They may be young but they’re not naive.
Only two-years-old, Ryerson’s Ted Rodgers School of Management has won the coveted academic category at the MBA Games twice.
The repeat performance at this year’s games, held at Dalhousie University over the weekend of Jan. 2, came with the added glory of a second-place finish in the spirit category. Judged on academics, spirit and athletics, the MBA Games are an opportunity for Canadian MBA programs to showcase their talent.
One such talent is Beverly Nollert. In early September, she went in front of a panel of Ryerson profs and MBA grads and did a 15-minute presentation on a case she had only 90 minutes to prepare for. This landed her one of four spots on the strategic case team, which, along with a finance and marketing team, comprises the academic portion of the competitors.
Nollert’s team won first place in the strategy competition. Combined with the high-ranking scores of both marketing and finance, Ryerson was awarded first place in the academic category.
Nollert credits this sort of teamwork for giving Ryerson its edge. “We don’t go into competitive mode.” And she credits Dr. Dale Carl, director of Graduate Students and the team’s coach, for fostering this mentality. “Once the team is formed, he teaches us how to work together rather than against each other. He devotes a lot of time and has a lot of experience and is just really effective as a coach … He gets the whole class excited about the MBA Games.”
Like their teamwork, the excitement also paid off. Nollert and 39 of her teammates ranked second in the spirit category. “We were really stoked about that,” says team captain John Riccio. “It showed that we’re good sports and well-rounded, doing our school proud and showing that we’re proud of our school.”
