Maryland Made: Secure the Bag - University of Maryland Athletics

Through career networking and professional connections, Maryland student-athletes are exploring opportunities for their futures beyond the playing field.

Brady Ruth, Staff Writer

11/6/2026

Right now, they’re student-athletes. Tomorrow, they can be anything.

For Maryland student-athletes, the future extends far beyond the playing field. And through Maryland Made, the Terps are gaining the tools, experiences and connections to make the most of whatever comes next.

One of those opportunities came in late October, when Maryland Made hosted its annual Secure the Bag event, bringing together student-athletes and 35 businesses and organizations from a variety of industries.

Secure the Bag is more than a networking event. It's an opportunity for student-athletes to envision what their futures could look like, connect with professionals who have walked similar paths and begin building relationships that can open doors long after their final competition.

For the 35 participating organizations — many of whom were represented by UMD alumns, former student-athletes and UMD partners — the event offered a chance to meet the next generation of professionals, share their own career journeys and introduce student-athletes to the opportunities within their respective industries.

“Maryland gave me so much, so it’s so awesome to give back to the school that gave me everything,” said Ashley Miller, Maryland Class of 2008, who is now a Senior Manager, Group Sales at Monumental Sports & Entertainment. “As a student-athlete, it’s two full-time jobs, so being able to learn to balance all of that while being 18 to 22 years old prepares you for the real world in a way that not a lot of people get to experience.”

For the Terps, it was an opportunity to explore what comes next.

Some arrived with a clear vision of their career goals, while others were still discovering where their interests might lead. Regardless of where they stood in that process, each student-athlete had the chance to ask questions, exchange ideas, make connections and take another step toward life after graduation.

“The Secure the Bag event was very eye-opening to me. I got to speak with a lot of different companies and learn more about what the future could look like for me,” said Steven Donigan, redshirt freshman on the Maryland baseball team. “It was awesome to start building connections with future employers.”

I think Secure the Bag is great. Seeing the industries you’re interested in, meeting professionals and asking them their experiences. Being a student-athlete is a massive time commitment. You really learn how to dedicate yourself to a craft and to a team. I think that as a student-athlete, you get a lot of the jobs and skills that you’re going to have to have in the job field.

Keyari James, junior linebacker