Former pole vaulter receives promotion in Athletics Department
A former Coyote pole vaulter got a promotion with the Athletics Department at the beginning of January. Ethan Bray previously worked as the Ticket Office Graduate Assistant before being promoted to Assistant Director for Ticket Operations and Sales.
In an email interview with The Volante, Bray said his previous job allowed him to handle the non-seasonal tickets for sports like women’s soccer, track and field and swim and dive. He was in charge of training new part-time workers on how to use the ticketing software along with gameday operations.
“As the Assistant Director for Ticket Operations and Sales, my responsibilities have increased slightly but I am still in charge of doing all the training and such since we have not yet hired a new graduate assistant,” Bray said.
At the beginning of each fiscal year new goals are set and Bray said one of his goals is to be able to assist in hitting ticket revenue goals this year.
“Since I was not in this position when the goals were set, I am sort of just riding the waves of what my boss and his previous boss started last semester with the fall sports,” Bray said. “I would like to learn how to be a more effective communicator and leader while I am here as well.”
After receiving his promotion, Bray said he felt good but was nervous because now he has more responsibility and autonomy.
“I have had to lead during some basketball games by myself and it’s stressful making sure that everything runs smoothly, but it’s gone well so far. I feel more confident now that I’ve been in this position for close to a month now and am in a rhythm,” Bray said.
During his undergraduate, Bray majored in criminal justice and said this will help in his current position because of the amount of critical thinking that goes with the job.
“A lot of the classes in the criminal justice degree involved critical thinking and I’ve been able to apply that to different scenarios that come up during gamedays or when we are planning events and trying to increase the attendance for it,” Bray said.
While in his undergraduate, Bray was a pole vaulter for USD. He said it now feels special being able to give back to USD after all it has done for him in the last 5 years.
“I like to think I can help make a difference in the lives of the student-athletes that are still playing and competing by working here,” Bray said.
Bray said he can see himself in his current position for a while but doesn’t know where he will be in a few years. Right now, he said he is enjoying working with his bosses and coworkers and feels like he is in a good spot.
