Emily Haber ’23 was an All-American volleyball player for Geneseo. She’s continuing her interest in athletics as a production assistant with NBC Sports.
By Riley Damerell
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was the biggest sporting event across the globe, and Geneseo alum Emily Haber ’23 worked behind the scenes with NBC to broadcast it worldwide.
As production assistant for NBC Sports, Haber assisted the coordinating producer in all phases of Olympic sports production, logged and clipped Olympic events including table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, handball, and sport climbing, and carried out a myriad of other responsibilities.
“The experience with NBC was something I will never forget,” says Haber. “I worked with such amazing people and learned so much from every person I encountered.”
Haber brought both a communication degree and a strong athletic background to her Olympic broadcast experience. At Geneseo, she played four years for the women’s volleyball team, which culminated in being named an All-American libero (a defensive player) after her senior campaign, the program’s third such All-American honor. Haber was also the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president, the Student-Athlete Mentor Program staff manager, and a student assistant in the Athletic Communications office. In addition, she won the SUNY Geneseo Fred Bright Outstanding Female Leadership and Contribution Award and was named the SUNYAC and SUNY Women’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Since graduation, Haber has pursued her master’s in marketing and played semi-professional volleyball at Durham University in England. She saw plenty of success on the court, winning two Volleyball England national titles and the British University and College Sports Championship, where she went on to earn Player of the Match.
Haber is continuing her career with NBC Sports as production assistant for the College Football Studio Show.
“My time in Geneseo prepared me very well for this moment in my career,” she says. “Geneseo gave me the space to grow and develop my work ethic and passion for athletics in a different way than just on the volleyball court. The Athletic Communications office taught me the values of collaboration and creativity in the behind-the-scenes world of athletics. It showed me just how much I can have an impact in athletics from the sidelines.”
Bringing that same mindset into the Olympics, she says, “is a big reason why it was a successful and enjoyable experience for me!”