Conducted research for schools in Kentucky and Tennessee under all divisions. Besides this task, there was not much that happened in terms of communication with Gary and challenges.
I continued my research for the schools in Indiana using the NCAA website and the NAIA website. I was able to gather contact information for most schools in Indiana at the NCAA and NAIA level. After finishing the list for Indiana, I started with Pennsylvania. Through my research, there are a little over 40 schools in Div III that offered soccer programs for both men and women. The skimming of the list on the NCAA website game me an idea of the number of schools that I needed to work on which allowed me to manage my time well.
I finished the spreadsheet for the schools in Ohio and emailed Gary the document. He responded shortly saying that I did a great job in producing an organized document for the database. He assigned me with the next task of creating the same document for schools in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The objective was to cover the mid-west region in order to attract as many coaches and schools to these ISN events and also broaden the exposure of players to as many schools as possible. So, I began shortlisting the schools in Indiana first for the men's and women's soccer programs.
Today, I spent most of my time on the spreadsheets for the schools in Ohio. There were more schools than I had imagined that offered soccer programs for both men and women. Extracting the contact details for each school from their staff directory was time consuming but It was a significant part of this experience. To be able to reach out to these schools and coaches for events like the one yesterday was important to give the youths the exposure they needed. This would in turn, help them secure scholarships if they are selected. So, I continued skimming through the NCAA list for men's and women's soccer programs in Ohio to gather the contact information of the coaches and assistant coaches.
I needed to be at the site to help out with many activities that was happening today. It was the soccer fest organized by the International Soccer network which involved teams affiliated to various soccer bodies. The event took place at Perry High school stadium at Massilon, Oh. I reached the site at 9:15 am where I met Gary and other interns. We started out by setting up the banners and the concession stands so that the clubs could proceed with their activities. The event hosted 3 games. Girls's team, semi pro and boys team were on exhibition that day. After we were done with setting up, I was given the responsibility of doing the tickets. It was pretty much a straightforward task. I met other professionals who worked with Gary. They were former players and now coaching at different levels. The attendance was fantastic and generated a good number of people for all 3 games. there were several coaches and recruiting agents/scouts during the game to monitor some of the prospects.
I learned that it is during these kind of events that I can establish relationships with professionals in this field which I did and It was mainly a networking event for me. This opportunity also gave me the chance to meet my mentor in person who has accomplished so much in this line of work. It was an enriching experience in terms of building network and responsibilities My first day of the mentorship program began with phone conversation with Gary, who is my mentor. He explained to me about the nature of my duties and how significant it was in this line profession. I was given the task of creating a database of the schools in Ohio under NCAA Div I, II and III. The search activity also included schools in the NAIA and other affiliated community colleges in Ohio. Gary explained to me that having a ready database is essential to ensure that scouting agents and/or coaches receive the invitations or notifications to events and exhibition games for recruitment purposes. It also gives the players the opportunity to be noticed which I though was a great idea given the fact that all teams competing were affiliated to some sort of league or a team. So, with this in mind, I worked on gathering schools in the NCAA from the NCAA website for men's and women's soccer programs and created a spreadsheet with the name, head and assistant coaches and their contact details.s
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AuthorI am Jason Salam, MBA - Sports Management student at Tiffin University, Ohio. I have a background in business administration, particularly in marketing. Blogger and sports enthusiast! Archives
December 2015
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