College Article Feature: Katie Benzan - Paving the Way for Women in Sports

Written by Winter Chamberlain | University of Utah

“You belong in every room. When there’s an opportunity, go and take it, no one’s gonna give it to you,” Benzan stated.

This statement alone seems to be the very motto Katie Benzan lives by in her career. Breaking the barrier of being a woman in the sports industry is extremely challenging, as you’re typically the first to break down barriers, paving the path for other women to follow in your footsteps. Katie Benzan is living proof that hitting a “glass ceiling” in your career is merely a concept, not a reality.

Breaking down barriers within the sports industry has been a constant throughout her career. During her time at Harvard in her undergraduate years, she broke the record of career 3-pointers from 262 to 287. Within the same time period, in May 2016, she founded Benzan Basketball Services, where she trained people interested in learning basketball within the Boston area throughout the summer. Throughout the duration of her business from 2016–2018, she managed all of the operations, from marketing to managing clients, a skill that is highly valuable within the business side of sports. This should come as no surprise as to how she was able to work her way toward becoming the youngest active general manager in the league and the youngest female general manager in NBA G League history further in her career.

During her master’s at the University of Maryland, she continued her streak of making history. She set the program record for career 3-point percentage by shooting 47.4%, while also leading the NCAA with these statistics in 2021, alongside setting a single-game record with nine 3-pointers against Iowa. Benzan seems to be able to do anything she sets her mind to. Throughout her master’s degree, she also earned AP All-America Honorable Mention and All-Big Ten Second Team honors at the University of Maryland, alongside her other notable accomplishments throughout her master’s degree in journalism.

Benzan explains, “I think that master’s really has shown up with, I guess, even interviewing players before picking them or drafting them. I think the ability to get to know someone's character can really determine how they will manage adversity, success, a team environment, the type of culture Rick and I wanted to build. So really getting to know the people behind the players, I think, helped create the team chemistry we wanted in our building.”

Benzan continued her streak of making history when she played for the Washington Mystics in 2022, where she went on to become the first player of Dominican heritage in WNBA history, singlehandedly representing growing diversity within the WNBA.

Due to Katie’s extensive background within the sports industry and her unique journey to her current position as the GM of the Salt Lake City Stars, I wanted to gain insight on how women could learn from her accomplishments. Breaking into any industry is challenging without the correct guidance. This being said, the sports industry has to be one of the most difficult for women to enter without mentorship or experience due to it being a primarily male-dominated field. Navigating such a field can seem intimidating and nearly impossible to many women with desire within this industry.

Benzan stated, “...when you take an opportunity, you deserve to be there, and just show your value. A lot of times, it's just getting your foot in the door, and then once you're there, they'll ask you questions, and you'll prove your intelligence, and then confidence will follow, and then it's never even a question of why you're there. It's why weren't you there sooner.”

Many of us, especially those who are early in our careers, oftentimes feel intimidated and feel a sense of fear when we enter spaces that are foreign to us, even feeling as if we don’t belong there because we’re too young or early in our careers. We should all take a page from Benzan’s book and realize that we deserve to be in the room. Once you’ve done the hard work, the rest will follow with sheer determination. As we’ve seen with Benzan’s career, you can truly do anything you set your mind to. You just have to believe in your own capability to achieve your goals.

Benzan explains, “Just making the introduction, even just walking up and saying, hi, my name is Katie, I'm interested in what you do. What is your day-to-day like? And then people love talking about themselves. So just building your network and just seeing what's out there will just help you even more so within professional sports.”

Benzan shared that networking is the most powerful tool you have within the professional world of sports. While it may seem intimidating to go up to someone for the first time, it might just be the conversation you need to have in order to receive a door to an opportunity you’ve been searching for.

At the end of my interview with Benzan, I asked her where she saw herself within 10 years, and her response was very relatable.

“Oh, Winter, I have no idea. I just survived my first year in the G League. So let me process that,” Benzan stated.

I found her response to be highly important, as no one truly knows where life will take them and that it’s okay to live in the moment and enjoy your current success. Many of us, especially when you’re a woman in business, are looking for the next achievement and often forget to sit back and realize we’ve made it to a point in our lives that we used to dream of.

Overall, after receiving the opportunity to speak with Katie Benzan, I feel heavily inspired by her accomplishments and her outlook on life. I will also take her advice and implement it into my career aspirations. Making history time after time, I doubt, was easy, and I have immense respect for her.