Mónica Lebrón, deputy athletics director of championship resources at Tennessee, says she was born into a team. With two athletic sisters to look up to and compete with, sports quickly became the center of her early life. This eventually led to a college softball career at Yale and several athletics department internships.
"I think I was always destined to work in sports," she said.
When Lebrón landed a position within the NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program, she found a team that set the foundation for her successful career as an athletics administrator. She made valuable connections with peers, office staff and mentors she met at events hosted at the national office. Now, nearly 20 years later, she still maintains strong relationships with individuals she connected with during the one-year internship program.
"For me, it will always and forever be the people," Lebrón said. "You had a national office that was probably 300 people deep, and those 300 people wanted to ensure that us interns had the best experience possible."
As an intern, Lebrón brought a wealth of experience to the national office.
She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Yale while working as a four-year administrative assistant to the athletics director, which was followed by earning an MBA and a master's in sports administration from Ohio. She'd also completed summer internships within the athletics departments at Michigan, Washington and Stanford.
Still, her time as a postgraduate intern rounded out her college athletics experience in a way no other opportunity could match.
Working as an intern in the governance department from 2003 to 2004, Lebrón played a role in reviewing and approving bylaws. She worked with the department on the implementation of protective eyewear for women's lacrosse players and described the unparalleled experience of being in a room with key decision-makers.
"I wanted to be like everyone in those rooms," she said. "I loved learning from their brain, learning how they deduced information, how they problem-solved and how they worked together."
After holding positions at Florida, California, Ole Miss, Georgia and Tulane, Lebrón now oversees all externally facing and revenue-generating affairs for the Tennessee athletics department with sport oversight of men's basketball. Throughout her career, she has been reminded of the lessons learned during her time at the national office. For anyone considering a long-term career in college athletics, she believes there is no better place to start.
"Everyone at the national office wants to make sure the interns learn as much as they can about the NCAA and how it functions," she said. "It is a really solid baseline if you want to work in college athletics for the rest of your life."
The NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program annually provides on-the-job learning experiences at the national office in Indianapolis to college graduates who are passionate in their pursuit of a career in college sports administration. With a focus on ethnic minorities, women and former student-athletes, this yearlong program gives insight to the inner workings of college sports from the national perspective. Interns over the past 25 years have taken their experience and institutional knowledge onto campuses and into the conference offices as full-time administrators.
Learn more about the Postgraduate Internship Program at its webpage, including how to apply, types of internships available and more.
