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The business of sportsIf the success of Toronto FC -- and the faith of Maple Leaf diehards -- isn't evidence that this city is sports-mad, then it's hard to know what is. |
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 [ 2007-07-25 ] |
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Barry Read, co-ordinator of the Sport Business Management program at Oshawa's Durham College, says students must complete almost 500 hours of job placement.
As a result, pro teams and sports equipment retailers, sports associations, sports agencies and so on, in the city and elsewhere, need staff trained to take care of business.
That's literally business, because, says Barry Read, co-ordinator of the Sport Business Management program at Oshawa's Durham College, sports is a business.
Or as Jessica Weese, going into her third and final year in the Sport Management program says, "A lot of people think that the course is just another gym class, but it's not."
TWO FULL-TIME PROGRAMS
There are two full-time sports management programs at Durham. The program Weese is in -- three-year Sport Management -- and the one-year Sport Business Management, which is for college or university graduates.
The three-year program accepts 90 students a year. Most come straight from high school and the program is largely male, Read says, but young women now make up about 30% of classes on average.
The first year of Sport Management looks like many college business programs with a smattering of sports courses added, Read says, with more coming in the second and third years. During their third year, students must complete almost 500 hours of job placement.
The job placements aren't officially paid positions, Read continues, but employers are encouraged to at least meet a student's expenses. Where the students complete their job placements depends on their interests, Read says, and there are no guarantees they'll land their preferred slot. However, "We stress to our students 'make it difficult for them (employers) to say goodbye to you.'"
The Sport Business Management certificate is a fast track affair. The class begins in September and is capped at 25 students. However, from January to April, five days a week, everyone has to complete an internship. Again, they're officially unpaid but employers usually pony up expenses.
The three-year program costs $2,020 a year and the one-year certificate program is $2,074.
Dickon Sandford is a referee program administrator at the Canadian Soccer Association and graduated from the certificate program in 2006 after receiving a math degree from the University of Guelph.
He always admired anyone who made a full-time living at sports management, and that led him to Durham. Like Weese, Sandford dispels any notion that being a jock or a sports junkie is enough to succeed.
"Just being a sports fan will not help with a sports business management program," he says.
"BOOT CAMP"
A further program for the sports management minded starts this August.
Running what amounts to a "boot camp" in sales and marketing is Mississauga's Cosmos Sports, which has trained more than 200 teams in North America in ticket sales and marketing and is considered an industry leader in team training and revenue generation.
Cary Kaplan, president of Cosmos Sports, says the pool of trained sales and marketing staff is just too small for Canada's sports industry. As a result, his new Cosmos Sports Institute will offer its first practical training session this Aug. 13-24. "It'll be intense. It'll be 40 hours a week for two weeks," Kaplan says. The session costs $3,900.
There's no limit on who may apply, but the class will be limited to eight students, not least because graduates are guaranteed an entry-level job with a sports organization. The Blue Jays, the Argonauts, the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadian Soccer League and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Leafs, Raptors, Marlies, Toronto FC) have all bought in, and other teams are interested, Kaplan says. Cosmos Sports can be reached at www.cosmossports.com.
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