Hello,

My name is Jake and I am currently a student at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. As a Business Sports and Media Studies Major, I am in a student organization called Sports Business Association. SBA has been great at finding members internship and volunteer opportunities in the sports industry.

One of the opportunities that we had a chance to volunteer at was the Bruce Arians Celebrity Golf Classic located at The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona last weekend. The event was set up for the Arians Family Foundation that supports CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) in making sure that children who are involved in the court system, as a result of abuse or neglect by their families, receive the love and help they need.

Many celebrities and athletes came to participate and support the foundation by playing in the golf classic. Athletes included: Larry Fitzgerald, Carson Palmer, Patrick Peterson, Andrew Luck, Jerome Bettis, and your very own Ben Roethlisberger!


JakeHernandez
Big Ben was one of the athletes that I really had the pleasure of meeting! He was one of the first guests to show up to the golf event and can really hit the golf ball! I heard he hit a 370-yard drive! While working at one of the golf holes, Ben came up to all of us and introduced himself. He was super friendly and took pictures with everyone. It was an awesome opportunity I could not pass on.

After the golf classic, we had a dinner and live auction with all the guests and athletes. Ben of course, was one of the first to show again! He was a stand-up guy, making everyone laugh and was as friendly as he was on the golf course!

It was awesome representing my school, ASU, in the picture I got with him. I was able to support my organization SBA by showing we are truly a great organization by finding such great opportunities such as this.

I am the one on the right, putting up the fork (hand gesture) to support ASU. On the left, my friend Nick, who is part of the SBA board that helped get us involved and eventually got us the chance to meet Ben Roethlisberger! — Jake Hernandez



Ben also played the Honda Classic Pro-Am on February 26th. We were asked to share this with his fans from the Caddy For A Cure Facebook page:

We are now a part of the Steelers nation! Ben Roethlisberger – BigBen7.com @_bigben7 won us over with his heart for the wounded, and those less fortunate @thehondaclassic #classicgolf #steelers


And a personal “thank you” to Ben from Russ Holden, founder & CEO of Caddy for Cure:

“He is one awesome guy and I really enjoyed spending time with him. Thanks for all you do!”


And one from The Arians Family Foundation via Twitter:

Thanks @_BigBen7 for coming out to our Arizona Golf Classic! Appreciate your support #TeamArians



If you didn’t get a chance to view all the photos from both golf tournaments, you can see them here (including one pretty crazy one)!


*Thank you so much to Jake, Russ & Caddy For A Cure for sharing with us!