Why This?

As a kid I always enjoyed watching and playing sports. Like every other kid, I wanted to go to the NFL and be a professional football player. As I matured, I realized that that goal is probably out of reach for me. So, when I discovered the sports management program here at UNE, I realized I could possibly still work in the NFL if I work my way up the ladder into the league. Both of my roommates here are sports management majors and I am even taking a sports management class. For that class, I was required to interview someone who is actually in the sports management field. The man I interviewed gave me plenty of information and advice for how I should go about possibly becoming a sports management professional. The class that I am in is providing me with valuable information and it attracts me as maybe something I could do in the future. Sports has always been a passion of mine and possibly working in sports as a professional is very appealing to me. The person I interviewed gave me a great insight on what schooling and what the field of work would look like for a professional.

Students

The students I interviewed told me some valuable information about the major and what it entails. I found that they both had similar reasons on why they were drawn to the sports management major. One specific quote that stood out to me was where a student stated, “I hope to find a job in the field, whether it is coaching or managing. I just want to use what I’ve learned and the connections I’ve made to the best of my abilities to be successful in the field.” I never really thought of coaching and I figured out that there is a coaching minor. I don’t know if I’d ever be interested in that but it’s surely something noteworthy.

I asked both students how they were working to reach their goals. The other student responded with how they personally are. “No internships yet as it is early in my collegiate career. I’m hoping to start internships  junior year. Whatever opportunities arrive I will take, because I do not qualify for work study.” This was very interesting to me because when doing research, I noticed you needed at least 480 hours of an improved internship. That seems like a lot of work to me and I don’t know if I would be up to that.

Professor

I am taking a sports and recreation management class and my teacher for that class is Dr. Aimee Vlachos. She is the professor I asked to do an interview with. Dr. Vlachos is extremely nice and a great professor. She spends a lot of time in class explaining what a job outside of the education world is. When interviewing her, I asked for a few specific examples and she said, “Whatever appeals to you really, coaching, training, your own business, or even working for a professional sports team. This major can help you find a job anywhere in the sports world.” I think she did a great job of appealing to my interests with this quote. I don’t know exactly how I would use this degree but the versatility as she explained, and the ability to have so many different professions appeals to me.

I also asked Dr. Vlachos how this degree is adaptable for the future. She explained how sports are the future when she stated, “The sports world is constantly changing and adapting to the world and it has been for a long time. Sports have been a huge part of society and culture for thousands of years, and I don’t see how it couldn’t continue for thousands of years in the future. I think as long as sports are around, there will be plenty of occupations surrounding sports.” I agree with this quote 100%. Even in my lifetime, I feel as if I’ve seen the sports world change and adapt to the technological advances of the world. I definitely see sports as a stable business and there is always something to do in sports.

School Work and Real-World Work

My interviewee, who went to UNE, and graduated with a degree in sports management, says his work is very similar to a business major. He says when he went to school, his course work was very similar to that of a Business major, with a little more specialization. With this degree, I can work many different jobs. Anything in organizational sports, including professional, collegiate, and youth sports. I can also work many similar jobs to that of a business major, because of the amount of overlap between the two majors. I can also create and grow my own sports business such as a gym or personal trainer if I decide to minor in anything that can help me out with that. My coursework would include graduation requirements, introductory courses to both business and sports management, intermediate courses in both of these fields, and obviously advanced courses in these fields. This major leads me to being very interested in possibly creating my own sports business or facility. It also can lead me to joining a preexisting sports organization and helping run the company. On the UNE website, the major overview and curriculum seems intense. There are many required classes. One aspect that especially surprised me was the 480 hour of an approved internship. To me, that is very surprising and seems like a lot. There is also a lot of overlap for the business major, which is another major I considered and I am very interested in. I see some classes that I would be interested in taking, and I also see some that do not appeal to me at all.

Reflection

At the end of this project, I can confidently say that it has given me a real interest in the sports and recreation management major. From what I heard from the students and the professor, I would definitely enjoy working in the sports field. I can find out later what I wish to actually do for a job but thanks to my research and interviews I have a plethora of options to explore and choose from. This project was very valuable to me. I haven’t made a definite decision yet but I truly enjoyed exploring this major and I am highly considering it for my major. The time I would spend in school for the major seems like some time I can really enjoy and so I can get a head start on making connections in the field, and as a huge sports fan, I am interested in so many aspects of sports as a whole. This exploration project definitely helped me reduce my stress and anxiety about picking a major. After I graduate, the sports management field is so broad, I could decide to do so many different things. I can really appreciate how this project helped me, and let me explore one of my favorite topics and maybe turn it into a career.

Reflection (As a Whole)

For me this project definitely helped me realize some potential majors for me. Obviously, I researched the major I chose, but it was also definitely helpful to see some of the other options that were done in the presentation sensation. As I went first, about half of the presentations are done so I only have information on a few but I can already tell that even just listening to these projects is beneficial in seeing maybe which majors I would like. The presentation sensation was definitely more stressful than the paper-like thing for me. Its hard to go first because you have nothing to base it off of or compare it too. I also struggled with the idea of using a slideshow. For me I find it much easier just to read off of an outline, but those extra 5 points were very appealing to me. For time concerns, I just went with reading off and outline. I am pretty good at presenting so as soon as I got up and got into the flow of the presentation, it became really easy for me. One part I struggled with was procrastinating. I procrastinate almost everything that I do and I definitely put the project on the back burner when I first heard about it. Overall, I think I did pretty good on this project. I really explored some things about myself and explored some different parts of UNE that I was not really familiar with and I think that it. I still have not made a decision on what I want to major in or even do when I get out of school but this project really opened my eyes to some of the possibilities that I think I just shoved into the back of my head. I really think this project helped me.