Senior Capstone Project Mitchell Joslin Hilliard Davidson ...

[Pages:9]Senior Capstone Project Mitchell Joslin

Hilliard Davidson High School November 22, 2014

Mitchell Joslin Hilliard Davidson High School Senior Capstone 22 November 2014

Introduction Throughout my life I have loved sports. I watch ESPN's Sportscenter show almost every morning and read the Columbus' Dispatch's Sports section every time I get the chance. I am also more than likely going to study sports business in college so, when I was presented with the chance to make up my own senior project my mom and I decided that I should make a project revolved around the sports world. I realized that there were probably a lot more jobs in the sports business world than I knew there were so I decided to find professionals in Central Ohio who had a careers in the sports business world to find out what kind of jobs were actually out there. I was able to talk to multiple professionals including a Sports Agent, Sports Commission, and Director of Operations. I emailed, called, and met these people in person. From the meetings, I was able to learn about multiple different jobs that I had never heard of before in the sports industry.

Goal My main goal coming into this project was to get a decent understanding of a handful of jobs that are out in the sports world other than the main few that I already knew about. (i.e. professional athlete, agent, front office, and coach) Going into this project I was expecting to only be able to meet with one or two people in the sports world but I ended up being very successful in lining up meetings. I was able to meet with multiple sources including Attorney Marc Kessler, Director of Operations for The Ohio State University's Lacrosse team Mark Bergey, and Brian Timm from the Greater Columbus Sports Commission among others. These meetings were very helpful as I was able to ask questions and have them explain how their job pertains to the sports business world and how they were able to get there.

The People The Columbus Blue Jackets Career Fair and Dan Rossetti January/August 2014 Met in person and talked through email

On Tuesday January 28th, 2014 my mom took me to a career fair held by the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The career fair had 40 corporations and businesses, all of which had some connection to the sports industry. Before we had the chance to go to each of the companies table we went down to the lower bowl in the arena and had a discussion with a panel of some of the top sports business people in central Ohio. Among the speakers were Linda Logan of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, Bill Zito assistant General Manager of the Blue Jackets, and Dan Rossetti of Ascension Sports Partners. After the panel discussion I was lucky enough to meet with Dan Rossetti. Mr. Rossetti, the founder of Ascension Sports Partners, helps sports corporations and businesses find people who are interested in the sports business world to get experience, internships, and possibly even jobs with the corporations and businesses. My mom and I were able to talk to Mr. Rossetti about his job and possible college choices that would put me in the right places. I then followed up with him through email and he helped me understand what he does. Corporations will contact him when they want help finding people to fill internships and job openings. He has worked with multiple professional sports teams and professional associations. Mr. Rossetti has a lot of knowledge on numerous jobs in the sports industry. He was a huge help in figuring out what jobs there are in the sports industry.

Brian Timm and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission August 25, 2014 Met in person

Soon after the Columbus Blue Jackets Career Fair I contacted Linda Logan of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission which is a nonprofit organization that brings sports and entertainment events to Columbus. After an email and a few phone calls I was able to talk to Brian Timm who is the Director of Corporate Partnerships for the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. After talking about what I wanted to learn he invited me to stop by their offices in downtown Columbus and sit in on one of their executive meetings. I was thrilled about this and after school on August 25th I headed downtown to their offices. During my time there I learned about multiple careers at the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. From

marketing and communications to event directing and coordinating I learned about numerous career paths. After the meeting Mr. Timm invited me back to his personal office and I was able to asked him a few questions directed more at his own job which is the Director of Corporate Partnerships. Being a nonprofit organization the Greater Columbus Sports Commission or GCSC relies on partnerships to give them not only money but man power to work events. Mr. Timm's main job is to get these corporations to join the GCSC to help bring events to Greater Columbus. Before joining GCSC he worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though he was not a big fan of baseball he said he gain valuable experience from his time with the Pirates. He also worked with the radio station 1460 The Fan in Columbus. He worked as an account executive for 1460 and also as a sales manager for the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Show Network. Moreover, being a graduate of Ohio University he expressed how great

of a Sports Administration major Ohio. As we talked we got on to Linda Logan, who created the Greater Columbus Sports Commission after her time with Experience Ohio. She has worked for numerous professional teams and sports organizations over the years. The Greater Columbus Sports Commission was one of the best experiences I have ever had.

