This feature originally appeared in the 2017 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



Key to the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics' support of career development across its 30 programs are donors who play crucial roles in helping student-athletes access and embrace the chance to plan for their futures.
 
Among those great donors is Nancy Orear '82, who has volunteered with the women's basketball program in an official capacity since 2013. Things may have slowed down on the court after the Golden Bears finished their season with a run into the NCAA Tournament. However, Orear and the Bears have remained in full gear focusing on the exciting next steps in the lives of these young women while continuing to establish better networking channels among alumni and other Bay Area professionals.
 
"When you see a whiteboard with career goals in a team room, the top goal most often is the WNBA," said Orear, who graduated from Cal with a BA in psychology before earning an MBA at the University of San Francisco. "When you meet with players, you want to be encouraging, but you also have to help their minds open to the fact that the purpose of their education is not solely to get to the WNBA. The purpose of their education is to open those doors so that when the time comes, they have a great foundation for a career, whatever it may be."
 
Orear and her wife, Teresa Basgall, who was a student-athlete at George Mason, have given generously as donors across the University, from Athletics to Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs, from the Public Service Center to the Chancellor's Office. Orear said that while all fans of Cal Athletics should donate to the best of their abilities, she has found becoming a fully engaged volunteer to be a deeply rewarding experience, for both herself and the student-athletes she has assisted.
 
"I want to give back. I've written checks my whole life, but how can I connect better?" said Orear in describing her mindset at the time she became more involved. "The opportunity to be a volunteer makes you feel like you can make a difference in many people's lives. Although women's basketball is my focus, I've been able to connect with student-athletes across many sports as a participant in Career Connections."
 
A program offered by Student-Athlete Development, Career Connections describes its resource as "an opportunity for purposeful conversation with professionals and student-athletes as they begin their career exploration or are seeking employment."
 
For women's basketball, working with Director of Operations Jill Culbertson and other staff, Orear and Basgall enacted seemingly exhaustive research to create a comprehensive alumnae database, and, over the course of months, personally connected with the spectrum of career services available on campus to explore how better to synch them with the busy life of a student-athlete.
 
A fifth-generation San Franciscan whose parents did not graduate from college (although her father and a grandmother both attended Cal), Orear knows firsthand that having someone in one's corner, such as her parents or the many mentors that helped guide her through a successful career in Investments, is crucial to attaining one's goals.
 
"I was hired because I had Cal on my resume," Orear said of her first job. "That's what got my foot in the door. So I know it's that one more step, that sixth degree of separation that makes a difference. There are different career paths for everybody and you may change your mind. There is no failure; there's just experience."
 
A fan of football and men's hoops as a Cal student, Orear did not get to know women's basketball until after graduation, when she was quickly hired and promoted to the trading desk at the securities firm Rowe & Pitman. It was with her boss, Nelson Weller, and his wife, Jane, that Orear began attending games.
 
Soon a devoted fan, Orear made the decision to apply her skills and sensibilities to assist the student-athletes she admired, both on and off the court, and has since become a difference maker whom head coach Lindsay Gottlieb understandably appreciates.
 
"Everyone needs a mentor, and student-athletes, in particular, benefit from feeling the presence of alumni who care about their development off the court, and who can help them connect to the range of resources our campus offers for career development," Gottlieb said. "Nancy and Teresa have been invaluable in making sure the young women in our program see the exciting possibilities in their futures, both on and off the court. They have also given generously of their time, expertise and resources to personally connect with our players, helping to provide them with the confidence and connections to pursue their career passions."
 
Orear and Basgall's database has become the backbone of the team's Career Development Program, while other donors like them have been equally crucial in other sports as they bridge the gap between opportunities offered on campus and student-athletes' ability to engage them.
 
From resumes and LinkedIn profiles, to setting up Shadow Days, Orear has helped members of the current team earn valuable experience in a range of exciting endeavors via Cal's network of career resources. Sophomores Chen Yue, who did an externship at Levi Strauss in both San Francisco and China as well as Pac-12 Global in San Francisco, and Asha Thomas, who spent a day working with Rumble Entertainment and three weeks with the Office of Communications & Public Affairs on campus, are just two examples of the almost 400 externships that Cal student-athletes have enjoyed this past year.
 
Director of Athletics Mike Williams, who competed as a wrestler for the Bears, said donors who engage in career mentoring and student-athlete development are tremendously important members of the Cal community.
 
"As a student-athlete at Cal, I experienced firsthand the joys and challenges of maintaining a rigorous schedule and pursuing excellence, both athletically and academically," Williams said. "Mentors were vital to my transition to a professional life, and the programs and people that Cal has in place prove that our resources are plentiful and our mentors have tremendous impacts upon the lives of our student-athletes. The impact Nancy and Teresa have had on the Cal women's basketball program, as well as Intercollegiate Athletics at Cal, is inspiring and critical to upholding the mission of our department. Along with other donors and volunteers, we thank them sincerely."
 
The life of a student-athlete may not allow vast amounts of time to access career resources on campus, but the staff of Cal Athletics, working together with donors like Orear and Basgall, ensure they have access to the same resources utilized by their student peers at the University.
 
To learn more about how you can contribute to the professional development of our University's student-athletes, contact the Cal Athletics Fund by email at CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or by phone at (510) 642-2427. To join Orear and Basgall in championing the Golden Bears, please make a gift to Cal Athletics by visiting give.berkeley.edu/athletics.