Society of Sports Management (CUSSM) will be organizing a panel from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m on Feb. 22 in Schneider conference room to give students the information needed to work in sports.
This event was spearheaded by senior Chelsea Kempton as part of an effort to both make information about working in the world of sports accessible to students and to bring publicity to the CUSSM. Much of Kempton’s motivation to bring this panel together comes from her personal goals.
“My goal is to work in the NFL,” said Kempton, who is a business management major and sports management minor. “I’ve had quite a few internships up to this point, and now I’m like ‘everything in sports is cool.’”
Kempton said that another main reason for putting together this panel was to help shed some light on the future of other students following the same career journey as her.
“There’s no clear path,” Kempton said on the subject of finding a job in sports. “It’s not like [if] you get an internship at Ohio State, you’re going to work for Ohio State. It doesn’t work like that. You dabble around.”
She also jokingly added that it is a rule of thumb that you’ll be sleeping on someone’s couch for a year after college before you find a real job in this market.
Several notable figures from the Columbus area field of sports media will be attending the panel, such as Mark Galuska, the marketing director for the Columbus Clippers, Kayla Anderson, the sports anchor for WBNS Channel Ten, and Pat Thompson, the manager of Advertising and Creative Services for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ed Warriner, the offensive coordinator for Ohio State’s football team and Capital University’s own Dixie Jeffers, the long-standing women’s basketball coach, will also be attending.
Kempton began the planning process over the summer, and wanted to create an event with enough variety to draw students from many different areas, and appeal to a wide range of majors with a variety of professionals.
“I want to attract those people who want to work in sports, but are maybe on the fence thinking ‘well I want to do sports marketing but I’ll never get into it so I might as well just [study] marketing … to tell them ‘you can do it.’”
Kempton has also taken into consideration the plight of many college athletes who might be wondering what to do after their playing time ends along with college.
“As an athlete, it can be a hard transition to get to the real world,” said Kempton.
Kempton went on to mention how athletes who spend most of their time practicing and playing do not always have chances to get career help or look for internships.
Kempton wants to help everyone she can with this panel, and simply preparing for it has already worked wonders for the CUSSM.
“Last year, CUSSM as a group … [was] down to like two people and we were basically going to dismantle because everyone thought there wasn’t enough interest,” said Kempton. “I said ‘Give me a year’ and now I’m proud to say [there are] almost thirty members.”
Free food from Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Insomnia Cookies will also be available during the panel.
