Who we are
The collective is made up of educators from around the country who believe that sports are more than just an extracurricular activity.
The Team
David Hollander
New York UniversityDavid Hollander, JD, is an assistant dean and clinical professor with the Tisch Institute for Global Sport at New York University and received NYU’s highest faculty honor, the Distinguished Teaching Award. His innovative courses have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, SLAM, Axios, and CBS News. His service on advisory boards include espnW, The Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School,
FIBA Foundation, London Mayor's Basketball Task Force,
and the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute. He persuaded the Pope to recognize the first-ever Saint of Basketball and founded United Nations World Basketball Day. He holds his high school’s record for most technical fouls.
Erianne Weight
University of South Carolina Chappel Hill
Erianne A. Weight is a Professor of Sport Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an international leader in advancing sport as a rigorous and transformative academic discipline. Her work sits at the intersection of sport, education, and expertise development, examining how high-performance environments and organizational structures cultivate cognitive, social, and professional growth. As Director of the Center for Research in Intercollegiate Athletics, Senior Partner of the Indian Collegiate Arts and Athletics Association, and a former President of the North American Society for Sport Management, she has dedicated her career to reimagining how universities integrate athletic performance, leadership development, and academic excellence. A former collegiate heptathlete, Dr. Weight believes deeply in sport as a powerful site of learning and is committed to expanding credit-bearing, performance-based sport majors that recognize athletes as disciplined performers, scholars, and emerging leaders.
Lou matz
University of the Pacific Lou Matz is a Professor of Philosophy at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He regularly teaches a philosophy of sport course and has published on a wide range of topics in that area. His writings on competitive sport as an academic major and as a liberal art have appeared in the various scholarly and popular press publications. He also is recognized as a leading scholar on J.S. Mill’s philosophy of religion. He played intercollegiate basketball at the University of Redlands before there was a three-point line and played one year on a professional development team in Giessen, Germany during its reunification. He has four children and a sweet Bichon Frise dog.
Eric Carter
Lindsey Wilson UniversityDr. Eric Carter is a sociologist and Assistant Vice President for Student Success at Lindsey Wilson University, where he advances equitable policies, practices, and systems that cultivate student growth and belonging. He earned his BA from Carson-Newman University, his MA from Marshall University, and his PhD from Kansas State University. Grounded in a belief that education is a practice of freedom, he is committed to creating learning environments that are transformative, holistic, and rooted in care. His work centers on fostering both academic excellence and personal well-being for all students, with particular attention to the lived experiences of student-athletes. A former athlete and lifelong (and resilient) Cleveland sports fan, Dr. Carter brings both critical insight and deep passion to empowering student-athletes to thrive beyond the game.
Courtney Murray
Campbellsville University
Courtney Murray Carter is an educator and program lead whose work centers on the educational value of sport as a transformative learning experienced and site for holistic development. As Program Lead for Sport Performance at Campbellsville University, she has designed curricula that integrate theory, practice, and reflection to enhance student engagement and success. Her teaching and research emphasize culturally responsive pedagogy, experiential learning, and the role of sport in developing professional identity. Carter holds a B.A. in English from Centre College and an M.S. in Sport Management from Eastern Kentucky University and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Sport Management at Troy University. She has presented nationally on innovative sport curricula, advising, and embodied learning and contributes to the growing national dialogue on sport’s place within liberal education through her collaborations with the Sport Major Collective, COSMA, and the Society for Experiential Education.
Coco Barton
Student at NYU
Coco Barton is a Junior at NYU studying Sports Management. A captain of the NYU Women’s volleyball team, she knows first hand the benefits and lessons playing a sport competitively in college instills. She works for Professor Hollander at NYU and as a marketing assistant for the Hoopbus.
Mark Woychick
Boise State UniversityMark Woychick is Clinical Assistant Professor in Boise State’s College of Innovation + Design and Director of the Google Career Certificates and Onramp programs. His work focuses on interdisciplinary program design, strategic planning, and workforce-aligned curriculum. A certified futurist and professional facilitator, he specializes in building scalable academic models that connect performance, innovation, and career readiness.
John Armstrong
Southern Virginia UniversityJohn M. Armstrong, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Southern Virginia University, where he and his colleagues started the first Sport Performance major in the U.S. that requires participation in competitive sport.
John Jowers
VP Global Communications, NIKEContact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!