My Mentorship Experience
12/2/13-12/8/13
This week has been a bit bittersweet for me in that this is my
last week of my mentorship, but a joyous occasion because this will be my last
assignment of my graduate program. As I reflect back and think of my mentorship experience I feel very thankful and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazing woman that possesses the vision and ambition to go after whatever she wants. Throughout my mentorship the communication and interaction between Ms. Stanley and I exceeded my expectations; I spoke to my mentor almost every day for the past few months and I through this open line of communication have been able to gain more insight into what it takes to become a successful agent in the sport’s industry as well as the hard work and discipline it takes to operate a successful business.
My mentor has an excellent organization and it runs smoothly with minimal glitches, but if I had the opportunity to restructure Merit, I would expand the client base and employ more well-rounded agents. Right now Merit focuses solely on professional women’s basketball, but the sports industry is so much more than that; think of all the revenue the agency could bring in if they had agents that concentrated on baseball, football, and soccer in addition to basketball. I have talked in length with my mentor about the possibility of expanding Merit or venturing out on my own in the near future and starting an organization that focuses on all sports. This will be a difficult task that I am sure will have a few bumps in the road, but one thing that would keep me motivated should I decide to take on this venture is the reward at the end of the journey.
Overall, my mentorship exceeded my expectations and I am happy that I had the opportunity to work with such an amazing individual. I have worked with and for Merit in the past, so I was a little hesitant to do my mentorship with the organization because I thought that I would not learn anything because I knew the ends and outs of their operation, but this was far from the case. Ms. Stanley ensured that I had a new and exciting task each week that kept me not only occupied but also gave me the opportunity to interact with different individuals throughout the industry as well as learn aspects of the business that I had never experienced. I am thankful for the opportunity and will continue to work to expand upon the tools and knowledge I have gained from my mentorship experience.
2014 Exposure Camp
11/25/13-11/30/13
Every year Merit Management hosts an annual free agent camp for
collegiate and professional women basketball players striving to play at the
highest level, which is the WNBA. The free agent camp is hosted every year in the same city as the NCAA Women’s Final Four. The camp gives players a chance to showcase their talents not only to WNBA scouts, but also to managers and presidents that represent teams abroad. The camp only lasts for one day, and slots are very limited so often times Merit must start actively getting the details out to coaches and players so that they can begin to prepare for the camp. This week my job was to begin emailing division 1 coaches with elite players to provide them with details and information that they can pass down to their players. Although, the camp is not until March it is important to begin creating a buzz about the exposure camp early in order to get the best opportunity to have the cream of the crop competing in the camp. Merit also
opens the camp to their existing players who are looking to enter the WNBA; this week I also contacted Merit’s client list to give them details on the camp and discuss fees that will be charged for the camp. The NCAA Final Four will be held in Nashville, Tennessee which is an excellent city for women’s basketball, so it will not be difficult to find a venue to host the camp.
As of yet, Merit has not landed a location for the exposure camp, but
they are currently in negotiations with a few locations.
Scouting Talent
11/18/13-11/24/13
This week I was given the opportunity to work like an agent. I was tasked with the job of getting out in the Atlanta, Georgia area and assessing the talent in the area. Although, Merit Sports mainly deals with Division 1 players, I was asked to visit Division II schools as well. The reason my agent insisted that I visit Division II schools is because she wanted to prepare me for the work that will come if I should choose to become an agent. Since the start of my mentorship she has bestowed upon me the fact that success does not happen in a day, and that 99 percent of successful individuals have started from the bottom and worked diligently to make it to the top. I understand her reasoning and methodology for sending me to watch smaller schools because I will have a better chance at perhaps signing these individuals by being a new agent as opposed to going after big name players in the industry and competing with well-known and established agents. To complete my task for the week, I decided to go and check out Emory University in action against Oglethorpe University.
