Laurier Grads Soar is a multi-part series that returns for it's fourth installment during the 2019-20 season. The segment features former Wilfrid Laurier University athletes and student-leaders in the Athletics and Recreation Department, and the success they have enjoyed since leaving Laurier. Written by award-winning journalist David Grossman, different features will be released throughout the year that will emphasize the role Athletics and Recreation played in helping them achieve success.Tamika Marks-Grant: Marketing & Branding, Canadian Olympic Committee There are a lot of things that Tamika Marks-Grant would like you to know.
For starters, there is more about the life of a university student than just going to classes and studying. No worries for those who don't compete in varsity sports, because there are other ways to stay fit, contribute and avoid exasperating situations.
Just ask her.
Marks-Grant grew up in Guelph, was a talented athlete and then had some bad luck when she suffered an injury while playing rugby. She transitioned from an incredibly uncomfortable situation to doing numerous productive things that, at one time, she didn't think were possible.
While studying at Wilfrid Laurier University, it didn't take her long to find alternative ways to her perceptive and intuitive approach to keeping busy, doing things and working with people.
Strong in leadership skills to mentor and role model, she was always busy within the confines of athletics and recreation. Owner of a positive attitude, Marks-Grant, joking and posturing, looked for opportunities to get involved. When she found them, she used the occasion, sometimes with fun and often demanding, to relieve stress and tension.
From high school to university, her school sports apparel didn't change much, as alma mater Centennial Collegiate in Guelph had the same purple and gold colors of Laurier.
Still, she focused on her priority: earning a Degree in Women's and Gender Studies.
“Laurier will always be something memorable in my life,” said Marks-Grant, the second oldest in a family of eight. “I look back and think about so many things, whether it was managing the basketball team, helping out at the Hawk Desk, spending time on the Peer Help Line or involved in the Right to Play activities. There was always something.”
Marks-Grant gained friends for life, but most rewarding to her was the responsibility she took on with the Laurier Lettermen's Club.
Gone was the male bastion at the top. Marks-Grant gained somewhat of a celebrity status by becoming the first female President of a Laurier fraternity, of sorts, that was involved in pep rallies, community events, school and hospital visits – just to name a few.
“It was meaningful and most rewarding,” she said. “We were doing so many things and it was something that was real. It had a positive impact on many people and has helped me in my career.”
Four seasons of playing rugby ended when the knee from an opposing player made contact with the head of Marks-Grant during a regular season game played at Laurier. Dazzled and struggling, the concussion had rocked her and resulted in a series of issues involving memory, vision and sensitivity to light.
“It took one year to recover and I was dealing with headaches throughout,” she said. “I thought my sport career was over and was concerned about symptoms and stress. It's hard to explain, but I felt no longer in control of my body.”
Marks-Grant needed to return to Laurier for a fifth year to earn the degree. It was also a time when the former recipient of the Laurier Athletics Department Employee of the Year award, learned a new word: networking.
Even in failure, like losing rugby games, Marks-Grant said she was winning in other ways.
“The woman that I have become today, I owe to Laurier,” she said. “Jobs come down to networking and I have reached out to grads for connections.”
After Laurier, Marks-Grant worked in merchandising sales for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Then, through a Laurier contact, it was off to the Canadian Football League to work in corporate partnerships for three years.
Now the focus, for the jovial and grateful Marks-Grant, is on marketing and branding as she is handling the important portfolio of partnerships with the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“You learn about responsibilities and while disappointments may arise, you have to be ready to deal with them in a positive way,” she said.
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David Grossman is a multi award-winning communicator and storyteller with a distinguished career in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations in Sport and Government Relations. In 2018, he was the recipient of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Media Member of Distinction.
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