Mark Bergey, The Ohio State University Lacrosse Program September 30, 2014 Talked over the phone

Having played lacrosse since the third grade I thought if would be a good idea to speak to someone who has a career in the sport. I was able to contact the Director of Lacrosse Operations at The Ohio State University, Mark Bergey. Mr. Bergey played lacrosse in high school and moved on to Western New England College where he became four year standout for the Golden Bears. While with the Golden Bears he won countless awards and was also named team captain for the the 2006 season. He went on to be an assistant coach with Western New England College where he was very successful. He moved on to be a volunteer coach with The Ohio State Mens Lacrosse team and finally in 2010 he landed a job as the Director of Lacrosse Operations. I was able to conduct a phone interview with Mr. Bergey and learn what he does. He is responsible for pretty much all the behind the scenes action. This includes travel information, budgeting, scheduling, etc. He plays an important role in the program at Ohio State. He is the one who is in charge of scheduling games, making sure that the teams travel needs are met and that many other things similar to that. He was very helpful and was able to answer a lot of questions about his job and was able to explain some questions I had about

college majors like how do sports administration and sports management majors differ. Overall he was a great contact for me. Jim Pokorny, Pokorny and Company August 18, 2014 Talked over the phone

At the beginning of my senior project I knew that a good resource for me was going to be my Uncle Jim Pokorny. Mr. Pokorny got his accounting degree through Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He worked his way through the accounting world with Sterling Bank and the International Management Group or IMG. He is now a financial planning and accounting expert and actually one of his more well known clients is the former professional baseball great Derek Jeter. He works with athletes finances and taxes. Though he does not work directly with that athletes money he makes sure all the taxes and finances are accounted for. Although I had a previous idea of what he did I was able to learn a few things from him as he talked about what kind of majors in college led to certain types of jobs.

Marc Kessler, Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. November 11th, 2014Met in person

Attorney Marc Kessler ended up being one of the best resources that I was able to meet with. Through connections that my mom had she was able to let me contact Mr. Kessler and set up a meeting on November 11th, 2014. When we met he told me his story about how he became an agent. As a 2nd year law student Mr. Kessler was living in an apartment when his neighbor, who was a back up quarterback for Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL, came to Mr. Kessler and asked him for help. The player had just been traded to the Cleveland Browns and had found out that his previous agent had stolen money and cut ties with him. He told

me that being a sports agent really just came to him. Nowadays Mr. Kessler is one of the more prominent attorneys in Central Ohio and isn't really an agent but more of a resource for players to come to when in trouble or when in need of guidance. He was great resource as he was able shed some light on how agents operate and how he differs from them. It was also interesting for me to read about him as he represents Jack Johnson of the Columbus Blue Jackets in his current issues.

Conclusion Through my passion for sports I was able to find a lot jobs out in the sports industry.

From agents to Directors of Operations to Event planners the sports business world is growing and jobs are out there. From what I have learned from all of the people I have met with, for one to be successful in the sports business world you have to get out and put your name out there. Also, through college you will more than likely be fed into an internship and through the connections you make there you will be able to find a career path that you will love. I now also know and understand some differences in majors and what majors suit me the best. The experiences I have had through this project has helped me tons and will be valuable in the near future. I have now applied to University of Oregon and the Lundquist College of Business for the Sports Business Program Washington State University and the Sports Management major in the College of Education and University of ColoradoBoulder and the Leeds School of Business for the Business of Sports Certificate Program there. All three of these Universities will lead me in the right direction for success.

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