Internship/Part-Time Employee Opportunity: Shenandoah Valley Baseball and Softball Academy

Are you enthusiastic about sports, or sports marketing?

Are you sociable and enjoy working with kids, parents, teams and special events?

Are you steady and trustworthy?

The Shenandoah Valley Baseball and Softball Academy, located on South Main Street in Bridgewater, wants individuals, either interns or part time employees, who love sports and kids.  The Academy provides memberships to its baseball and softball indoor facility, lessons by some of the area's finest coaches, organizing and conducting leagues, and special events like camps, clinics, games, etc.

These individuals will help with some or all of the following duties:

·         Scheduling and greeting players for lessons

·         Being a great communicator to the players, coaches, and parents

·         Taking payments and ensuring accuracy of records

·         Documenting activity at the academy for management information

·         Updating content on Facebook and the website

·         Participate in planning, organizing and conducting the special events or leagues

·         Performing data entry of accounting, or statistics related to the games

·         Having fun and helping all of our customers enjoy a great experience

If you are seriously interested in this opportunity and meet these qualifications, check out our website. 

SVB-SA.com

Then call the Academy or email us for an application.

Phone: 540-828-3591
Email: info@svb-sa.com

Return your application to this email along with your resume, or mail it to:

SVB-SA
205 South Main Street
Bridgewater, VA 22812

We will be in touch if we agree that you are a great candidate.

"Tiger Woods has back surgery"

From ESPN.com

Analysis by John Kim in SRM 334

Throughout the past decade, Tiger Woods has emerged as the face of professional golf and has been considered one of the best players ever to play the game. In his career, Tiger Woods has a total of 79 PGA Tour wins, 14 of them being a major championship (About Tiger). In recent time, Tiger has recovered from the scandal that has happened in 2009. However, on April 1st, he posted on his twitter, “Sad to say I’m missing the Masters,” because of a back problem he has been having for the past few weeks (Harig, 2014). He had surgery on his back Monday and he is now currently going through rehabilitation; he is hoping to return sometime during the summer (Harig, 2014).

I believe that this article on Tiger Woods missing the Masters tournament this year is crucial in a media standpoint. The first name that would pop up on most people’s minds when talking about golf is Tiger Woods. He is the face of golf right now, and there are probably many people that watch the game of golf just to see Tiger Woods in action, especially in a major tournament. This article is also critical in a media standpoint because of the attention Tiger gets worldwide; on the ESPN website, he even has his own column named “Tiger Tracker.” I believe that the media covers Tiger Woods so much because he is probably the only interest to people that do not regularly watch golf. By promoting Tiger Woods and his status, it could spark up interest in golf and get more viewers to watch golf. Tiger Woods is the best advertising tool to attract the general public and now that he is not able to compete in this year’s Masters Tournament, it could possibly impact the ratings on television.

The article about Tiger Woods is relevant to our course in both broadcasting and relating with the audience. I believe that it was relevant to broadcasting because of the impact Tiger Woods brings to the game of golf. As I have stated, many viewers probably watch golf just because of Tiger Woods and when Tiger Woods is not playing, it could impact the viewings of the Masters Tournament, which is aired both on CBS and ESPN (Masters). I believe that it is also relevant to relating with the audience because in order for people to be interested, the article must attract the general public’s eye. If a player that is not as famous were to miss the Masters, it would probably not be as newsworthy as Tiger missing the Masters.

In conclusion, I believe that the media covering Tiger Woods as much as they do is necessary in order for the game of golf to grow in popularity. There will be a limit advertising Tiger Woods, but many people have started watching and even playing golf because of the way that Tiger Woods has played the game. If the media were to cover another player more than Tiger Woods, they would probably not be so successful in advertising and promoting the sport of golf.

"Labor board: Northwestern University football players can unionize"

From CNN.com and TSN

Analysis by Reuben Alarico in SRM 435 (section 2)

For our project, we focused our attention on two articles: “Northwestern Players Granted Right to Unionize” by Eric Macramalla and “Northwestern University Players Can Unionize” by Sara Ganim. Overall, they both detailed the situation similarly but they also detailed and went in-depth on different aspects. The first article by Macramalla focuses a lot on the criteria and regulations of being considered a “student-athlete” such as asking for permission to get an off campus job and how you have to accept a coach’s friend on any social media that the player may be using. The second article by Ganim focuses on what the players seek by unionizing such as medical benefits and how Northwestern University may actually eliminate their football program entirely if the players succeed in unionizing so that way they can preserve their academic integrity.

From a marketing and sales standpoint, I believe this situation can help and hurt both parties. I believe that if they succeed in unionizing, then current football players and the football program may be able to target potential recruits and state that their player get treated fairly and so will you. They would also be able to “pitch” them the fact that they will be able to receive medical benefits and possibly see increased stipends. Another marketing strategy that Northwestern University could employ would be to present their top high-profile athletes in a professional way to the NFL. For example, they would be able to show that they take on responsibility and that they handle themselves in a professional manner. I feel that this would take some pressure off any team that is interested in the player. Looking at it from the other side, Northwestern University can use this issue and their stance on it to help pave the way for other schools in preventing the unionization of their “student-athletes.” According to Henry Bienen, Northwestern University’s President Emeritus, is ok with completely eliminating their football program to maintain academics as being their priority. The article goes on to say that this situation could lead to what the Ivy League schools did back in the 1950’s when they dropped athletic scholarships.

As for how this issue relates to our sports marketing class, I believe that it will be a lingering issue for years to come and that it will be something that will cause controversy within private universities. With that being said, I think that later down the road we might see private institutions employ marketing strategies about being a part of a union that might appeal to potential recruits. There have even been talks that these ”athletes” might even receive a salary within the next couple of years. The last reason why I feel that this topic is relevant to class is because it may or may not hinder the schools chance to promote their football or other athletic team if they decide to eliminate the sport all together.

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Analysis by Matthew Flint in SRM 435 (section 2)

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the Northwestern college football players are employees of the university and have the right to form a union. The union is led by Kain Colter who played for Northwestern as their quarterback. The players on the football team can now bargain with their coaching staff and school, or employers, for more rights and benefits in regards to the basic rights that employees are granted through labor laws. With the players able to unionize, if enough teams pick up on the ability to unionize through private schools, then the situation could very well change the way the NCAA is handled with student athletes. The billions that the NCAA pulls in through college athletics could be split up a lot more if more and more players are considered employees and demand a higher salary and benefits. Northwestern stated that they would consider getting rid of their football program if the union actually came to fruition.

The situation about Northwestern is gaining a snowball effect with the media and how much coverage the topic is getting. A union could be a brand new selling point to colleges if they want to try to adapt the feature of athletes having more benefits and pay raises. Recruits from high school would probably much rather focus more on the sport they are interested in as well as look at the benefits of getting paid for what they love playing. The union could be a great selling standpoint because instead of a recruit going on to another school just with a scholarship, the union could offer the recruit much more.

I believe that the Northwestern unionization is relevant to this course because it has a chance to completely change the way that the NCAA is ran. If Northwestern decides to keep their football program due to the union, they could have an unfair advantage when looking for new recruits. Unions catching on to private schools could easily influence player’s decisions on whether they want to focus more on their academics or their college career. Marketing with the union would be very easy to appeal to younger athletes because they would look at the bigger picture with what is readily available to them to help them achieve their goals and help them in case they get injured.