I choice this game because both schools are located in the Atlanta area
and if I did decide to one day try and represent one of their players, I would
have a better chance of building a repore with the coaching staff since I live
in the same area as the school. From talking and working with my mentor I have found that this job requires a ton of leg work and one must always be willing to travel, and go that extra mile to try and get to know not only coaches but parents and immediate family as well. The game between Oglethorpe and Emory was not as competitive as I would have liked but I did see a few freshmen and sophomore players from each team that could develop into
great players. The final score of the game was 77 to 50 with Emory ending on top of Oglethorpe University. During the course of the game I kept up with the stats of each player and was very attentive to each player’s demeanor and interaction with their teammates both on the floor as well as the bench. From playing sports, I have learned that attitude is a huge part of the game, and my mentor has also been stressing the importance of finding talent that can not only perform on the court, but look for those that are stand up citizens off the court as well.
Gaining Knowledge and Insight
11/11/13-11/15/13
This week I talked in length with my mentor on the importance of
building relationships and how that is the most fundamental part of being a
successful agent. I had the opportunity to listen in on a few conference calls between her contacts abroad and herself. They discussed players in length as well as contacting clubs and managers from various countries to not only market their players but also to build their contact lists. My mentor could not stress the importance of building a contact list enough, she also discussed with me about all the countries she’d been to in the last three years, and how actually traveling abroad has helped to drastically improve her organization. After reflecting on my conversations with my mentor this week, I began to understand exactly how much leg work goes into being a successful agent. Many clubs abroad like to have a working and close knit relationship with the agents they work with, so it is important to send quality players their way to build a good reputation abroad, but even more importantly it is important for these clubs to be able to put a face with a name. Often times this requires frequent travel abroad, but with the technological advanced world we live in more often times than not a Skype conference call will be just as an effective. This week I was also tasked with contacting players to ensure that they were doing well abroad and did not have any issues that needed the immediate attention of my mentor. None of the players had any issues with their clubs this week which resulted in another great week with Merit Management!!
Scouting
11/4/13-11/10/13
Scouting players for the next level is an integral part of the agent business as one might assume; like with any business, without clients there is no business. This week in order to get an idea of what it takes to become a successful agent; I was tasked with assessing talent. Although, agents cannot communicate with players until after their last collegiate game, there
are ways to present one’s self so that athletes are aware that an agent is
interested in representing them. During the week, my mentor and I talked in
depth about the behind the scenes work that an agent must do in order to obtain talented individuals. They must attend a large amount of games, they constantly contact coaches and touch base about the players, and they also must find ways to show their interest without communicating with the players which is an NCAA violation. My agent has recently traveled to North Carolina and Florida to catch the season openers for the tar heels and Miami hurricanes because she is interested in representing a few of their players. My task for this week was to compile a list of prospects for the 2014 class. The list was to be broken down into 3 categories: The top 20 players in women’s basketball, 50 players considered average but may have great success playing abroad, and 30 players who the organization (Merit Management) will keep an eye on to see what type of season they have for this upcoming year. I was informed that the last category will be used if the organization does not obtain enough players from the top 2 lists or if one of the players from the last category has a breakout season (this happens almost every year). My mentor has disclosed to
me that she is looking to sign only 20 players from the 2014 class. This number is contingent upon finding a new agent to join Merit Management. She wants to find another agent so that she can focus more on getting her existing players into the WNBA through her exposure camps but also through networking, and setting up meetings with WNBA team’s general managers to negotiate contracts for her players.
Contract Negotiations
10/28/13-11/03/13
70 percent of Merit Management’s clients have already landed jobs for the upcoming season abroad as well as with the WNBA. This is great percentage for any organization, but one thing I have learned from my mentor is that an agent must be selective in the quality of players they add to their client list. It looks good on paper to have a ton of clients, but what really matters is the quality; the quality of players means more profit for the organization as well as a establishing a respectable brand name within the sports industry. This week I was given the opportunity to sit in on three different negotiations of players contracts. I also began getting together care packages as well for the players abroad.
