50 women who have made a positive difference to me - Stephanie Vardavas

2022 - On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I have been and will continue to shine a light on 50 women who have been amazing teachers, thereby affecting my sports career as well as the careers of other women and men in sport.

Stephanie Vardavas: Lighting a path for more women lawyers

When I entered the sports business in the 1970s, I didn't see many female faces. However, Stephanie Vardavas was one of them.

Stephanie is a 1978 Yale University and 1985 Fordham Law School graduate. She started her career in Major League Baseball, where we first met. Then Stephanie moved to a competitor of my former employer IMG, Donald Dell’s ProServ, where we reconnected. It made sense that Stephanie had transitioned to an athlete agency. As a lawyer, she fit right in at ProServ. After all, both Donald Dell and IMG’s Mark McCormack and his partners were lawyers. As a physical education major, I was a real anomaly!

Stephanie went on to join Nike, where she worked in sports marketing, product safety/integrity, and trademarks. From there, she launched her own law practice, where she continues to serve clients in the sports and outdoor industries, and served six years on the Oregon Commission for Women, including three years as Chair. The mission of the Oregon Commission for Women is to work for the implementation and establishment of economic, social, legal, and political equality for women and to maintain a continuing assessment of the issues and needs confronting women in Oregon. For the past six years, Stephanie has been teaching Master’s students at the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business in the Sports Product Management program, and she is writing a novel that (she assures us) is not about Nike.

Stephanie and I reconvened several years ago. We hadn’t been in touch for some time, but when she called the years melted away. As a 20+ year board member of the Sports Lawyers Association, Stephanie wanted to better connect SLA members with jobs in sports. TeamWork Online was an appropriate partner to technologically share jobs with her members and we could introduce more attorneys to the SLA.

Since then, I’ve attended a number of SLA Conferences where lawyers can, among other things, update their educations to maintain their legal certifications. These SLA conferences are jam-packed with talent and information. I’ve been fortunate to get to know many of the teams’ general counsels, and over the years there are more and more women. Vicky Niemeyer (New Orleans Saints), Meg Murray (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jennifer O’Sullivan (NYCFC), Suzanne Spellacy (Minnesota Timberwolves), Hannah Gordon (San Francisco 49ers), Nona Lee (formerly Arizona Diamondbacks), Nyra Sturman (Orlando Magic), Suzie Thomas (formerly Houston Texans) are among the trailblazers. The Women’s SLA breakfast which was once just a handful of women is now brimming with talent.

Jessica Berman, who worked in legal affairs for the NHL, also regularly attends SLA conferences. Jessica became Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League and is now Commissioner of the high-growth National Women’s Soccer League.

Stephanie Vardavas was not destined to become a team general manager, general counsel, or commissioner of a league. But it is trailblazers like Stephanie who have helped educate and light a path for other women to rise.

TeamWork Online is the leading hiring platform and talent community in sports and entertainment. Our mission is to connect talented people with the right employers. If your career has been positively affected by one of the women, please share your comments.