SportsLabs to teach the science of sports throughout Oklahoma


OKLAHOMA CITY (August 4, 2022)干杯,excitement filled the Devon Lawn at Myriad Gardens during an all-employee tailgate. The fanfare came on the heels of a transformative announcement: Devon is bringing together the state’s two largest universities to help instill a lifelong love of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in young sports fans.

Devon, the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) are partnering on a multi-pronged five-year project called SportsLabs. Pre-game mini SportsLabs will be held at fan fests during football, basketball and other select sports on each campus. Half-day educational workshops will take place post-season for many OU and OSU sport seasons like baseball, basketball, football, gymnastics and softball. Additionally, SportsLabs will travel to Oklahoma communities throughout the year to expose even more students to the science behind their favorite sports.

“STEM is important for people in all sorts of careers, whether they’re scientists or engineers or athletes,” said Rick Muncrief, president and CEO of Devon. “Many children across Oklahoma love sports and look up to OSU and OU athletes, but they have little understanding about the science behind sports. This ground-breaking partnership with our state’s top universities is intended to foster a love of STEM in all kids, even if they prefer to pick up a football over a calculator.”

Facilitated byEngage Learning, the SportsLabs experience uses athletics to enhance comprehension of scientific concepts like physics and velocity. Students are empowered to improve their performance by better understanding the science behind sports. Almost all instruction is active, meaning students’ participation is key to their learning experience.

Notably, an exciting aspect of SportsLabs is the involvement from OSU and OU student-athletes, who will help run the learning exercises and drills.

OSU总裁Kayse Shrum表示，与学生建立体育与科学之间的联系对于激发对STEM职业的兴趣至关重要。

什鲁姆说：“我以垒球奖学金上大学，一位教授帮助我看到了医学院的机会，所以我了解了将体育和科学结合在一起的力量。”“当我们将两者聚集在一起时，即使他们从未参加过竞争性运动，也会了解他们喜欢的游戏和活动也可以使他们进入令人兴奋的职业。多亏了德文郡的领导才能，这种大胆的愿景将成为所有俄克拉荷马人的胜利。”

OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said despite the Bedlam rivalry, the two universities are aligned in helping educate the next generation of skilled workers.

Harroz说：“ OU和OSU可能会在田径运动中竞争，但是在支持俄克拉荷马州的劳动力需求方面，我们的大学都有一个共同的目标。”“培养更多的工程师，卫生专业人员和其他高技能的工人对我们州的未来非常重要。激发明天领导人的最佳方法是向年轻学生展示科学和数学如何影响他们所做的一切，包括田径运动。SportsLabs的体验将做到这一点，我们感谢Devon实施了一项获胜的游戏计划，这将有助于推动俄克拉荷马州的前进。”

OSU Athletic Director Chad Weiberg said student-athletes' participation will lead to a deeper connection with young people and further cement the intersection of science and sports.

“We know young sports fans look up to their favorite college athletes and strive to emulate their pathways to success,” Weiberg said. “Young sports fans get to see their role models on the field, court or track as athletes, but rarely get to see or hear about them as students. By Devon involving our student-athletes like this, children of all ages can see their role models not only studying science or math but using science and math in real-world applications that can help them improve their athletic skills.”

OU体育总监Joe Castiglione表示，这种创新的合作伙伴关系为下一代俄克拉荷马州领导人提供了独特的机会。

“OU Athletics and our student-athletes are thrilled to have the opportunity to inspire the next generation of Oklahoma leaders through this extraordinary and innovative program led by Devon Energy,” Castiglione said. “Devon has been a tremendous partner for many years, so to be able to engage with our communities through the SportsLabs experience, along with OSU, is exciting for the state of Oklahoma and our future. We are thankful to Devon for being a frontrunner in this space for our state.”

For more information, visitSoonerSports.com/SportsLab,OKState.com/SportsLab和EngageLearning.org. The relationship with Devon and the universities is overseen by LEARFIELD, athletics multimedia rightsholder, through its respective Sooner Sports Properties and Cowboy Sports Properties teams.