The contract negotiations were lengthy and at times even frustrating for the agents involved. Besides dealing with translators, many of the team’s presidents’ were not willing to meet the agents halfway on the salary of the players. In addition to discussing the player’s salaries, they also discussed transportation, meals, and living arrangements. All 3 clients wanted expect their agents to negotiate the little things they wanted from their clubs as well as the salary. 2 of the players are taller than 6’2 inches, and they wanted to make sure the club found them mid-size sedans instead of the typical European compact cars, which are usually provided to players as their means of transportation. Another player wanted the team to provide her with one
meal each day, she did not care if it was lunch or dinner, but she said this is
something that she really wanted because she was not a strong cook. All 3
players also wanted to have their own apartments as well, which turned out to
be more trying than any of their other requests because the team's wanted to house their American players in the same apartment. The negotiations lasted the whole week ending with Merit Management able to get each player close to the salary they wanted as well as their own apartments, the only thing that ended up being non-negotiable were the means of transportation. I got an opportunity to learn a lot this week in regards to what all goes into player negotiations and all the legal aspects that attached to these negotiations. Overseas, the clubs are responsible for paying the agents involved with the player, and the agents are responsible for paying the lawyers that draw up the actual contracts. It was a wonderful week and it made begin to really think about possibly going into the field. I have attached a mock copy of a players’
contract, so that you can view an actual contract: http://mail.aol.com/38135-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?
Contacting Players
10/21/13-10/25/13
This week I was tasked with the pleasure of contacting Merit Management’s entire client list that has already gone abroad. Currently there are 20 players placed in various countries overseas. contacting Merit Management’s entire client list that has already gone abroad. Currently there are 20 players placed in various countries overseas. There are players in Israel, Poland, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, Korea, and the Czech Republic. As we all know contacting someone abroad can be a bit challenging because of the time difference, so I figured the best way to go about this was to email all of the players to ask them about their schedules and when would be the best time to contact them. By the end of the week to my surprise I had a chance to speak in depth with each player on the list to see how they were doing on their respective teams. Since I would need to report back how each player was doing, I decided to compile a list. For the most part each player said that they were adjusting well to their new teams and cities, but there were however a few individuals that were having a few issues. The issues ranged from late payment, unacceptable living arrangements, and trouble with translator, transportation issues, and problems with playing time. Once I gathered information on the entire client’s, I was able to send the list over to the agent so that she could begin contacting the team’s mangers in order to handle the issues the players were having. Aside from talking to players about their adjustment to their new countries, I also had to obtain their addresses which proved to be more trying than one would think. I am still waiting on a few addresses, but the reason I was tasked with the job of getting the client’s
addresses is because every year Merit Management sends each player a care
package for Thanksgiving filled with snacks, condiments, hygiene products and
anything specific that they ask. This is a great way to show players that they
care about their wellbeing, and the president told me that she has been doing
this since she started her business, and in the beginning the money actually
came out of her own personal account. This year she has tasked her player
representative (me!!) with gathering the snacks and products for the players,
so next week part of my job will be to shop for essential products that would
be needed by someone abroad such as shampoo, deodorant, American snacks (which are unbelievable overpriced abroad), soap, socks, hair care products, and anything in particular that players ask for.
Research
10/14/13-10/19/13
This week at Merit Management, I had a chance to
interact with many of our clients, the ones who are abroad and the ones who are waiting for an offer. This week I had the opportunity to check the players’
progress by searching stats and researching whether or not they team has been winning. I worked this week with the creator of the Merit’s website helping to find new information about our existing clients overseas, so that he could
update the website. I also was tasked with the job of looking to see if any
players have recently been placed on the inactive list due to injury or being
released from their contracts. Of course, we would know if our own clients have
been released or injured, but the research is needed in order to try and place
prospective players on our client list who are waiting from offers overseas. My
research included looking on sights like Eurobasket and also smaller websites in the different respective countries that have D1 basketball leagues. My research also included contacting a number of contacts overseas such as local agents, and coaches that the company has worked with in the past. It was great to contact some clients, but for others it was a bit more trying due to language barriers so often times I had to contact their translator or connect to a conference call. My findings for the week were good for the agency because there have been a free openings overseas due to a few players being released; we have sent a list of our available players to the clubs looking for a new players and are now awaiting a call back to see if any of our players are a fit for their organization.
