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The Sports with Savvy Story

Vision

My Journey

My Journey

At Sports with Savvy, I write about sports teams and specific athletes.

My Journey

My Journey

My Journey

Founded in 2024 as a girl who shared a passion for sports, Sports with Savvy is a blog about professional and college sports. 

Community

My Journey

Community

At Sports with Savvy, I want to inspire other women in sports to not be afraid of chasing their dreams, whatever they may be.

About Me

Hi, my name is Savannah Ward. I'm so happy you're here!

I am currently a second year Strategic Communications graduate student at UT Austin. I am seeking a job within the sports media field come May 2025 when I graduate with my Masters degree. I attended the University of Arkansas where I earned my undergraduate degree in sports management, but I was born and raised a Texas Longhorn since my mom attended Texas as well.


My family has had a huge impact on why I love sports so much and chose it as a career path. I have several family members who competed at the Division I level, so being active was always prioritized and I was taught there are so many ways to do so. I fell in love with running because my parents were avid runners, running half marathons across Texas throughout my childhood.


In my free time I love to watch any sport I can find. As a native of Houston, I have grown up a fan of the Longhorns, Texans, and Astros. I love to run and spend time with my friends and family. I have a younger brother who plays football for the Drake Bulldogs in Des Moines, Iowa, so you can often find me there during the fall weekends. I ran the Houston Marathon in January 2024 and hope to run the Chicago Marathon next year!

Feature Video Story

Below you will find an example of a video story I created. My brother Jack has experienced his fair share of adversity from a young age. In this story you will see the value of human connection, persistence, and hard work.

Experience & Education

Resume

Savannah Ward

832-844-7522 | savward101@gmail.com

Objective

To obtain a job in the sports industry and expand on my knowledge within my graduate degree in the strategic communication and sport psychology field.

Education

University of Texas at Austin Graduate School Strategic Communication, current

University of St. Thomas Graduate Applied Sports Performance Psychology, current

University of Arkansas cumulative GPA 3.7 Recreation and Sports Management 2020-2023

  • Dean’s List, Chancellor’s List, Graduated in 3 years

Incarnate Word Academy 2016-2020

Professional Experience

CBS Sports

  • Operations support for March Madness 2024
  • Runner for live on air talent 
  • Helped assist the production units and set up for live games

University of Texas Football Recruiting Operations Intern Fall 2023

  • Worked home games at DKR welcoming and entertaining recruits and families
  • Marketed Longhorn Football to enhance player experience
  • Attended weekly meetings to review upcoming talent and plans

UARK Communications Track and Field Intern, Spring 2023

  • Attended professional meetings with SEC coaches
    • Transcribed what coaches were saying for press release articles each week
    • Learned about the behind the scenes operations for track meets through interactive questions
  • Facilitated public media and press box seating & activities
  • Organized medal counts for multiple team competitions

UARK Media Film and Video Intern

  • Filming & Editing SEC football team 15 hours/week, Spring 2022
    • Filmed team practices from top of stadium for coaches view
    • Capitalize on football knowledge to follow plays for filming

UARK Marketing Street Team Spring 2020-2022

  • Represent UARK and SEC in Razorback Athletics at multiple sports events
  • Helped create and implement marketing strategy for Razorback Athletics
  • Increased fan engagement through game day festivities

Volunteer Experience

Depelchin Children’s Center

  • Mentored adolescent girls in residential treatment center through hands on time reading, playing games and having dance parties
  • Raised money and awareness for child abuse victims 

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

  • Enriched local youth baseball team by helping with coaching and practicing
  • Organized fundraiser for donations from Houston for baseball team

Houston Food Bank

Work Experience

Rice University Summer Youth Activity Program Counselor 

  • Summer 2024
    • Returned for 3rd year as camp counselor
    • Leadership role mentoring Counselors In Training
  • Summer 2023
    • Returned for 2nd year as camp counselor 
    • Helped facilitate new programs and sports as well as mentored junior counselors
    • Promoted to supervisory role
  • Summer 2021
    • Facilitated multi-sport outdoor & indoor activities for 6-11 year olds
    • 10 week full time M-F/8a-4p position
    • Maintaining healthy environment while following COVID protocols

Spoon Moon Fayetteville- Cycle HIIT & Yoga Studio

  • Customer relations, maintained health & safety of clients
  • Marketed Studio to Fayetteville students & community

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy

Michael Taaffe Story- A story about perseverance, hard work, advocacy, faith, and betting on yourself.

