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College team has strong showing at CFA Challenge

March 27, 2019

College of Idaho team captain Tyler Reay admitted it was tough.

“It was a little nerve-wracking just sitting there, waiting to see the final results,” Reay said.

But the four-year member of the Coyote football team wasn’t talking about watching from the sideline, hoping the team could make a big play at a key moment.

He was talking about the 2019 Chartered Financial Analyst Challenge (CFA), which took place at the end of February.

“It was just different,” he said when asked about playing football versus captaining a financial analysis team. “I don’t know if I’d say one was harder than the other, (the CFA challenge) was just something I hadn’t done yet.”

What the senior Business major hadn’t done yet was orchestrate a team of five to evaluate a business – Schnitzer Steel of Portland, Oregon – and prepare analysis and recommendations on whether or not the judges should sell, hold or buy the company’s stock.

Reay captained the College’s team, which included Math major Mbongi Dlamini ’20, and Business majors Ines Arredondo ’20, Jacob Davis ’19, and Chris Waters ’19. Like Reay, Waters also competed for the Coyote football team. The competition has become more intense for spots on this academic team as students have started seeing the benefits.

“People have found out that, if you do this, it can help you with finding a job,” said Rick Goodwin, College of Idaho business instructor and the team’s advisor. “It was a process where I used to have to pull people into it and now it’s just the opposite. I’ve got more demand than space (on the team).”

Goodwin selects the team well in advance because there are academic requirements to qualify for the team. Students can only compete in the CFA one time; doing well can open doors once they graduate from the College.

“They (the judges) really look at this competition,” Goodwin said. “If someone participates in this competition, as someone who has done a lot of extra work, that’s someone they might look at hiring.”

Reay said his time management skills received a good workout as the team’s captain, as it was up to him to do a lot of organizing and planning to help ensure the team’s success. Each of the five team members had their own tasks to complete in the weeks leading up to the February 27 presentation on the campus of Boise State University, which included a written paper that had to be turned in twelve days earlier. After the presentation, the students were asked detailed questions by the panel of judges about the team’s conclusions.

In the end, The College of Idaho squad performed well but did not earn the overall victory. Goodwin was pleased with the team’s performance and they received great reviews from judges and members of the College’s business faculty in attendance, but they were edged out by the team from BYU-Idaho.

For Reay, who would like to work in the finance field after graduation later this year, the opportunity to represent the College in an academic competition was beneficial.

“It was a lot of fun. I can definitely look back and say it was a good experience.”

The College of Idaho has a 128-year-old legacy of excellence. The C of I is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors, and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom.  For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.