Organizing a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk
10/7/13-10/12/13
My first week of my sports mentorship was spent helping to organize a breast cancer awareness 5k walk in Atlanta, Georgia. Breast Cancer is an issue that has hit home for many of Merit Sports Management's clients, and to show solidarity the President sponsors several breast cancer walks in various states annually. Luckily for me I have recently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia one of the cities where Merit has agreed to sponsor a breast cancer walk this year. My first assignment was to locate another location for the walk because the initial site was closed due to the government shut down (Yes the government shut down even affects organized walks). It took me 2 days to land a site, which took a ton of calling and visiting county recreation departments to inquire about their rules and regulations regarding organized walks. After much inquiry and several hours spent walking trails, I and an existing client’s mother decided on Silver Comet Trail. The Silver Comet Trail is located in Smyrna, Georgia which is 13 miles northwest of Atlanta, Georgia; the trail extends 61.5 miles long and stops at the Georgia/Alabama state line. Of course we were not going that far, but I found this to be a very interesting fact. Part of my duties was to map out our 5k walk so that participants could know the proper route to take. I also was in charge of getting an accurate count of how many participants were going to come to the walk, so that I could make sure that everyone would get a breast cancer awareness shirt as well as a decorative towel. The agency had already ordered the shirts and sent them to Atlanta, Georgia, so my job was to pick them up and make sure that all participants received a shirt before the start of the walk. I was also in charge of making sure that there was water, fruit, and food at the site for the start and finish of the walk.
The walk had a great turn out for such short notice; there were 40 participants and 10 individuals to assist me with setting up on the event day. At the conclusion of the walk, we provided croissants, wraps, and cake for all the participants while everyone who wanted to share had a chance to talk about their personal struggles with breast cancer or write the name of a family member that lost or survived their struggle with breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Walk was a success, and I even was able to stay under the 1500 dollar budget with enough money left over to give to the existing client’s mother to go to a foundation of her choice. My first week was a great experience and I was pleasantly surprised that the agency entrusted so much responsibility on me so quickly; I look forward to the next task.
*As a sidebar, I purposely left out the clients’ name in which Merit
sponsored this walk for because I have not been able to obtain her consent due to the fact that she has recently gone overseas.
12/2/13-12/8/13
This week has been a bit bittersweet for me in that this is my
last week of my mentorship, but a joyous occasion because this will be my last
assignment of my graduate program. As I reflect back and think of my mentorship experience I feel very thankful and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazing woman that possesses the vision and ambition to go after whatever she wants. Throughout my mentorship the communication and interaction between Ms. Stanley and I exceeded my expectations; I spoke to my mentor almost every day for the past few months and I through this open line of communication have been able to gain more insight into what it takes to become a successful agent in the sport’s industry as well as the hard work and discipline it takes to operate a successful business.
My mentor has an excellent organization and it runs smoothly with minimal glitches, but if I had the opportunity to restructure Merit, I would expand the client base and employ more well-rounded agents. Right now Merit focuses solely on professional women’s basketball, but the sports industry is so much more than that; think of all the revenue the agency could bring in if they had agents that concentrated on baseball, football, and soccer in addition to basketball. I have talked in length with my mentor about the possibility of expanding Merit or venturing out on my own in the near future and starting an organization that focuses on all sports. This will be a difficult task that I am sure will have a few bumps in the road, but one thing that would keep me motivated should I decide to take on this venture is the reward at the end of the journey.
Overall, my mentorship exceeded my expectations and I am happy that I had the opportunity to work with such an amazing individual. I have worked with and for Merit in the past, so I was a little hesitant to do my mentorship with the organization because I thought that I would not learn anything because I knew the ends and outs of their operation, but this was far from the case. Ms. Stanley ensured that I had a new and exciting task each week that kept me not only occupied but also gave me the opportunity to interact with different individuals throughout the industry as well as learn aspects of the business that I had never experienced. I am thankful for the opportunity and will continue to work to expand upon the tools and knowledge I have gained from my mentorship experience.
