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Spotlight: 2024 WISE Bay Area / USF Sports Management Master's Program Cohort 61 Scholarship Winner: Yuna Usui

WISE SF Bay Area and USF Sport Management Master’s Program has selected Yuna Usui as the 2024 Summer Student Scholarship Winner! The WISE SF Bay Area / USF Sports Management Scholarship is awarding applicants from each cohort with the goal of providing professional development opportunities for young women as they establish their careers. Yuna is studying with cohort 61 which had orientation in July.

Yuna graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo with a Bachelor of Engineering and pursued her Master's Sports Administration degree at USF due to her love of sports and seven-year career in live-streaming TV. The main focus of her work was soccer but she also covered baseball, rugby, sumo, table tennis, wrestling. Her work also included interviewing top athletes, such as Olympic medalists and World Cup competitors.

A trip to the United States and attending a Golden State Warriors game proved fateful in Yuna’s interest in pursuing a post-graduate degree in professional sports. While at the game, Yuna noticed that almost everyone in the arena was outfitted in Golden State Warriors merchandise, “In Japan people don’t wear team apparel like they do in the US. Everyone is so proud to support the team and makes me think about how deeply rooted sports are in communities. I’m interested in learning more about game entertainment, fan engagement, or player enhancement and monetization areas to get some tips from the American sports culture.”

An email from USF included information about the WISE Bay Area student scholarship. “I was very impressed to learn about an organization of women who work in the sports field. And I thought that if I could become a member of it, it would be a great asset to my career. My goal is to build strong relationships with women who work in the Bay Area in the U.S., where the culture of sports is deeply rooted, and learn how they have been involved with sports and what kind of ways they are active in the field. When I return home (to Japan) after completing my degree, I would like to be a pioneer of women who work in the Japanese sports world. Being awarded the scholarship is a great opportunity for me.”

Congratulations, Yuna. We look forward to helping you navigate your success!