Ali Bennett ’27
Hometown: San Francisco
Major: Mathematics
Pomona sport: Women’s Basketball
Ali Bennett ’27 has been fascinated by sports analytics since she read Michael Lewis’ renowned 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game her first year at Pomona College.
This summer, she used the Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP) to learn what would be required of her should she pursue a career in such a data-driven field.
Bennett interned with the San Francisco Seagulls Baseball Academy, which offers all-season developmental teams for youth, high school and collegiate ballplayers.
As a data and analytics intern, Bennett worked with game-day technologies that track player movement, keep live score and record gameplay from different angles on the field.
Between first pitches, she drew up scouting reports, cut video upon request and crafted a dashboard for players to see their statistics. She was also expected to be on top of communication and respectful of others’ time—the same habits that help her basketball team function.
“Quick and reliable communication helps build trust and makes everything run smoothly,” she says.
The six-week apprenticeship has convinced Bennett to pursue a career in sports analytics—a path several Pomona alumni have followed in recent years to great success.
She intends to use her experience in San Francisco to guide her senior thesis, and after she concludes her playing career at Pomona this winter, she plans to look for analytics work in basketball, her true love.
“I’m looking forward to coming up with useful connections between the sport and the numbers,” she says. “It’s super cool to now know I can use numbers to make a big impact on the game.”