie, and Jordan Babineaux. It was pretty cool just hanging out right next to these guys. Even Carmello Anthony and Chris Paul were in town working on their shoes for next year. All these guys are so much bigger seeing them in person.
Another good thing about the tournament was that it gave me an opportunity to get a solid amount of consumer insight on high school athletes. One of my projects here deals with Nike Pro base layer and how improvements can be made for customer satisfaction. So having the athletes (target consumer) there in front of you on a first hand basis was perfect.
So far this week has been pretty laid back. If you have been paying attention to sports, you probably know that Dwayne Wade has signed on with the Jordan brand, which Nike owns, so he was also here Wednesday meeting with some important people.
As for myself, I am now just working on getting back into running shape. I have been doing timed miles daily and have also participated in Nike's newest training called SPARQ. It deals with stuff like parachutes, ladders, hurdles, cones, and medicine balls to name of few. It's perfect rehab plus it will only improve my footwork and speed. With that note, I actually have to get back to work, so I will talk to you next week!
-- T. Manes #14
Greetings From Nike World Campus (July 9, 2009)
Hey Red Storm Fans! How's everyone doing this week? I hope everyone had as good a holiday as I did. This past weekend was a big one for Nike. Three of Nike's most premier athletes took home an individual championship over the weekend: Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Tiger Woods. Even though I wanted Roddick to win, I had to remember where I am working. Nonetheless, Nike could not have asked for a better weekend.
This week around campus there has been a lot of talk about Lance Armstrong and his quest for his Eighth Tour de France title. He is like a legend here - he has his own training center named after him. Everyone admires not only his athletic abilities, but most importantly, what his goal in life is - to cure cancer. Outside the Mia Hamm building today, people have been chalking up the pavement in yellow chalk with inspirational quotes. The concept "Livestrong" has really taken a huge step over this past year and as the Tour continues into July it will only get bigger.
Now to the fun part … on Friday of last week, about 20 interns and I went white water rafting. Growing up in a city [Philadelphia], I had no idea what to expect especially after having to sign my life away with the safety and liability paperwork. In the end, the experience was unbelievable and something I will never forget. All in all, it was about a three hour trip down the river. The rapids did get a bit intense, but I was able to hang on.
The next day, I woke up to a text from one of my teammates who was in Oregon and close to my apartment near Nike Campus. It was Gavin Buckley! My fellow blogger! I eventually met up with him and we just went back to the pool at my apartment and relaxed there. I believe he is here until the 13th and will be back in Portland this coming weekend. The good teammate that I am, I will be meeting up with him this weekend and taking him to the employee store (50% off!).
This Thursday during lunch break, there is a lacrosse throw around. I am pretty pumped about this because I didn't think anyone even had a stick around here! Since, I'm still recovering from my foot surgery I had in April, I will probably lay low for now. On that note, I am rehabbing twice a week at a therapeutic place close by. My foot is definitely getting better and actually I was just cleared to jog this week so I'm excited about that. Have a good weekend everyone.
-T. Manes #14
Greetings From Nike World Campus (July 2, 2009)
What's up everyone? It's Tom Manes from the men's lacrosse team. I hope everyone is doing well as the summer months are underway. I'm going to be writing to you this summer from my Nike Internship in Beaverton, Ore. For those of you unfamiliar of Beaverton, it is about 20 minutes outside of Portland. Each year, St. John's recommends one student-athlete from to participate in this prestigious internship program. This is the second year a member of the lacrosse team has gone. My teammate Ryan Parker did it last season.
I got settled in here about two and a half weeks ago. So far, it has been everything I've hoped for and better. I am working in the Sports Marketing Department with Global Athletic Training. The team members around me were so welcoming and loved that fact that I play college lacrosse (an emerging market to them).
My first day of work here was a memorable one. Standing outside of the Tiger Woods Center that day, I looked up to see Michael Jordan a few feet from me. I didn't know it at the time, but they were celebrating his 25th anniversary working with Nike. So the 75 or so interns and I were able to watch M.J.'s ceremony, which was awesome.
The Nike campus is so big; and unbelievable to say the least. The buildings are all new and are all named after athletes that have made an impact at Nike over the years: Mia Hamm, Ken Griffey Jr., Jerry Rice, etc. There is everything one could think of on campus with two great training facilities, soccer and football fields, basketball courts, beach volleyball and even their own barber shop.
Basically, Nike has been the ideal place to work for me. Everyone is so nice and laid back, yet finds their time to get their work done. Intramurals go on throughout the lunch hours. The dress code: khaki shorts or jeans and a t-shirt. Summer hours at Nike: Friday's = half days.
But anyhow, I have to get back to work. I'll save the rest for next week though.
Take care everyone! Make sure to check out my teammate Gavin Buckley's Between The Pipes Blog!
-- T. Manes #14