Michael Taaffe feature story (pdf)

Download

Get your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

Texas v.s. Clemson CFP Round 1 Preview

There are many fascinating headlines to this game.


Texas QB Quinn Ewers and Clemson QB Cade Klubnik faced off in the 2021 Texas high school 6A state championship game, with Klubnik coming out on top. Ewers played for Southlake Carroll and Klubnik played for Westlake high school. Although there has been a lot of development by both quarterbacks since then. 


Klubnik had a key defensive player on his team at Westlake in Michael Taaffe, who is now a proud member of one of the best Texas Football teams in over a decade. One of the key components to this game is how well Taaffe knows Klubnik’s style of play. 


Taaffe is not the only Texas player familiar with Clemson’s QB1, starting Texas safety Andrew Mukuba just transferred from Clemson to Texas this year. This provides the Texas defense and specifically the secondary with firsthand knowledge on the offensive scheme Clemson likes to run.


Coming off a tough loss in the SEC championship versus Georgia, Texas is looking for a rebound performance from their offense, specifically in the run game. There was never a moment versus Georgia that the run game could get going. Clemson is coming off their first ranked win of the season in the ACC championship versus SMU. Klubnik is looking to keep rolling, coming off of a great performance with 4 TDs. 


Having a weekend of rest should allow for both teams to get back to full strength. DKR Stadium in Austin, TX will be sold out and ready to go come December 21st for the first round of playoffs. 

Get your Game on with Sports with Savvy

Texas v.s Texas A&M Lonestar Showdown

It’s safe to say the rivalry is officially renewed. The rivalry I grew up watching is back. Emotions are at an all time high, as hate has been growing stronger on both sides since the last game in 2011.


Offense sells tickets and defense wins championships is proving to be a true statement about the 2024 Texas Football team. 


Defense came out and established their game plan early on. With the Aggies driving down the field early, things were looking promising for them. It came to a halt with an interception by Michael Taaffe, preventing a very long completion. Defensively Texas came up with a goal line stand, stopping the Aggies from getting back into the game. Lastly, they forced and recovered a fumble to seal the game. 


Offensively Longhorn head coach, Steve Sarkisian, executed his game almost perfectly.

There are definitely some small things that need to be addressed before the SEC Championship game, but overall the Longhorns looked great on offense. Quinn Ewers looked anything but injured, having his longest run of the season for 26 yards. Tre Wisner had a career game, rushing for 186 yards and 21 receiving yards, at a very hostile Kyle Field. 


While there were two turnovers, Texas is still capable of beating the best teams in the country because the Texas defense is the best in the nation. Last but not least, Arch Manning rushing for a touchdown and setting the tone early was key to the Longhorn victory. The future looks bright with Manning set to be QB1 next year.


Texas looks to prove they can compete with the best and win their first SEC Championship versus Georgia. This will not be an easy task as Texas is looking to get Isiah Bond back to full strength and is hopeful that Kelvin Banks is going to be able to play on Saturday.


If the Texas defense plays like we know they can, a win against Georgia will happen. Establishing the run and playing a clean game on offense will be necessary to win.

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

Texans v.s Cowboys Preview

All lights will be shining on the state of Texas for Monday Night Football.

This is a match up that fans of both teams have been anxiously waiting for.

With Nico Collins set to return with zero restrictions, the Texans offense looks to get back on track versus a struggling Cowboys team. 

Being that the last Dallas versus Houston matchup was 2022, this game is going to have lots of intensity. Several key players including Stroud and Dell were not on the 2022 team. While the Texans had several good pieces, they were missing the leadership, talent, and confident presence that Stroud brings to the current Texans team.

With Dak Prescott being placed on IR earlier this week, the Texans defense looks to exploit the Cowboys offense and take advantage of any mistakes they make.

Being that Kamari Lassiter and Will Anderson are out defensively for Houston, the rest of the defense needs to step up big time.

The Texans offensive line looks to build on the decent performance they had against the Lions, but Micah Parsons stands in their way.

Parsons’ looks to play a key role from the linebacker position by pressuring Stroud, either by forcing him to throw the ball away, sacks, etc.

The keys to victory for the Texans are the offensive line to allow less than four sacks, Stroud making smart decisions, and the secondary to take advantage of mistakes in the Dallas pass game. 

The Texans will be going into a hostile environment at AT&T Stadium, so offensively they need to execute the game plan at a near perfect rate to come out with the win.

GO TEXANS!

