Impact Of A Scholarship: Mandy Allendorfer

Former N.C. State football player C.J. Allendorfer traveled around the country for football camps and clinics and brought home shirts from local colleges to his four daughters Chrissy, Sammi, Katie, and Mandy. 

One of the stops he made was to College Park, Maryland, where he picked up some Terps gear for them all to wear. Little did he know he was planting a seed in Mandy that would one day become a defining aspect of her life. 

From the time she was a small child, Mandy Allendorfer was repping the Maryland Terrapins. And little did she realize she would go on to earn a scholarship there to play softball.

For Allendorfer, her time at Maryland was a springboard to become the best possible version of herself in her personal and professional life. 

“I learned a lot about myself while at Maryland,” Allendorfer said. “Being on scholarship allowed me to play the sport I love at a great school. Not only that though it allowed me to grow into the person that I am today.”

The person that she is today is a very successful marketing director for the prestigious baseball company, the Boras Corporation. Scott Boras is one of the most famous sports agents in the world as he has currently negotiated over $3.2 billion in active MLB contracts.

Allendorfer specializes in contract negotiation and new business acquisition, with her past as both a softball player and communications major playing a pivotal role in her career.

Sports have always been a part of Allendorfer’s life as both her father and her mother were athletes and coached at her high school. Her father was the football coach, and her mother was the field hockey coach, a sport Allendorfer also played. 

Charles Allendorfer played a pivotal role in Mandy's development as a player. He loved and embraced everything his daughter did, especially when it came to sports.

Not only did Mandy go on to play collegiate softball, but her sisters Sammi and Katie both played softball at Quinnipiac University, while Chrissy played softball at Clarion University. The Allendorfer's amazing athletic prowess stems back from their parents and their sporty, nurturing environment. 

"My dad was a total girl-dad," Allendorfer said. "He didn’t have any sons, but he had me playing football as a kid and I loved it. Honestly, when I was little I thought I was going to be a pro football player because of him.”

While she did not end up in the NFL like she once thought she would, Allendorfer did star at her high school as both a field hockey player playing for her mother but also in her signature sport of softball. 

When it came time to pick a college to attend, Maryland stood out because of the school itself and the opportunities Terps softball provided.

“I chose Maryland for a lot of reasons,” Allendorfer said. “The beautiful campus, the good academics, but Maryland softball was still fairly new at the time and the idea of building the program was very exciting for me.”

When Allendorfer was on the field, she was a very formidable player as her career batting average was a staggering .429 and she had a perfect 1.000 field percentage. 

However, a shoulder injury cut her career short and she couldn’t continue playing for her final two years in college. While she was dismayed, Allendorfer used it as an opportunity. 

“Being injured allowed me to learn how to deal with adversity,” Allendorfer said. “I learned how to persevere, how to keep pushing even when you’re at a low point. I think that’s the greatest life skill I learned while I was at Maryland. It’s something that prepared me for life after school.”

Using the skills she learned, Allendorfer has enjoyed a very successful career centered around Major League Baseball. During her time at Maryland, she was a marketing intern for the Philadelphia Phillies and parlayed that into a job with the Boras Corporation. 

Over the past 17 years, she has risen through the ranks and is now the Director of Strategic Marketing & Collegiate Partnerships. 

For Allendorfer, it all stems back from her time at Maryland, and she gives back any way that she can. Recently, she has volunteered with the M Club Foundation to help within the student-athlete mentorship program. 

The M Club Foundation Mentorship Program provides former Maryland letterwinners with the opportunity to continue to be involved in Maryland Athletics once their eligibility has expired. 

The ability to help current Terps who are in the same situation she was, appealed to Allendorfer and is something she does not take for granted.  

“For the M Club and the mentorship program, I just want to extend the same support and opportunity I was given to the next generation of Maryland student-athletes,” Allendorfer said. “I am passionate about supporting former, current, and future student-athletes any way I can.”

Allendorfer’s successful career in the world of professional baseball comes from being a student-athlete that was very focused on her academics and life after she was done playing. 

She now understands the importance of a scholarship even if she didn’t quite comprehend it while she was a student-athlete. Without it, she would not have been a Terp and might not be in the position that she is in today and for that she is thankful. 

“I just want to thank the boosters for their generosity,” Allendorfer said. “I grew up one of four kids, so my scholarship afforded me the chance to be a student-athlete at Maryland, and I’m still very grateful for that.”