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CSCommunicators.com/CelebrateCSC
This feature is part of our series of profiles showcasing members throughout the CSC membership during the celebration of College Sports Communicators Membership Appreciation Week for 2022-23. See more features at CSCommunicators.com/CelebrateCSC.
Brandon Stone – Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, Manager, Marketing & Sponsorship
by Tony Venegas – Belmont Abbey College, Director of Athletics Communications // CSC Young Professionals Committee
The Marketing and Sponsorship Manager for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA),
Brandon Stone currently serves on the CSC Canadian Institutions cabinet, the top governance group for Canadian members. He has spent nearly a decade at the conference in his role.
The CCAA office is located in Cornwall, Ontario. There are 98 member institutions in the CCAA, located in eight provinces and regionally governed by six member conferences: Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST), Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference, Ontario Colleges Athletic Association, Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec and Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association. CCAA student-athletes compete in seven sports at 10 CCAA national championships, each hosted by a CCAA member institution.
At a CCAA women’s basketball championship.
How did you get started with the CCAA?
BS: I had a friend that was doing something similar at one of our colleges in Ontario and I found out that there was an opening in the CCAA with marketing and sponsorships. I had a minor in communications from Carleton University (in Canada) where I majored in government and political science and graduated in 2007. After college, I was working in real estate and I was involved in a lot of sports organizations regionally and locally. I started in April 2013 at the CCAA.
What are the biggest changes that you’ve seen in your position since you started?
BS: Social media and webcasting are probably the two biggest changes I’ve seen. The social media side has really evolved a lot and I have a colleague that works on a lot of that stuff with me at the office. I do more on the graphic design side and the strategic messaging side. It’s on a smaller scale than the NCAA schools, but when the webcasting came out, it was a great chance to showcase our teams and championships.
Stone (right) at the 2022 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf National Championships, presented by PING, and hosted by the CCAA ACSC’s Durham College. Durham College men’s and women’s golf head coach Michael Duggan is pictured, left.
What do you see as the benefits of being a part of CSC?
BS: Truthfully, I had kind of watched it from arm’s length. I had some colleagues that were talking about it and followed what was going on at the annual convention. I’ve never had a chance to visit the convention but hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that in the future. I started getting more involved with CoSIDA, now CSC, during the pandemic with more free time and checking out the content and webinars. And, I started getting more involved on the university side of things and tried to spread the word with other colleagues about CSC and CANSIDA’s professional development opportunities.
Best advice for those getting started in sports communications/marketing/creative work.
BS: I would say that you shouldn’t be afraid to reach out. I would say that in terms of SIDs and gameday staff, it’s really exploded in the last decade here with the CCAA. We now have people with great experience and history, and those just starting out shouldn’t be afraid to reach out and ask for advice or how they handle certain situations. Even if there’s some discrepancies between the size of our schools and the resources, I think a lot of the situations are the same. A lot of people wear a lot of different hats. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a neighboring institution - or even a rival. Our people are willing to share and help.
Stone at a CCAA championship.
What has you most excited about the future in the profession there with the CCAA?
BS: With the way that technology is evolving, it gives us that exposure that the CCAA didn’t have before. There are more opportunities now to get our brand and our matches and our teams out there, and awareness and engagement is growing. The new forms of media are really helpful for our members to promote their games, student-athletes and the championships.