Dartmouth undergrads attend sports analytics conference

In March 2018, nine undergraduates representing the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) and the Dartmouth Sports Analytics Club (DSA) attended the 2018 MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.  DSA co-founders Andrew Wolff ’18, and Joshua Ufland ’18 were there with club members Steven Chun ’19 and Jack Kurtz ‘21.  These students attended panels on instituting new rules in the National Basketball Association, draft day analytics, and team building and re-building in the NBA. “I had a great time seeing some of my favorite players speak,” said DSA President Ufland , “and it was awesome to see the way analytics has reshaped something as broadly popular as professional sports.” The Dartmouth Alumni Council and Council on Student Organizations supported the Sports Analytics Club’s trip to the MIT-Sloan conference.

Three students from the fall ‘17 Sports Analytics course (QSS 30.01), Sam Forstner ‘18, Jack Heneghan ‘18, and Ian Whitney ’18, also attended the conference with QSS Chair and Professor of Government Michael Herron. According to Forstner, “The 2018 Sloan Conference was an amazing experience… My primary interest is hockey, and seeing the panel that featured Arizona Coyotes General Manager John Chayka as well as former NHL coach Dan Bylsma was a highlight, as was seeing NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speak. I was also able to network with professionals in the industry and complete several ’speed dating interviews’ during the weekend.” This was the second year that QSS students attended the conference, and QSS thanks the Office of the President for supporting its students’ trip to Boston.