In Mara Janess’ time on the Michigan women’s golf team, the rising senior has accumulated three years of playing, growing into a fierce leader.
But as she’s entering her final year with the Wolverines, her career is coming to an end, since she doesn’t plan on playing professionally. However, her involvement with the sports industry is just beginning. In her years as a student athlete at Michigan, she gained internship experience in the sports industry, allowing her personal and professional lives to merge.
Clearly, Janess is familiar with the greens of the golf course. Serving as a leader for the Wolverines, Janess helped her team achieve top-10 finishes at three events along with being the sole starter of every tournament of the 2024-25 season.
Her experience extended to this season where, on a team with no members of the class of 2025, Janess was tasked with being a team leader as a junior. She did this along with fellow juniors Sydney and Lauren Sung. Despite their early start, the three golfers naturally took to their roles, striving to create a dependable environment on a senior-less team.
“Me and the Sung twins are the three oldest on the team,” Janess told The Michigan Daily. “… The three of us are kind of like team leaders in a way and we want to create a culture that we’re proud of and happy about.”
Janess sees much of her leadership style as a reflection of the ever-growing nature of the team. In the three seasons she has competed, Janess has looked up to her teammates as an inspiration since they’ve emphasized the importance of teamwork in a largely individualistic sport. During her freshman year, Janess’ teammates included Hailey Borja, Monet Chun and Ashley Lau, who currently play professionally and left big shoes to fill. Rather than shrinking in the shadow of the athletes who’ve left to play professionally, Janess rose to the task.
“I think golf teams change every year, they’re always fairly small teams,” Janess said. “And so it’s cool to see how things are different each year, like you have three great players who go pro leave, but then we have more great players coming in. … It’s like the older you get, the more you get to pave your own experience and create a culture that you are happy about.”
Undoubtedly, the maturity and mental fortitude needed to play golf, along with the valuable leadership experience, have given her the tools to excel in the sports industry. While Janess has cherished her time on the green, she understands that her competitive golfing career is ending soon. So in the meantime, she’s finding ways to make sure she sees the course again.
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When not on the course, Janess spends her time studying sport management at the School of Kinesiology. The program requires all students to complete at least two internships, which led Janess to intern for the sponsorships and corporate partnerships team at the Big Ten Network’s office in Chicago.
Janess brings a unique perspective to the sports industry given that she combines her personal experience as a student-athlete and her educational background in sport management. Although she doesn’t plan on playing golf professionally, Janess wants to work in the hyper-competitive sports industry, which the internship gave her a taste of.
“I was learning the ropes of how a corporate partnership system works within a college setting, but also with the growth of the Big Ten,” Janess said. “That was a really cool experience for me, just to be able to get some practical work experience on top of something I’m super passionate about, which is sports.”
Additionally, the internship allowed Janess to manage both the professional and athletic realms of her life — despite it taking place during the offseason. She learned how to balance work and sports, and that proved crucial for her role as a leader. Her experience working for Big Ten Network equipped her with the professional skills necessary to be a team leader.
“Although (the internship) was during the summer and I wasn’t in season at Michigan, we’re still kind of technically in our own personal season,” Janess said. “I had to balance both working and practicing and playing in some tournaments as well.”
The application process for Janess’ internship directly overlapped with the golf season, giving her a preview of the balance required to maintain her schoolwork. While Janess is currently working on developing her professional career, she’s still a Wolverine, and her time on the green is integral to her college experience.
While much of Janess’ internship consisted of hard work and learning, she also got to experience unique opportunities that shaped her perspective as a student-athlete. One such event was attending the Big Ten Football Championships as an intern rather than a fan. Instead of chanting in the stands cheering for a team, Janess spent her time overlooking the behind-the-scenes efforts it took to bring the game to life.
“I’ve always loved attending sports events, like the big games,” Janess said. “… So kind of being able to see (the Championship) from a different lens from being a fan versus being an employee was really cool. I think my passion for sports helped me gain that interest.”
The perspective Janess gained from working the Big Ten Championship game helped her learn about the hidden efforts that contribute to the success of sporting events. This allowed her to bring a heightened leadership energy into the golf season.
“Golf has taught me a lot of professionalism, which has helped me then translate that over into a future career and past internships,” Janess said. “… Going into a tournament or going into an interview, those are two big events in my life that I definitely feel that I always need to be prepared for in order to give my best … and so I think being immersed in the world of sports constantly helps me in both aspects.”
This summer, in preparation to continue her involvement in the sports world after graduation, Janess is pursuing an internship with the United States Golf Association. There, she will gain experience on the hospitality side of the golf industry and work at the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament. She will also be a sponsorships and consulting intern at the sports marketing agency rEvolution in Chicago, ensuring she continues to be hardworking and dedicated in the offseason.
All of these upcoming experiences will advance her knowledge in the behind-the-scenes aspect of golf, further sharpening her perspective as she embarks on the 2025-26 season and her post-collegiate future.
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The hard work exemplified by Janess both on and off the course is a testament to the endurance of student athletes — piling academics, sports and work experience.Her dual-edged ambition in the sports industry allowed her to take the lessons she learned from golf and apply them to the real world’s professional situations. From being a team leader for the Wolverines to setting high career goals for herself, Janess’ ambition allows her to represent Michigan’s ideal model of a student athlete. Whether she’s out on the green or doing behind the scenes work, sports are an integral part of her life.
