This feature originally appeared in the 2023 Summer 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.
 


Sports teams and startups have striking commonalities. Their game plans are quite similar: bring together a group of talented individuals, create a shared goal, scout their opponents, perfect their craft and then showcase it to the world.
 
 The student-athletes in Cal's "Sports Tech: Entrepreneurship & The Future of Sports" class learned firsthand about the parallels between sports teams and startups this spring. Golden Bears from across Intercollegiate Athletics were represented in the class, with members of men's swimming & diving, men's basketball, track and field, softball, football, rugby and women's gymnastics all collaborating in pursuit of academic excellence.
 
A feature of the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology's diverse course catalog, the class was also a part of the Berkeley Changemaker suite of courses, which is a program that was developed in the summer of 2020 that spans 30 academic departments and involves over 50 esteemed faculty members. Berkeley Changemaker courses are all unified in their focus on the three pillars of student development: critical thinking, communication and collaboration. The diverse collection of courses strives to empower all students to become catalysts of change, no matter their field or passion.
 
In the program's first two years of existence, it has already engaged 20% of UC Berkeley undergraduates, who upon completing their coursework are regarded as "changemakers". Always on the cutting edge of campus' exciting academic initiatives, Cal student-athletes immersed themselves into the Berkeley Changemaker community via the SportsTech & Entrepreneurship class and carried with them their invaluable perspectives as high-performing athletes. 
 
"The student-athletes in the class brought an unparalleled dedication and discipline honed through their athletic pursuits," course instructor and Cal track and field alumna Dr. Christyna Serrano said. "Leveraging their natural leadership abilities, teamwork skills and unwavering commitment to personal growth, they embraced entrepreneurship with open minds and unleashed a wave of innovation. Their presence significantly enriched the course, inspiring their peers and driving the entire class to new heights."
 
At their weekly class meeting, the students engaged with course material that gave them a framework for building a business model focused on the technology and innovation sector of sports. They studied readings and heard from guest lecturers who were sports technology entrepreneurs, industry experts, professional athletes and business leaders.
 
The students were also tasked with a semester-long project in which they flexed their entrepreneurial muscles to develop and pitch an original technology-driven product that would make waves in the sports arena for athletes, teams, businesses and fans. The products were required to utilize innovative technology such as artificial intelligence, wearable technology, virtual reality or blockchain technology and designed to solve a current problem or advance the integration of technology and sport. Cal's student-athletes banded together to form teams that would collaborate on these projects for the entire semester.
 
One such team called themselves "OptiGenix" and featured track and field's Gabe Abbes, Jai Williams and Toby Lai, men's swimming & diving's Björn Seeliger, men's basketball's Kuany Kuany and football's Trey Paster.
 
"It was amazing to meet fellow student-athletes outside of the training environment," Seeliger said. "The class helped to highlight our abilities off of the court, while also allowing for us to integrate our different experiences and knowledge from our respective sports."
 
The members of Team OptiGenix drew from their backgrounds as student-athletes in order to identify the focus of their term project. In their early conversations about a problem they faced as athletes, they realized that their personal nutritional supplement plans were nearly identical, although they all had different body types and physical performance goals that were specific to their individual sports. This discussion gave birth to an idea of utilizing DNA analysis and microchip technology to examine a person's body data and make recommendations for a nutritional supplement plan that is tailored to their specific needs as an athlete striving for peak athletic performance.
 
The team spent the entire semester conceptualizing its product and building a business model in preparation for its final presentation. The student-athletes spent countless hours sifting through biochemistry research journals, studying their potential market competitors and writing a business proposal for prospective financial backers.
 
Perhaps the most outstanding part of their endeavor is how they balanced the workload of a rigorous academic course with their in-season sports. Seeliger particularly epitomized the student-athlete persona, with the Olympian and 19-time All-American simultaneously earning the titles of champion and changemaker as he helped the men's swimming & diving program to their eighth NCAA title halfway through the academic semester.

The group's 15 weeks of work culminated with a formal presentation to a distinguished panel of judges that included entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sports industry professionals and Cal Athletics' very own Senior Associate Athletic Director, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Markeisha Everett. Team OptiGenix pitched its idea in a five-minute presentation and question-and-answer session. The student-athletes were a resounding success, with the judges expressing how captivated they were with the group's presentation.
 
"I was really impressed by the student-athletes," said Danny Cortenraede, serial entrepreneur and SportsTech investor at VentureRock. "Their ambition, incredibly bright minds and curiosity gives me so much energy. I believe the student-athletes are changemakers. They are solving problems, taking action and coming up with innovative solutions. I saw skills like creativity, self-awareness, very effective communication and inspiring others. Whenever I step on campus or have a phone call with the student-athletes, I feel inspired and want to work with them on creating the future together."
 
"The quality of work produced by the student-athletes in my class was truly exceptional," Serrano said. "They delivered outstanding business concepts that demonstrated market potential and showcased their passion for making a positive impact in the sports industry."
 
The journey for Team OptiGenix did not stop at the final presentation grading rubric. The panel of judges selected the group as the top project in the class, which earned it a spot in the Collider Cup, a competition sponsored by the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) in UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. The Collider Cup featured the top performing students across SCET's courses in an "all-star showcase" that saw each group vying for a set of prizes that included entrance to elite entrepreneurship workshops and access to grant money for kick-starting their projects. The student-athletes made their presentation in front of a panel of professors, investors and industry experts, proudly representing both their classmates and Cal Athletics as a whole.
 
"It was truly a privilege to work with fellow student-athletes and, most especially, friends," Abbes said. "We had always wanted to launch an idea together, and we feel like we are on the cusp of something great. I feel we were able to package the best of our diverse visions into an optimal solution to supplementation issues in sport. We look to continue our idea and process in the hopes to provide this solution across the NCAA and beyond in the future."