Volunteer Opportunities : This is Your Life

Nothing good comes easy.

This fundamental life-lesson that is especially prevalent in the world of Sport Management. For those who enter the industry without any connections and are forced to fend for themselves, there are two magical words that will become forever etched into their memories: volunteer opportunities.

The Bay Area is plentiful with chances to gain professional exposure. Between the five professional sports teams in the area, handful of NCAA athletic programs and traveling tournaments that find their way to this geographic region, one can be certain that if they want to get involved they can.

Volunteering opportunities are essentially like tryouts for a sports team. You’re never certain how many positions are available (if any, which is the majority of the case) and you never know too much about the talent you are going to be working with. Ultimately, one recognizes that the impression they leave from their one day of volunteering can serve (in a good or bad way, pending performance) as a reflection of a person’s personality, work ethic and attitude.

Bearing all of this in mind, I would like to share a story about my first experience with a volunteer opportunity....

It was a cold and foggy San Francisco morning and I awoke with much anticipation. I was about to meet up with a few of my classmates and volunteer for the San Francisco Giants Jr. Giants Annual Golf Tournament. Having started the USF Sport Management Program one week earlier, I was finally provided the chance to prove my worth.

It was a lot of fun as Giants baseball players, both former and current checked in to the course. Along with the ball players, there were a variety of Bay Area sports legends participating in the event that raised money for the Jr. Giants foundation.

My first job, working with my lovely classmate Nancy Pike, was to distribute bubble gum to all the participants before they teed off at our hole. Although the job sounds mundane, it was quite fun because you get to meet and greet each athlete and Giants executive staff as they approach your hole (this is where the whole audition aspect comes in to play).

Being a Canadian and new to the Bay Area sports heroes, I recognized only a handful of the athletes. One who stood out was Jim Plunkett, the Raiders quarterback who won two trophies and was named Super Bowl MVP. I handed him his gum in a courteous fashion and briefly introduced myself.

As the afternoon moved a long, so did our responsibilities and I was soon moved to a hole where I was distribute special pins. It was the same drill as before. After one group had hit their balls, the next approached and it happened to be Plunkett’s group. I handed all of the players their pins and politely asked how they were all doing. Soon after, “Plunk” made a remark to the group how I was moving up in the world as I had gone from giving out gum to pins. Of course, this mildly sarcastic comment was met with a burst of laughter and rosy cheeks on my behalf. The group played on and the afternoon quickly came to a close.

Upon reflection, I thought more and more about Plunkett’s comment and feel that it fits a much bigger picture about working volunteer opportunities. On the surface, distributing either bubble gum or a pin is not ideal, but if taken with the right attitude and direction, it can bear unlimited fruit.

I sometimes work with Jim Plunkett in the Raiders broadcasting department. Of course, he still has no absolutely no idea who I am. But, the exchange we shared, aside from teaching me a lesson, motivates me immensely to do accomplish something absolutely incredible and then find Jim Plunkett and make some witty remark about a moment he could never remember. Such are the motivations of life.