Sports Industry Ambassadors Program: Pennsbury High School

Usually Fridays are my day from off work with my internship at Temple University running only Monday through Thursday and my hours at Double Eagle Golf falling on Saturdays and Sundays.  Last Friday though, May 17th, I had the unique opportunity to give back to students that were sitting in the same place where I was sitting not too long ago.  And there was no place better to do it than back at my old high school, Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Penn.

Sweatshirt courtesy of Mr. Ott's sports
and entertainment marketing class

Pennsbury, home to over 3000 students grades nine through twelve, has a class in their business curriculum called sports and entertainment marketing.  Taught by veteran teacher Mr. Matt Ott, the class offers a college-esque course structure that is heavy on projects and presentations.  I took the class as a sophomore in high school, and it quickly became one of the biggest factors driving me to major in sport management in college.

Speaking with both his A and B period classes, I talked with the kids about the career opportunities that lie within sports.  Many were surprised to hear about the sheer depth of the $435 billion sports industry and all were pleased to see that there are options for any taste in sports.  Building a network, I said, is the key to success in the industry. 

With about three-fourths of the class at least open to the idea of working in sports, questions were easy to come by.  Anything from Drexel to internships to networking through social media to how my younger brother is doing (he graduated in 2012 and still has friends at the school). 

Overall, the kids seemed to get it.  They understood the challenges to breaking into the sports industry, but they seemed excited to meet the challenge head on.  The prospects of going to college can be extremely intimidating for high school students, but the class was comforted by the fact that the way they are learning in Mr. Ott's sports and entertainment marketing class is very similar to the way the content is taught in college.  

Thank you to Mr. Ott and his class for letting the Drexel SMTSU and I come in and talk about the industry that we know and love.  And thank you for the awesome Pennsbury Falcons sweatshirt.  We hope to be back next year!

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The Sports Industry Ambassadors Program (SIAP) was created to give back to the local Philadelphia-area community, SIAP bridges the gap between learning and teaching. The program has Drexel students go in local Philadelphia middle and high schools to present on working in sports as a potential career choice.

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Kevin Rossi is a pre-junior Drexel Sport Management major with a minor in Communications. Kevin has worked at Double Eagle Golf where he is now Social Media Coordinator and Comcast-Spectacor as their market research intern. Since joining the SMTSU, Kevin has worked his way up the ladder to Vice President. Currently, Kevin is a staff writer for Philahoops.com, and he has joined Temple University Athletics Communications for co-op this spring/summer.  Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

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