Noah Griffith: Driving Community Initiatives On and Off the Court

MS Sport Business, STHM '21

Noah Griffith is an alum from the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management who dedicates his time to coaching and community service. Since graduating from Temple, Noah founded his own youth sports company called We Not Me Athletics, where student athletes not only have the opportunity to play competitive basketball, but they also receive mentorship and opportunities to give back to the community. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you provide a brief timeline of the events that lead you to Temple for grad school?

After I graduated from St. John’s in NYC, I knew I wanted to go to grad school, and I also wanted to challenge myself to go to a new place as I had been in New York my entire life. I saw an ad for Temple online, and I started looking into Temple’s sport management and sport business programs. Once I got onto campus, I was certain that this was the right place for me to continue my education. I remember I was in Philadelphia at least once a month attending Temple open houses and events whenever I could, especially because I was excited about STHM’s motive to develop the world’s next sports leaders.

What have you been up to since graduating from Temple?

Right now, I’m the head varsity basketball coach at the Kew-Forest School in Queens. I’m proud to be there. I love what I do, working with these kids. I am also a founder and CEO of my own youth sports company called We Not Me Athletics. We do competitive basketball programming as well as mentorship programming. We have different initiatives -- one called the We Move Forward campaign in which we work with student athletes holistically through peer mentorship, and another called We Serve, which is a community service program that involves working with different people and giving back to the community. I’m a big believer in the “when you enter to learn, you leave to serve” philosophy, and being able to give back to the community in that way is the biggest thing for me. It’s not just about basketball, it’s not just about sports – it's about life in general and making sure to pay it back.

What are some of the most important things you learned and/or did in grad school at Temple?

I feel like it was everything! I mean, just being there and learning from like-minded individuals was enlightening to me from day one. Every class I took felt important – from statistics, to business, to sports marketing – they all felt like they really mattered. I had the opportunity to become a Fox Business Fellow, through which I had a chance to work with Philadelphia Youth Basketball, which is a fantastic, winning organization. They do mentorship programs, academics, tutoring – pretty much everything you can think of. Through the FBF program, I got to learn more about what they do and why they do it, and even though the position was remote I got to learn so much about the back end of their nonprofit organization. That was when the wheel really started turning for me, and when I began thinking about building my own youth sports programming company in New York.

What advice might you have for prospective graduate students in your field?

Don’t hesitate. This is an opportunity to learn from great, like-minded people. This is an opportunity to grow. I’m a big believer in getting two percent better each day, and the leap of faith I took to step outside my comfort zone and come to Temple for grad school was a big risk but it was so worth it. You have to learn to be uncomfortable in order to make progress and improve. I think that’s one of the most important things. So don’t hesitate – go to grad school, and get that experience. Network. Get that opportunity. You never know where those doors can lead you! If you’re in sport business, Temple is definitely the place to go. You learn so much, and your teachers will really care. Even if you’re not from the area, you become part of a family and part of a network that really uplifts you and shows you love.