Sports Mgmt/Business Mgmt

My son is taking Sports Management with a minor in coaching at a D3 college in the northeast. Sports Management includes, marketing, sales, management and the degree is useful for employment in any sports facility. He is a sophomore, has done 2 internships, one in a large University Athletic Dept. and one at a large indoor baseball facility. Was offered a permanent job at both for when he graduates! He loves it and sports is his life so this degree is perfect. The coaching would be on the side.

mmac - Sounds like your son is enjoying his degree path! Do you mind sharing how he went about his internships. This is something son and I actually talked about earlier today. He may be home this summer and play summer ball here (Lexington, KY). If he does that, he'll have lots of university (large and small), a minor league org, and others that might be a beneficial experience. Did your son arrange his internships or was this something done through his school and degree program?

Son hasn't gone and talked to his advisor yet as he's just throwing around thoughts with me. I'm sure school will provide more guidance if he does change his major.

Also, does your son plan on going on for his masters...if so, right away? Thanks for sharing your experiences.

My player is majoring in sports management with a minor in business. His classes range from the above mentioned, marketing, sales, statistices, business law, finance.

Business is a good direction if he is unable to major in sports management. Eventually he will decide where his interest lies and most likely will have to attend graduate school to take classes for what he intends to specialize in (law, education, communications, etc.)

You do not need to have a degree in education if you want to coach or teach. My friend teaches and is a business major, but needed to take education courses to keep her job.
My sons pitching coach has a degree in sports medicine and masters degree in excercise science and wellness. His HC has a degree in physical education with a minor in history and a masters in secondary education.

Any questions send pm.

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You do not need to have a degree in education if you want to coach or teach

My son's current plans for a degree were part of a larger plan which included coaching and teaching at the HS level. He has actually planned on majoring in history as you no longer major in the education level such as sec ed. If he changes his degree, coaching would not be a part of the plan. That is the part that has me a bit confused as it's always been his long term goal. I am having difficulty visualizing the options for sports management. Obviously, they're out there as it's a growing degree program.

TPM - I didn't know this was your son's chosen major. Does your son plan on going straight on for his MBA, etc.? I would think that the job opportunities/plans might dictate the decision as to when to complete this. Son has always planned on going on to grad school, so this won't change that plan if he changes degree path.

Anyone else's son on this path? Any other info?

lafmom,
pm

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Anyone else's son on this path? Any other info?

Charlotte...my son has a similar goal, but slightly different journey to achieve it. He is also a dual major in education and history...but plans to go to law school to get into the sports management/law field. Will be taking the LSAT's this fall when he is student teaching.

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You do not need to have a degree in education if you want to coach or teach.

The educational requirements are different as to what state you are in as far as teaching.

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Originally posted by luvbb:

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Anyone else's son on this path? Any other info?

Charlotte...my son has a similar goal, but slightly different journey to achieve it. He is also a dual major in education and history...but plans to go to law school to get into the sports management/law field. Will be taking the LSAT's this fall when he is student teaching.

Kathy, That is an interesting path. I knew Joe was planning on going to law school, but guess I had forgotten the sports mgmt emphasis. My son had talked about law school at one time. I'll have to share Joe's journey with him... that's an interesting plan really!

Law School is excellent training for an agent considering the contract issues involved. You don't need to be a lawyer to be an agent but it sure helps.

I think it takes a certain type of individual as well. Maybe not a shyster personality like Drew Rosenhaus but someone who is outgoing and has that certain twinkle in their eye for getting things done and more importantly getting people to want to hire them. Tough business but at the highest levels one can make a boat load of money.

We have 6 or 7 full time employees with a degree in Sports Management. Four of them started with us as interns. We have also had a few over the years who left us to work with professional baseball clubs or got involved in college coaching. One other went to work for a "big" sports agency.

Nearly every one of these people also played either college or even some professional baseball. One of those, is the guy who runs all of our tournaments. He is very talented and could do something else, but he really loves what he is doing now. (So far)

One guy that worked a few years for us had a degree in sports management and some type of excercise science. He is now the "head" Strength and Conditioning coach for the Chicago Cubs. He sets in the dugout at Wrigly Field and travels with the team. I think he makes a lot of money, but I've never asked him. It's a long story, but he was in the right spot at the right time.

The minor league club across the street from us also has a couple interns they hire each year. I think that might be the best approach if the person is interested in front office type jobs in the future. Interns have to do some not so glamorous jobs, but it is important to understand what the whole thing is about.

lafmom - my son was required every January to do an internship for credit. However, he got the internships himself by writing to the head of the sports facilities he was interested in and asking if they needed an intern. He had quite a few replies (people always like free help!)and he chose where he wanted to work. Very good experience, learnt a lot, met a lot of great people, and also (which I think was the most important) he decided whether he was in the right field. My son has not decided if he is going to do a masters yet. He has talked about it but it's early yet.
If your son is undecided about his degree would be well worth him doing an internship during the summer in some of the local sports facilities. He would soon find out if that is what he wants to do.

This is the direction I am headed towards this coming fall. Everything here looks like what I am doing I think. Thanks for the responses.

mmac - Thanks for the info!

PG - Appreciate those real life examples and insight!

Son will talk to his advisor this week and discuss the things y'all have shared. Thanks again!

AK - I think you will do well in whatever degree path you choose kiddo!

My son is also taking business mgt and sports mgt. He started out with just sports mgt but decided on his own that alot of the credits needed were the same so he added business mgt because he thinks it will help him out in the end - in case there aren't many jobs in the sports area open when he graduates. Personally, I can't see him sitting in a cubicle somewhere. He would like to be an athletic director eventually so we'll see. He is talking about getting his masters right away but I'm not sure which field that'll be in.

JMO, but I could see where a student/athlete got a BS/BA in International Business and does an internship in a foreign country (learns to function with another language) while he is an undergrad. After graduation he goes to school and receives a comb. JD & MBA. If he wanted to work for a MLB team he would have the international internship along with his MBA & JD. I could see this person working for major league baseball or the NCAA and working to become an athletic director at a major university.

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Personally, I can't see him sitting in a cubicle somewhere.

Same with my son mom!

cbg - I think that's excellent advice. Doing an internship out of the country probably wouldn't work for my son and I would think it would be hard for any player to accomodate. HOWEVER, it reminds me that a player obtaining this degree would greatly benefit from focusing on foreign language offerings. A person obtaining a business degree hoping to work in any part of baseball would almost have to have the ability to speak spanish if nothing else.

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Originally posted by lafmom:

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Personally, I can't see him sitting in a cubicle somewhere.

Same with my son mom!

cbg - I think that's excellent advice. Doing an internship out of the country probably wouldn't work for my son and I would think it would be hard for any player to accomodate. HOWEVER, it reminds me that a player obtaining this degree would greatly benefit from focusing on foreign language offerings. A person obtaining a business degree hoping to work in any part of baseball would almost have to have the ability to speak spanish if nothing else.

Here is how you make it work: If you redshirt you do it in the Summer & Fall or you do it during the 5th year after college baseball is over and you are trying to graduate. Most players take 5 years to graduate so do it when your eligibility is complete.