Get Your Game On with Sports with Savvy!

Texans v.s. Lions recap 11/10/24

Wow! What a game.


Seven interceptions happened between both teams, five from the Lions and two from the Texans.

Fans of both teams did not expect for this many turnovers to happen.


Many fair-weather fans of the Texans may be frustrated with back to back prime time losses.

True fans know we are still light years ahead of where we were just two years ago.


It’s safe to say that the Texans need to fix the issues at offensive line as soon as possible.

Defensively, the Texans gave the offense several extra opportunities to score.

Texans QB, CJ Stroud, took four sacks and had way too much pressure in the pocket.

There seemed to be little adjustments offensively when the Lions started to close the score gap midway through the third quarter.


The Texans seemed unstoppable in the first half; everything was going exactly the way they drew it up!

Although the second half was a complete 180 compared to their first half performance. 

The field goal that propelled the Lions to victory, seemed too good to be true.


While this was far from Stroud’s best performance of his career, this is a game that he will grow from. 

Being without Will Anderson and Nico Collins did not help the Texans in this top tier match up. Collins will return next week, with Anderson still on the injured list.

The team looks to bounce back next week versus the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. 

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

Texas v.s. UTSA 9/14/24

Two words.

Arch Manning.

Starting off strong, Ewers was 8 of 9 on the first drive, ending with a touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone to Isaiah Bond. 

UTSA had one strong run that led to a TD for 53 yards.

The Texas defense played very well the entire game. Standouts Anthony Hill Jr. and Colin Simmons led the way with a combined 17 tackles. 

Ewers began the second drive with an interception. He ended the third drive with a 19 yard touchdown pass to Johntay Cook. During the third drive he suffered a non-contact strained abdomen injury.

Not to worry Longhorn fans… 

Have no fear, Arch is here!

Manning came in and did not miss a beat, scoring a touchdown on just his third play of the game. 

The next offensive drive ended with a 67 yard touchdown run by Manning, the longest run by a Texas quarterback since Vince Young. 

The second half was a highlight reel for Manning consisting of 2 touchdowns. 

Escaping the pressure is not something the Mannings’ have been known for. Needless to say, Arch became the first mobile Manning since his grandfather, Archie.

Despite the large lead from the beginning of the game, fans only got louder as Manning showed what he could do. Arch created his own Bledsoe to Brady moment, giving Longhorn fans a glimpse at the greatness to come.

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

Astros v.s. Rangers 4/14/24

After an extremely rough start to the 2024-2025 season, the Houston Astros look to be getting things back on track. The statement when Altuve goes the Astros go was proven true once again today with a dominant win consisting of Altuve going 3 for 5 with two home runs. Jeremy Peña busted out of a rough beginning, going 3 for 4 with two hits and a walk. Lastly Chaz McCormick provided huge insurance runs in the 6th inning, putting the Astros up 7-2 with a two run RBI double. Christian Javier had a much needed dominant performance with only 2 runs, 2 walks, and most importantly 5 strikeouts. We now just need the rest of our starting rotation to get healthy. Next up on the Astros agenda is beating an Atlanta Braves team at home and the Washington Nationals on the road. Neither of these will be an easy task, but with Verlander returning soon we’ll be looking more like Astros fans have become accustomed to watching.

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

College Baseball- Texas v.s Texas Tech Game 1 of 3


The Longhorns were all gas no breaks in Game 1 of 3 versus the Texas Tech Raiders. This game proved this season and the team can go very far. The pitching started off strong for the Longhorns, not an uncommon occurrence with Lebarron Johnson Jr. on the mound. The bats were alive for the entire game. The 1st inning started off very well with several hits and a three run home run by Max Belyeu. This was followed by a second inning filled with some wild pitches, walks, etc. that tied the game up at 4 runs a piece. It is safe to say that this Texas offense can compete with the best of them. Batting through their entire lineup in the second inning with several extra base hits and a much needed 3 run home run by Porter Brown, the boys proved they are easily worth a top 25 ranking. They kept the offense rolling throughout the game with more extra base hits and two grand slams by Ryan Galvan and Will Gasparino. The pitching did its job with Ace Whitehead closing out the game with a very comfortable lead behind him.   


As always, Hook ‘em! 

Get Your Game on with Sports with Savvy!

Super Bowl 2024 Preview

The 58th Super Bowl matchup is set.

Brock Purdy versus Patrick Mahomes.

Mr. Irrelevant versus two time Super Bowl champion.