2014 Exposure Camp
11/25/13-11/30/13
Every year Merit Management hosts an annual free agent camp for
collegiate and professional women basketball players striving to play at the
highest level, which is the WNBA. The free agent camp is hosted every year in the same city as the NCAA Women’s Final Four. The camp gives players a chance to showcase their talents not only to WNBA scouts, but also to managers and presidents that represent teams abroad. The camp only lasts for one day, and slots are very limited so often times Merit must start actively getting the details out to coaches and players so that they can begin to prepare for the camp. This week my job was to begin emailing division 1 coaches with elite players to provide them with details and information that they can pass down to their players. Although, the camp is not until March it is important to begin creating a buzz about the exposure camp early in order to get the best opportunity to have the cream of the crop competing in the camp. Merit also
opens the camp to their existing players who are looking to enter the WNBA; this week I also contacted Merit’s client list to give them details on the camp and discuss fees that will be charged for the camp. The NCAA Final Four will be held in Nashville, Tennessee which is an excellent city for women’s basketball, so it will not be difficult to find a venue to host the camp.
As of yet, Merit has not landed a location for the exposure camp, but
they are currently in negotiations with a few locations.
Scouting Talent
11/18/13-11/24/13
This week I was given the opportunity to work like an agent. I was tasked with the job of getting out in the Atlanta, Georgia area and assessing the talent in the area. Although, Merit Sports mainly deals with Division 1 players, I was asked to visit Division II schools as well. The reason my agent insisted that I visit Division II schools is because she wanted to prepare me for the work that will come if I should choose to become an agent. Since the start of my mentorship she has bestowed upon me the fact that success does not happen in a day, and that 99 percent of successful individuals have started from the bottom and worked diligently to make it to the top. I understand her reasoning and methodology for sending me to watch smaller schools because I will have a better chance at perhaps signing these individuals by being a new agent as opposed to going after big name players in the industry and competing with well-known and established agents. To complete my task for the week, I decided to go and check out Emory University in action against Oglethorpe University.
I choice this game because both schools are located in the Atlanta area
and if I did decide to one day try and represent one of their players, I would
have a better chance of building a repore with the coaching staff since I live
in the same area as the school. From talking and working with my mentor I have found that this job requires a ton of leg work and one must always be willing to travel, and go that extra mile to try and get to know not only coaches but parents and immediate family as well. The game between Oglethorpe and Emory was not as competitive as I would have liked but I did see a few freshmen and sophomore players from each team that could develop into
great players. The final score of the game was 77 to 50 with Emory ending on top of Oglethorpe University. During the course of the game I kept up with the stats of each player and was very attentive to each player’s demeanor and interaction with their teammates both on the floor as well as the bench. From playing sports, I have learned that attitude is a huge part of the game, and my mentor has also been stressing the importance of finding talent that can not only perform on the court, but look for those that are stand up citizens off the court as well.
Gaining Knowledge and Insight
11/11/13-11/15/13
This week I talked in length with my mentor on the importance of
building relationships and how that is the most fundamental part of being a
successful agent. I had the opportunity to listen in on a few conference calls between her contacts abroad and herself. They discussed players in length as well as contacting clubs and managers from various countries to not only market their players but also to build their contact lists. My mentor could not stress the importance of building a contact list enough, she also discussed with me about all the countries she’d been to in the last three years, and how actually traveling abroad has helped to drastically improve her organization. After reflecting on my conversations with my mentor this week, I began to understand exactly how much leg work goes into being a successful agent. Many clubs abroad like to have a working and close knit relationship with the agents they work with, so it is important to send quality players their way to build a good reputation abroad, but even more importantly it is important for these clubs to be able to put a face with a name. Often times this requires frequent travel abroad, but with the technological advanced world we live in more often times than not a Skype conference call will be just as an effective. This week I was also tasked with contacting players to ensure that they were doing well abroad and did not have any issues that needed the immediate attention of my mentor. None of the players had any issues with their clubs this week which resulted in another great week with Merit Management!!
