Michael Burgan - Working in College Sports

Analytics: Sports Stats and More
Coaching & Scouting
Health Careers in Sports
Sports Agent
Sports Arena & Event Management
Sports Broadcasting
Sports Marketing
Sports Media Relations
Sportswriting and Sports Photography
Working in College Sports

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2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3264-4

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3274-3

EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8532-9

First printing

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Cover photo: Aceshot1/Shutterstock

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher

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	Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the readers understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.
	Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives.
	Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.
	Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.
	Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the readers ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

So you want to work in sports? Good luck! Youve taken a great first step by picking up this volume of CAREERS OFF THE FIELD. Ive been around sports professionallyon and off the field, in the front office, and in the classroomfor more than 35 years. My students have gone on to work in all the major sports leagues and for university athletic programs. Theyve become agents, writers, coaches, and broadcasters. They were just where you are now, and the lessons they learned can help you succeed.

One of the most important things to remember when looking for a job in sports is that being a sports fan is not enough. If you get an interview with a team, and your first sentence is Im your biggest fan, thats a kiss of death. They dont want fans, they want pros. Show your experience, show what you know, show how you can contribute.

Another big no-no is to say, Ill do anything. That makes you a nonprofessional or a wanna-be. You have to do the research and find out what area is best for your personality and your skills. This book series will be a vital tool for you to do that research, to find out what areas in sports are out there, what kind of people work in them, and where you would best fit in.

That leads to my third point: Know yourself. Look carefully at your interests and skills. You need to understand what youre good at and how you like to work. If you get energy from being around people, then you dont want to be in a room with a computer because youll go nuts. You want to be in the action, around people, so you might look at sales or marketing or media relations or being an agent. If youre more comfortable being by yourself, then you look at analysis, research, perhaps the numbers side of scouting or recruiting. You have to know yourself.

Series consultant Al Ferrer founded the sports management program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after an award-winning career as a Division I baseball coach. Along with his work as a professor, Ferrer is an advisor to pro and college teams, athletes, and sports businesses.

You also have to manage your expectations. There is a lot of money in sports, but unless you are a star athlete, you probably wont be making much in your early years.

Im not trying to be negative, but I want to be realistic. Ive loved every minute of my life in sports. If you have a passion for sports and you can bring professionalism and quality workand you understand your expectationsyou can have a great career. Just like the athletes we admire, though, you have to prepare, you have to work hard, and you have to never, ever quit.