One of the league’s best offensive teams and one of the best defensive teams. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have proven themselves to each and every doubter. They have shown that considering them underdogs adds fire to one that is already lit. 

Travis Kelce is looking like himself again just in time for the biggest sports event of the year. With 11 receptions and 116 receiving yards he played a crucial part in the Chiefs offensive success in the AFC Championship. Mahomes has been close to perfect so far in the playoffs with 0 interceptions and 4 touchdowns against some of the league’s best defenses. 

It’s safe to say there will be a star studded Kelce suite at the Super Bowl for back to back seasons.

The 49ers have proven they are tough and able to fight their way back from big deficits. 

They have a game manager in Brock Purdy who is surrounded by elite talent at every facet of the game. All he has to do is stay calm under an immense amount of pressure. Purdy is no stranger to the underdog role as he was the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. He thrives in the low profile role he has consistently found himself in. 

While he did not have his best game versus the Detroit Lions, he will need his best and a whole lot more to beat the defending Super Bowl champs in the Kansas City Chiefs. Purdy could officially kiss his nickname of Mr. Irrelevant goodbye with a win against the Chiefs, but he has Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones, just to name a few, standing in his way.

Super Bowl 2024 Recap - Chiefs win again.

Wow. What a game!

This year’s Super Bowl was one for the ages.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has won his third ring at only 28 years old. Kansas City has won 3 super bowls in the last 5 years. The only other quarterbacks to have done that are Joe Montana and Tom Brady, putting him in rarified air.

First let’s start with the records that were broken. A team has not gone back to back Champs in 20 years. First 49ers kicker, Jake Moody broke the Super Bowl field goal record with one from 55 yards. Then Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker, broke Moody's record by making one from 57 yards.

While this was not the typical offensive spectacle we have come accustomed to seeing from the Chiefs, they still found a way to come up victorious.

As a Texans fan I hope and believe we will get our shot next season at the Chiefs, not only in the regular season but in the playoffs as well.

The 49ers should hold their heads high, which is no doubt hard to do after losing on the nation’s biggest stage.

Mahomes played far from perfect, but somehow he continually kicks it into gear at just the right time. With Mahomes having one interception and almost a couple more, the 49ers were very much in the game because of their defensive stops. They had Kelce continually covered for much of regulation, but as Mahomes says the brighter the lights the more Kelce shines which proved true in overtime. 

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy played exceptional in his first ever Super Bowl appearance; completing 23 of 38  passes for 255 yards and 1 touchdown. While 49ers running back Christian McCaffery did have a fumble in the first quarter, he played nearly flawless the rest of the game with 80 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown. You would not know George Kittle is one of the best tight ends in football based off his statistics of 2 receptions and 4 receiving yards, sponsored by the outstanding Chiefs defense.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was hoping to see Travis and Taylor’s fairytale ending to her first season being connected to the Chiefs.

Ultimately, the Chiefs' experience played an essential role in their victory. By the end of the game, the 49ers defense looked depleted. Mahomes has found himself trailing in these situations time and time again. Somehow he figured it out  again when it mattered most. That's what makes him great. It's going to take a more than perfect game plan to take down the Kansas City Chiefs next season.

Get Your Game On with Sports with Savvy!

CJ Stroud Rookie Season recap

Wow. What a season.

Houston, we have our guy would be an understatement.

Rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and Head coach Demeco Ryans have proven they have what it takes for many years to come. CJ Stroud has taken the NFL by storm. The Houston Texans have brought life back into this city. Stroud has proven to have maturity and poise beyond his years. He has put himself in conversation with the league’s best, leading the NFL in pass yards per game. 

Ultimately Stroud is a proven winner, something that Texans were desperately needing after the last few seasons. 

While he has led the Texans to their first divisional playoff game in four years, he expresses how none of it would be possible without his faith, teammates, and coaches. 

Stroud has set a new standard for the franchise and the city of Houston. We are looking at a situation similar to when the Astros were young and on the rise in 2015. With more potential and talent at quarterback than ever before, we are going to see NRG Stadium hosting playoff games for years to come. 

While CJ would say he can’t take the credit for the team’s success, let’s face it, he has saved the franchise. Stroud has people wearing jerseys and unbelievably proud to be a Texans fan. There is a new sense of hope and passion within the city of Houston and it has everything to do with the extremely confident and faithful rookie quarterback, CJ Stroud. 

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Based in Houston, Texas

Sports with Savvy

Savward101@gmail.com

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