PAPER

Each student will be challenged to investigate a segment of the Sports Management Industry. Students should target a specific area of interest that speaks to their own personal preference for a career in sports. This project requires a written paper, as well as a presentation and is worth 25% of your overall grade.

Students should start by selecting a segment of the Sports Industry where they think they may want to work. You can select from the following list, but may also inquire with your professor about any areas not listed here:

— Professional Sports — Collegiate Sports — High School Sports — Youth and Local Recreational Sports — Sports Agency — Sports Marketing — Stadium Management — Sporting Goods/Apparel — Sports Broadcasting — or Social Media

THE PAPER

Length: Minimum of 2 pages, double spaced, with a minimum of 4 sources. Your paper should be focused on you. Introduce your chosen industry, and describe how you plan to obtain an internship that will ultimately lead to your employment. Outline what you learned about this industry as well. You should incorporate the following content into your paper, and find sources to support your claims.

• Overall Industry Interest – Discuss why you are interested in this area for a career in sports
• ID qualifications that you found for this industry that you may already have, and how you could potentially become qualified to work in this field
• Address the current trends you discussed in your presentation. Why are these important? How can you help foster change to improve these situations? Is this a trend, or an isolated incident? Have you seen these issues in other areas of sport?
• Salary Reflection. After understanding how much you can earn in this industry, were you surprised, or did you expect to find this? What surprised you the most about this research? How can you earn more within this chosen industry, and how easy is it?
• Reflect on the jobs you found in your paper as well. Identify where these jobs are typically located, and if you are willing to move there to work. What type of experience is typically needed to secure these jobs, and how can you start working to position yourself now before you graduate?
• Identify areas near you where you can work in Sports. Volunteering is Crucial to building your network, and overall understanding of our industry. Find specific volunteer opportunities and post them here. Discuss why these will be good chances for you to build your resume, and gain valuable experience.
• Conclusion: Use this section to identify your takeaways from this project. What surprised you, what excited you, and what did you learn from completing this assignment?
• SOURCES: Use APA formatting (Links to an external site.) to list your references. Please include hyper links to your jobs and internships, so I can easily access them when grading.

THE PRESENTATION

For your presentation you must devote at least one slide (using at least one cited resource) for each of the following areas below

(1) Current issues within that segment of the industry. Provide links, and summaries, and discuss why these issues are important.

(2) Governance- How is this career governed, and what type of organizational structure is in place to support this career? (example: personal training certifications, or governing bodies ensure that trainers are qualified, and properly trained.)

(3) Career opportunities / Typical work performed – use this section to identify ACTUAL jobs within this field. Find jobs listings, and summarize the type of work/expectations this position requires or expects from employers

(4) Qualifications/average salary – How do YOU become qualified for this job? Do you need additional degrees, or special certifications? How much can you expect to earn with this type of career. Provide a range, and describe these qualifications.

(5) Possible internship opportunities- Find actual Internship Positions, and include links to the pages where they are posted. Describe them, and why they would make sense for someone looking to work in this field. Are you currently qualified to intern here? How can you apply for this position?

(6) Sources