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KIN 2510 Career Goals and Internship Assignment While everyone else is screaming about the quarterback who just scrambled for a touchdown on fourth-and-seven, that guy at the end of your row may be pondering a different number — a 3 percent agent’s fee on $20 million in guaranteed money, perhaps. . Money hungry, sneaky, dishonest, unscrupulous. These are words that some athletes would use to describe a sports agent that they’ve had bad dealings with. Even a casual football fan has seen the impact of that scramble in the run-up to the current season.
This past summer, universities across the South found themselves embroiled in controversies regarding player agent relationships, and one coach — Nick Saban, of national champion University of Alabama — angrily compared some agents to pimps. A good agent can help a professional athlete attain financial and mental stability during and after his career. An incompetent or dishonest agent can ruin an athlete’s playing career and threaten his financial security for years afterward. I aspire to be a great sports agent in the field of football with hard work, hands-on experience, dedication, and perserverance.
What exactly is a sports agent? A sports agent works to market an athlete or products that are related to that athlete to promote the athlete’s career within his or her given sport. This means that the sports agent is responsible for meeting with team owners, managers, coaches and other individuals to promote the athlete that they represent. Much of a sports agent’s day is spent networking, talking with other professionals in the sport and keeping abreast of current trends and information that may affect decisions that the agent recommends to the athlete.
In team and individual sports the agent works to negotiate contracts that are in the best interest of the athlete. This usually means getting a better salary, making provisions for injuries, or taking other options in lieu of salary increases. The sports agent makes recommendations to the athlete as to which option is best for him or her or which options are better over the long-term as opposed to just short-term benefits. A professional athlete can protect himself from the disreputable agents by carefully choosing an agent and working closely with him. In summary, a good agent does more than help a layer convert his athletic skills into financial security. He protects his client’s rights and, as New York Yankee executive Cedric Tallis said, “keeps the player in a frame of mind where he can perform best for himself and his team”. The education required to become a sports agent includes a four-year college degree in business or a related major. Most earn a degree in either sports administration (not every school offers it), business administration, finance/accounting or law. A bachelor’s degree is almost required, although a lot of people even stay a few more years and earn a master’s degree.
The future sports agent may then also follow that with a law degree. Attending school is usually not enough. Aspiring sports agents will also need to intern and again experience working with a sports agency. If nothing is available, a lot of aspiring agents work somewhere in sports until an agency position opens up. The agent must also understand the market his or her professional athlete plays for. You need to understand what other players of your client’s caliber are making, keep a close tab on the market and form a strong relationship with the owner and (sometimes) coach of the team.
Sports agents need to have excellent communication skills. They must sell a service, which in this case is a professional athlete. They must present outstanding sales skills like persuasion, persistence and dedication. Agents also need to form a tight bond with the athletes they work for. The career path for a sports agent isn’t as easy as it looks. You aren’t instantly a millionaire either. Almost all sports leagues require sports agents to be certified. For instance, the NFL requires all sports agents to not only have a post graduate degree but a specific certification as well.
Certifications can range from paying a small fee and taking a few courses to spending time and gaining experience within the specific league. Needless to say, networking during these 7 or so years of education is key. Since sports agents are high in numbers and generally low in demand, it is necessary to put yourself in position with the right location and with the right people who can get you in where you want to be. The next step in moving your way up the ladder would be to scout some potential or up and coming sports professionals who you can represent. Chances are, if you do et the opportunity to represent an athlete, it will not be a big time professional right off the bat. Which is normal, your reputation is what you make of it, so starting small and following through will ultimately help you in the long run. Your success with one athlete will eventually attract others, and from there your reputation will begin to flourish. After gaining the degree, certification, experience, and clientele, it will be some time before you can really prosper. Big time sports agents have often times branched out of their specialized sport industry and gained clientele in other sports leagues after some time.
In doing so, sports agents have the ability to represent a larger amount of professionals, and gain experience in a various amount of sports leagues. But be careful, each sports league has different requirements for its sports agents, how they can conduct business and how much they can charge for their services. Getting to know your league, sport, and industry is key. There are several websites listing endless internships. Whether they be paid or not should not matter when starting off. Experience is key. There is an internship opportunity from a law firm looking for a sports intern.
I think that that would be a wonderful opportunity because it’s working with a law firm and so you get earlier hands on experience in the legal department than just interning for a sports team. Also, the Oklahoma City Redhawks have a job opening for Vice President in sponsorship sales. This opportunity would not be something that I would be interested in because I know almost little to nothing about baseball and the field in which I’m interested in doesn’t have much to do with selling sponsorships. But nonetheless it is a great opportunity for someone who is interested in that particular area.
One particular internship that caught my eye was with USA Football. In Indianapolis, not far from where I live, a membership services intern is needed. There is compensation, and also I believe that it is a great starting internship because of its description. The job duties consist of researching youth football leagues throughout the USA currently in the database, entering additional league information into the internal database, responding to member inquiries received through online help desk as needed, and entering member data for affiliated organizations. It seems like a great way to get hands on in the business world of football.
Even though it is for youth football, it is still experience. Sports agency is definitely the area I am most interested in, particularly the football field. With a lot of dedication, perserverence, hands-on knowledge and experience, I believe that I have what it takes to dominate in this field. Internship Sources Internship 1- http://www. sportsagentblog. com/2010/11/03/sports-law-internship/ Internship 2- http://pclbaseball. teamworkonline. com/teamwork/r. cfm? i=35768 Internship 3- http://footballjobs. teamworkonline. com/teamwork/jobs/jobs. cfm/Internships? supcat=321#35320