Scouting
11/4/13-11/10/13
Scouting players for the next level is an integral part of the agent business as one might assume; like with any business, without clients there is no business. This week in order to get an idea of what it takes to become a successful agent; I was tasked with assessing talent. Although, agents cannot communicate with players until after their last collegiate game, there
are ways to present one’s self so that athletes are aware that an agent is
interested in representing them. During the week, my mentor and I talked in
depth about the behind the scenes work that an agent must do in order to obtain talented individuals. They must attend a large amount of games, they constantly contact coaches and touch base about the players, and they also must find ways to show their interest without communicating with the players which is an NCAA violation. My agent has recently traveled to North Carolina and Florida to catch the season openers for the tar heels and Miami hurricanes because she is interested in representing a few of their players. My task for this week was to compile a list of prospects for the 2014 class. The list was to be broken down into 3 categories: The top 20 players in women’s basketball, 50 players considered average but may have great success playing abroad, and 30 players who the organization (Merit Management) will keep an eye on to see what type of season they have for this upcoming year. I was informed that the last category will be used if the organization does not obtain enough players from the top 2 lists or if one of the players from the last category has a breakout season (this happens almost every year). My mentor has disclosed to
me that she is looking to sign only 20 players from the 2014 class. This number is contingent upon finding a new agent to join Merit Management. She wants to find another agent so that she can focus more on getting her existing players into the WNBA through her exposure camps but also through networking, and setting up meetings with WNBA team’s general managers to negotiate contracts for her players.
Contract Negotiations
10/28/13-11/03/13
70 percent of Merit Management’s clients have already landed jobs for the upcoming season abroad as well as with the WNBA. This is great percentage for any organization, but one thing I have learned from my mentor is that an agent must be selective in the quality of players they add to their client list. It looks good on paper to have a ton of clients, but what really matters is the quality; the quality of players means more profit for the organization as well as a establishing a respectable brand name within the sports industry. This week I was given the opportunity to sit in on three different negotiations of players contracts. I also began getting together care packages as well for the players abroad.
The contract negotiations were lengthy and at times even frustrating for the agents involved. Besides dealing with translators, many of the team’s presidents’ were not willing to meet the agents halfway on the salary of the players. In addition to discussing the player’s salaries, they also discussed transportation, meals, and living arrangements. All 3 clients wanted expect their agents to negotiate the little things they wanted from their clubs as well as the salary. 2 of the players are taller than 6’2 inches, and they wanted to make sure the club found them mid-size sedans instead of the typical European compact cars, which are usually provided to players as their means of transportation. Another player wanted the team to provide her with one
meal each day, she did not care if it was lunch or dinner, but she said this is
something that she really wanted because she was not a strong cook. All 3
players also wanted to have their own apartments as well, which turned out to
be more trying than any of their other requests because the team's wanted to house their American players in the same apartment. The negotiations lasted the whole week ending with Merit Management able to get each player close to the salary they wanted as well as their own apartments, the only thing that ended up being non-negotiable were the means of transportation. I got an opportunity to learn a lot this week in regards to what all goes into player negotiations and all the legal aspects that attached to these negotiations. Overseas, the clubs are responsible for paying the agents involved with the player, and the agents are responsible for paying the lawyers that draw up the actual contracts. It was a wonderful week and it made begin to really think about possibly going into the field. I have attached a mock copy of a players’
contract, so that you can view an actual contract: http://mail.aol.com/38135-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?
Contacting Players
10/21/13-10/25/13
This week I was tasked with the pleasure of contacting Merit Management’s entire client list that has already gone abroad. Currently there are 20 players placed in various countries overseas. contacting Merit Management’s entire client list that has already gone abroad. Currently there are 20 players placed in various countries overseas. There are players in Israel, Poland, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, Korea, and the Czech Republic. As we all know contacting someone abroad can be a bit challenging because of the time difference, so I figured the best way to go about this was to email all of the players to ask them about their schedules and when would be the best time to contact them. By the end of the week to my surprise I had a chance to speak in depth with each player on the list to see how they were doing on their respective teams. Since I would need to report back how each player was doing, I decided to compile a list. For the most part each player said that they were adjusting well to their new teams and cities, but there were however a few individuals that were having a few issues. The issues ranged from late payment, unacceptable living arrangements, and trouble with translator, transportation issues, and problems with playing time. Once I gathered information on the entire client’s, I was able to send the list over to the agent so that she could begin contacting the team’s mangers in order to handle the issues the players were having. Aside from talking to players about their adjustment to their new countries, I also had to obtain their addresses which proved to be more trying than one would think. I am still waiting on a few addresses, but the reason I was tasked with the job of getting the client’s
addresses is because every year Merit Management sends each player a care
package for Thanksgiving filled with snacks, condiments, hygiene products and
anything specific that they ask. This is a great way to show players that they
care about their wellbeing, and the president told me that she has been doing
this since she started her business, and in the beginning the money actually
came out of her own personal account. This year she has tasked her player
representative (me!!) with gathering the snacks and products for the players,
so next week part of my job will be to shop for essential products that would
be needed by someone abroad such as shampoo, deodorant, American snacks (which are unbelievable overpriced abroad), soap, socks, hair care products, and anything in particular that players ask for.
