OAKLAND, Calif. – Continuing a tradition of artist-athletes working for professional sports organizations, Academy of Art University softball artist-athletes Haily MacDonald, Jasmine Dickenson, and Andrea Gill have embraced the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the National Football League and the Oakland Raiders this season. MacDonald, a Graphic Design major, is currently involved with the NFL Player Participations Crew for the Raiders, while Dickenson and Gill, Photography majors, have been serving as Raiders photography interns since August.

"Having three ART U Softball players interning with the NFL and Raiders is a testament to the Academy of Art University," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "The networking opportunities and level of education at the Academy continue to amaze me. Each of these three athletes possesses a work ethic, talent, and dedication to their art that positioned them for this opportunity. I am so proud of what they have given to our program and how they continue to represent our school."

MacDonald, the 2015 ARTYs Urban Knight of the Year and NFCA All-West Region Team honoree as a senior this past spring, immediately built upon an impressive artist-athlete resume with a graphic design internship for the Raiders during the summer. Guided by Creative Director Esteban Carbajal and Creative Services Manager Caitlin Wienck in the Raiders' Business Development Department, MacDonald worked on a variety of graphical projects. She handled t-shirt designs, logos, email designs, material for the Raiderettes, and other content for preseason and regular season gamedays.

After demonstrating dedicated work ethic and establishing strong connections, MacDonald then took the initiative to fill a position as a photographer for Player Participations in the NFL Game Operations Department. She joined Crew Chief Adam Sanda and three other individuals, who collectively identify each player in every formation on gamedays. MacDonald, who had not attended a NFL game prior to this opportunity, now has her Sundays constantly booked to fulfill a role critical to league statisticians.

"I have to thank [Director of Athletics] Colin Preston and [former Associate Athletics Director/SWA] Meghan Bushnell for telling me about the intern position at the Raiders and helping me through the process," said MacDonald. "I had a great time working in the offices this summer and gained experience in the field I am majoring in as well as great connections. Thank you to Esteban for giving me the opportunity to work for the Raiders with his great design team. Also thank you to Adam for taking me in as a part of the Player Participations team. This has been a great experience and I enjoy coming to work on Sundays. I am happy I can still work with a great group of people from the Oakland Raiders."

The responsibility of a NFL Player Participations Crew member is intricate. Each Raiders home game, MacDonald reports to the north end of the field where she syncs her camera clock with the game clock. After setting up the camera and all of her other gear, she must photograph each formation and document every player she can see. From there, she turns in her camera memory card and participation materials for evaluation following the end of each quarter.

Attention to detail has always been in MacDonald's wheelhouse after her three years as Academic All-PacWest culminated in a Capital One Academic All-District Team honor this past May. The honor came after being selected All-PacWest First Team as a senior who set numerous program records. Faced with the challenge of succeeding in her first professional work setting, MacDonald instinctively drew upon her experience as an artist-athlete.

"School and softball have taught me so many lessons that I will use for the rest of my life," said MacDonald. "Working for the NFL and the Raiders has been a great experience for me and I think everything I learned as an ART U softball student-athlete helped prepare me in one way or another; from time management and communication to being able to work as part of a team. The first NFL game I worked I was super nervous and didn't want to mess up, but I just told myself to be confident and would get the hang of it. To be honest, if I wasn't working the games on Sundays, I would be at home watching all of the games with my dad. Sports will always be a part of my life in one way or another, whether it's working, playing, or watching."

As multi-year Academic All-PacWest recipients like MacDonald, both Dickenson and Gill stood out in the Academy of Art University School of Photography, leading to their chance at becoming interns for the Raiders. 

Driven by the overall goal to catch the candid Raiders game experience in a positive light, Dickenson and Gill begin their gamedays on BART capturing photos of families and friends making their way to Oakland Coliseum. As they move on to the BART bridge and parking lot tailgates, the duo does not have far to go before they come upon the cast of characters that compose Raiderville.

Dickenson and Gill then photograph fans entering the stadium, players warming up, and other pre-game festivities as the atmosphere continues to build. Following kickoff, the focus is on genuine fan interactions with one another, special moments, and artistic shots of the Coliseum itself. When the game has finished, photographers then submit a minimum of 10 images for each of phase as outlined by Raiders Creative Director Esteban Carbajal.

"From an academic standpoint, this past summer was a great experience," said Gill. "Between landing this opportunity and getting my start in the editorial, advertising, and film industries as a photo/production assistant, it really helped me to re-prioritize and focus on what is ultimately important with graduation and the real world approaching this May. Being an artist-athlete has helped me both on set and at the stadium by having shaped the work ethic I hold today. It's exciting working in sports, especially with the crowd over at Oakland Coliseum."

Besides also being in good shape to make constant laps around the stadium as well as up and down stairs, Dickenson attributes much of her success with this internship to four years living the life of an artist-athlete.

"This opportunity is something that we can use for our portfolio and to get exposure," said Dickenson. "Constantly looking for the right composition, lighting, and moment is something that I've learned while attending Academy of Art University. And having played a sport has been beneficial as well because we have the mindset of an athlete. We understand the beats of a game, even if it is another sport, and I feel that we have a particular intuition about when the crowd will explode. Having deadlines and guidelines to follow but still with creative control for the images is always nice, especially when we're told that a lot of creative directors will hire you for your uniqueness and creativity."
 

These special opportunities to work for the NFL are becoming more frequent for the Urban Knights as this softball trio follows in the footsteps of track & field's Hannah Otey (NFL Network) and volleyball's Kanoe Irvine (Oakland Raiders, NFL Network), volleyball's Meg Williams (Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers), and softball's Kimberly Dauer and women's golfer Melissa Genao (both Oakland Raiders).