It took me a while to come up with my first entry for 2009. Originally, I had thought to string together a “Best of…” compilation to sum up the year in sports, but decided against it acknowledging there are so many other media sources that can provide more insightful coverage. At a brief loss for content and ideas, I confided in a dear friend, Raiders co-worker and USF Sport Management graduate in Will Kiss who provided sage advice.
The challenges of looking back on an entire year in hindsight and introspectively digesting are extremely difficult. Despite the rapid speed that time fleets at, 365 days fits quite nicely as a period of time to evaluate all one has strived for, accomplished and experienced.
For some reason, whenever I think about any personal achievements made since moving to the Bay Area, it all comes back to the orientation dinner in July, 2007. There are 35 strangers sitting in a room. They have no experience in an industry they so passionately love. They’re all willing to do anything to get in and ultimately love their jobs and careers.
It is incredible to see the progress we have made as a cohort one year and a half after starting the program. If I would have presented the following list of positions in the Bay Area sporting industry to our class at orientation, I don’t believe anyone would think it is possible. Well, it’s all true. Impossible is nothing.
The following is a partial list of positions held by students in Cohort 27 throughout the year of 2008. Many students have done additional internships at organizations not listed here. With such great progress in only one year, it seems as if the sky is the limit for 2009 and beyond.
As you will see the variety of organizations and positions our class is involved with spreads across all facets of professional, collegiate and other areas of the sporting industry. With the exception of very few, all of these positions were attained after starting the Sport Management Program.
(*Because I have not had the full disclosure of my classmates, no names are attached to the positions. If anyone wants their name attached to their title, kindly e-mail me and I would be happy to put it up)
Cohort 27, 2008
Organization: San Francisco Giants
Position: Baseball Operations Intern
Organization: 2008 US Open, USGA
Position: Championship Office Intern
Organization: Dunkshoot Magazine (Japan)
Position: International Basketball Scout
Organization: Mavericks Surf Ventures, Inc.
Position: Environmental Manager
Organization: Giants Enterprises
Position: Sales Coordinator
Organization: Stanford University
Position: Marketing Associate
Organization: Cal Athletics
Position: Assistant Director of ticket sales, Marketing
Organization: 42nd International Children’s Games
Position: Liaison to Honk Kong, China delegation
Organization: San Jose Earthquakes
Position: Corporate Accounts Manager
Organization: Comcast Spotlight
Position: Sports Sales
Organization: Roller Soccer World Cup 2008
Position: President of Organizing Committee
Organization: San Francisco 49ers
Position: Football Operations Intern
Organization: Decathlon Health Club
Position: Assistant Athletic Director
Organization: Emerald Bowl
Position: Media Services Coordinator
Organization: NFLPA
Position: Salary Cap/Arbitration Intern
About Me
- USF Sport Management
- Cory Sterling is from Ontario, Canada and graduated with distinction from McGill University with a BA and concentration in Humanistic Studies. Cory currently works for the Oakland Raiders where he is a Media Content Manager for their Internet Department. He is also a multi-continental published sports writer and has worked sporting events like Super Bowl XLII, ArenaBowl XXII and The Emerald Bowl. Cory is a frequent contributor to the German Bundesliga official website and recently traveled to London, England to work for the NFL UK as they prepared for the 2008 NFL International Series which was held on October 26.