Research
10/14/13-10/19/13
This week at Merit Management, I had a chance to
interact with many of our clients, the ones who are abroad and the ones who are waiting for an offer. This week I had the opportunity to check the players’
progress by searching stats and researching whether or not they team has been winning. I worked this week with the creator of the Merit’s website helping to find new information about our existing clients overseas, so that he could
update the website. I also was tasked with the job of looking to see if any
players have recently been placed on the inactive list due to injury or being
released from their contracts. Of course, we would know if our own clients have
been released or injured, but the research is needed in order to try and place
prospective players on our client list who are waiting from offers overseas. My
research included looking on sights like Eurobasket and also smaller websites in the different respective countries that have D1 basketball leagues. My research also included contacting a number of contacts overseas such as local agents, and coaches that the company has worked with in the past. It was great to contact some clients, but for others it was a bit more trying due to language barriers so often times I had to contact their translator or connect to a conference call. My findings for the week were good for the agency because there have been a free openings overseas due to a few players being released; we have sent a list of our available players to the clubs looking for a new players and are now awaiting a call back to see if any of our players are a fit for their organization.
Organizing a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk
10/7/13-10/12/13
My first week of my sports mentorship was spent helping to organize a breast cancer awareness 5k walk in Atlanta, Georgia. Breast Cancer is an issue that has hit home for many of Merit Sports Management's clients, and to show solidarity the President sponsors several breast cancer walks in various states annually. Luckily for me I have recently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia one of the cities where Merit has agreed to sponsor a breast cancer walk this year. My first assignment was to locate another location for the walk because the initial site was closed due to the government shut down (Yes the government shut down even affects organized walks). It took me 2 days to land a site, which took a ton of calling and visiting county recreation departments to inquire about their rules and regulations regarding organized walks. After much inquiry and several hours spent walking trails, I and an existing client’s mother decided on Silver Comet Trail. The Silver Comet Trail is located in Smyrna, Georgia which is 13 miles northwest of Atlanta, Georgia; the trail extends 61.5 miles long and stops at the Georgia/Alabama state line. Of course we were not going that far, but I found this to be a very interesting fact. Part of my duties was to map out our 5k walk so that participants could know the proper route to take. I also was in charge of getting an accurate count of how many participants were going to come to the walk, so that I could make sure that everyone would get a breast cancer awareness shirt as well as a decorative towel. The agency had already ordered the shirts and sent them to Atlanta, Georgia, so my job was to pick them up and make sure that all participants received a shirt before the start of the walk. I was also in charge of making sure that there was water, fruit, and food at the site for the start and finish of the walk.
The walk had a great turn out for such short notice; there were 40 participants and 10 individuals to assist me with setting up on the event day. At the conclusion of the walk, we provided croissants, wraps, and cake for all the participants while everyone who wanted to share had a chance to talk about their personal struggles with breast cancer or write the name of a family member that lost or survived their struggle with breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Walk was a success, and I even was able to stay under the 1500 dollar budget with enough money left over to give to the existing client’s mother to go to a foundation of her choice. My first week was a great experience and I was pleasantly surprised that the agency entrusted so much responsibility on me so quickly; I look forward to the next task.
*As a sidebar, I purposely left out the clients’ name in which Merit
sponsored this walk for because I have not been able to obtain her consent due to the fact that she has recently gone overseas.
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