Romes, Theofield Reflect on AthleteCon
Jun 25 | Women's Lacrosse, Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Malia Romes from volleyball and Kate Theofield from women's lacrosse represented Rutgers Athletics earlier this month at AthleteCon, held June 3-5 in Las Vegas. The duo took part in hands-on brand-building workshops, content creation competitions and meet-and-greets with industry experts during the three-day event.
The trip to Las Vegas was part of a series of experiential learning and professional development opportunities curated through the Scarlet Knights For Life program this summer. Labeled the ultimate brand-building convention for athletes, AthleteCon featured leaders at Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Canva and YouTube who shared their expertise on content creation. Speakers at this year's event included Austin Elrod, president of TheLinkU; CJ Watson, a former NBA player who has transitioned into a successful career as an entrepreneur; and Jason and Jeremy Burchard, the innovative co-founders of RootNote.
Last year's AthleteCon featured 100-plus Division I student-athletes and generated more than 18 million impressions across the three-day event. Theofield and Romes have more than 8,000 combined followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Theofield burst onto the scene this past spring during her first collegiate season, producing 64 points on 45 goals and 19 assists in 20 appearances for the Scarlet Knights. Her 64 points and 45 goals were the most for a freshman at Rutgers during the Big Ten era, as the Smithtown, New York, native was one of just five individuals to earn unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman accolades. Theofield also earned a spot on ILWomen's Impact Freshman list.
"After spending a couple of days in Las Vegas at AthleteCon 3.0, I have taken away things that I feel I couldn't have gotten anywhere else," Theofield said. "I was able to learn from professionals about the ins and outs of NIL in its growing age. The panels and the professionals were so impressive and willing to share all of their knowledge with the athletes present, which was amazing. I especially loved that we got the chance to connect with athletes from so many different universities and sports to make this experience more memorable. With that, I enjoyed being able to share this experience with another Rutgers athlete who shared similar interests in the growing NIL world. We both were able to push each other into this experience even more, which made it so much cooler!"
Entering her freshman season, Romes earned 2025 PCL Player of the Year accolades as a senior at Kalida High School in Kalida, Ohio, where she finished as an all-state selection and four-time First Team All-Putnam County League honoree. Romes also lettered in basketball and track and field during her scholastic career and played club volleyball with Athlete HQ.
"I think this was a great experience to meet new people, work with brands, and network with professionals in the NIL space," Romes said. "I really enjoyed all the panels of brands who spoke on what they look for in athletes. My favorite part of the whole experience was the brand challenge. We got free products and got to make these ads for brands at the conference. They picked winners and you could get deals on the spot. It was a very fun way to get people to let loose and be creative when doing deals. Overall, I think this was a great experience to pursue if you are interested in the world of NIL."
The trip to Las Vegas was part of a series of experiential learning and professional development opportunities curated through the Scarlet Knights For Life program this summer. Labeled the ultimate brand-building convention for athletes, AthleteCon featured leaders at Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Canva and YouTube who shared their expertise on content creation. Speakers at this year's event included Austin Elrod, president of TheLinkU; CJ Watson, a former NBA player who has transitioned into a successful career as an entrepreneur; and Jason and Jeremy Burchard, the innovative co-founders of RootNote.
Last year's AthleteCon featured 100-plus Division I student-athletes and generated more than 18 million impressions across the three-day event. Theofield and Romes have more than 8,000 combined followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Theofield burst onto the scene this past spring during her first collegiate season, producing 64 points on 45 goals and 19 assists in 20 appearances for the Scarlet Knights. Her 64 points and 45 goals were the most for a freshman at Rutgers during the Big Ten era, as the Smithtown, New York, native was one of just five individuals to earn unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman accolades. Theofield also earned a spot on ILWomen's Impact Freshman list.
"After spending a couple of days in Las Vegas at AthleteCon 3.0, I have taken away things that I feel I couldn't have gotten anywhere else," Theofield said. "I was able to learn from professionals about the ins and outs of NIL in its growing age. The panels and the professionals were so impressive and willing to share all of their knowledge with the athletes present, which was amazing. I especially loved that we got the chance to connect with athletes from so many different universities and sports to make this experience more memorable. With that, I enjoyed being able to share this experience with another Rutgers athlete who shared similar interests in the growing NIL world. We both were able to push each other into this experience even more, which made it so much cooler!"
Entering her freshman season, Romes earned 2025 PCL Player of the Year accolades as a senior at Kalida High School in Kalida, Ohio, where she finished as an all-state selection and four-time First Team All-Putnam County League honoree. Romes also lettered in basketball and track and field during her scholastic career and played club volleyball with Athlete HQ.
"I think this was a great experience to meet new people, work with brands, and network with professionals in the NIL space," Romes said. "I really enjoyed all the panels of brands who spoke on what they look for in athletes. My favorite part of the whole experience was the brand challenge. We got free products and got to make these ads for brands at the conference. They picked winners and you could get deals on the spot. It was a very fun way to get people to let loose and be creative when doing deals. Overall, I think this was a great experience to pursue if you are interested in the world of NIL."
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
A
/ Women's LacrosseFriday, May 08
Wednesday, May 06
Monday, May 04
Monday, April 13
