February 2007

The success of Sports Management Worldwide and its graduates grows every day. If you are passionate about finding a career in sports, then let SMWW be your ticket to the game.

Start Dates For Our Programs:

Sports Administration Starts February 12th
Hockey GM & Scouting Course Starts February 19th
Athlete Management Course Starts February 26th
Motor Sports Management Starts February 26th
Sports Broadcasting Starts February 26th

Football GM & Scouting Starts March 5th
Basketball GM & Scouting Starts March 5th
Baseball GM & Scouting Starts March 5th
Sports Business Management Starts March 12th

We are currently taking enrollments for these courses, so call today!

Student Takes Media & Community Relations Position

SMWW’s Sports Business Management (SBM) course offers students a unique opportunity to walk into a number of positions in the front office. If you have interest in working in media or community relations, sponsorship or ticket sales, marketing, custmer service, communications or operations, then SBM can get you on your way to working every day in a sports career.

This month we bring you the story of Niki Jones. Niki is a big football fan and when she came to us, getting her foot in the door with football organization were her main priority.

SMWW: Niki, could you tell us about your position with the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League (AFL)?

Niki: I am working as a Community/Media Relations Coordinator. Some of my main goals are getting the team out into the community by various means; visiting hospitals, boys & girls clubs, youth football camps, literacy programs are a few ways I work to do that. On top of any organization’s responsibility, is making sure that the media knows about us and are doing a good job of covering the team.

Specifically, we want to get humanistic types of stories into the newspaper about our players. I got to write my first press release on my second day on the job when we signed Darrin Chiaverini, a NFL veteran wide receiver. It was kind of exciting because the local papers did an interview with him and it made it in the sports page. Trying to get your team in the press as much as possible, and in multiple ways, is my biggest responsibility.

SMWW: What is it like to know that you get to work in the game of football every day for work?

Niki A dream come true. If anyone knows anything about me, they know I love football. Being able to work in an environment that I know so well and also have a passion for is really exciting.

SMWW: How did SMWW and the SBM course help you secure this new position?

Niki: The class prepared me in many different aspects. Learning how people in this business communicate was a big one for me. Interacting with Bret and Tom, who have been around these types of organizations for so long, really gave me a good idea of things that a text book alone can’t teach you. So their involvement, along with the texts for the course, was a great combination in terms of really retaining information. Bret and Tom give a lot of advice on how to contact teams so I just took their advice and starting making contacts with teams. In this case, SMWW had already worked to get another employee with the team so that helped as well.

The class gives you a good visual picture of what working for a sports organization is going to be like. If you want to focus on sales, this class allows for that, if you want to focus on community relations and/or PR (as I did), the class allows for that. I really enjoyed it and hey, it landed me a good job!

SMWW: Would you recommend the SBM course for others who want to get a job in sports? If so, why?

Niki: Definitely. The class alone gives you a good skill set but really what Bret and Tom do is what most classes don’t do. They prepare you to go out and get a job in the industry. They help you with your resume and cover letter, the interviewing process, contacting the organization after the interview (with what Bret calls “polite persistence”) and they really do any & everything to help get your resume on the top of the pile. They also have contacts with pretty much every sports organization in the country. There is nothing better than having a connection to someone in an organization and you can get that going through this course.

SMWW: Anything else that you would like to say? Have fun in Vegas!

Niki: Thanks everyone! I miss you all, but hey Vegas is definitely not a shabby place to have gotten my first job in sports.

If you would like SMWW to help you with your sports career through the Sports Business Management Course, visit our website to register or call us today at 877-SMWW-NOW or 503-445-7105

SMWW and Agent Advisor Joe Aloisi Sign a PAC-10 QB

It’s not every month that we get to tell you about a graduate of our Athlete Management Course who signs a PAC-10 QB after his first month in the Agent Advisor Program, but Joe Aloisi did just that. Joe brought a solid relationship with Oregon State QB Matt Moore (shown above with SMWW President & Founder Dr. Lashbrook and Matt Brock, SMWW's Director of Football) and his family to SMWW and together, we have a great team to help him with his professional career.

When Dr. Lashbrook started Sports Management Worldwide, he dreamed of training bright people who were successful in life to go out and form relationships with players. SMWW would provide the experience and expertise to go along with that relationship. His vision was revolutionary and it works. At the time of this story, draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has Matt Moore as the 5th best QB in the upcoming draft. No matter what happens on draft day, Matt Moore will get his chance and it will be fun for Joe Aloisi and SMWW to be there with him.

SMWW: Things are moving fast. How does it feel to be right in the middle of the agent business so quickly?

Joe: It's a double edge sword. It's great to be engaged with an NFL prospect so soon after completing my course requirements, but not being familiar with the process can be a bit unsettling at times. Fortunately, Dr. Lashbrook, Matt Brock and the SMWW staff have been there every step of the way to ensure that my client feels confident in SMWW. The most positive thing to come out of this is that I'm learning the in's and out's of presenting SMWW to Matt Moore and his family, signing the NFLPA agreement and putting together a realistic plan for Matt Moore over the next 10 to 12 weeks to help him accomplish his goals. I feel very grateful to have Matt Moore as a client so early on because it will begin to build my credibility and give me the opportunity to attract future clients.

SMWW: How did SMWW’s course prepare you for the agent business?

Joe: SMWW's course provides the basics and the insight that allows a person to identify opportunities and utilize a process. Overall, the Athlete Management course was very insightful and provided detailed information on the history of the sports agent business, the contractual aspects, NCAA requirements and a sport by sport breakdown when representing an athlete. Add to that, the weekly chats which allowed consistent interaction with Dr. Lashbrook & Matt Brock to navigate specific areas that weren't always covered in the course material.

SMWW: What type of support have you received from Dr. Lashbrook and the SMWW staff?

Joe: Dr. Lashbrook and Matt Brock have been engaged with me from the beginning. They have stayed in contact and helped me to understand the process Matt Moore and his parents were going through in selecting representation. They were always “level setting” me on how quickly things can change for an athlete during this selection process.

Throughout Matt Moore's senior season, I frequently checked in with him and his parents to communicate with them and to gauge their interest in SMWW. Dr. Lashbrook and staff were very helpful in answering all of the family's questions in a timely manner. During the interview process, Dr. Lashbrook and Matt Brock presented SMWW's strategy for Matt Moore and made certain that his parents received all the information they needed to confidently select SMWW. After the initial interview, I felt comfortable that the SMWW Team took Matt Moore and his parents very seriously and followed-up to ensure all of our bases were covered. Now that Matt Moore has signed with SMWW, Dr. Lashbrook and Matt Brock continue to communicate with Matt Moore and his family as we approach his Pro Day and Draft.

SMWW: Anything else you would like to say?

Joe: Although I have had the benefit of knowing Matt Moore and his family for a number of years, what convinced him that SMWW was the right fit for him was that he understood and appreciated the "blueprint" SMWW had created to support their clients. Matt felt comfortable with SMWW's approach to representing athletes and the "plan" Dr. Lashbrook shared with him and his family during our initial conference call. Not one other agent or agency displayed the same personalized approach or provided the same level of confidence that SMWW has from day one.

If you are interested in becoming an agent advisor with Sports Management Worldwide, you should enroll in the Athlete Management Course. To get started today go to our website or call 877-SMWW-NOW or 1-503-445-7105

SMWW Launches New Agency Website!

Sports Management Worldwide is proud to announce that we have officially launched our new sports agency website. The website, smwwagency.com, was born out of the ideas of our founder, Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, and his goal of building a large full-service international sports agency.

New features include a rotating collection of pictures of our agent advisors and clients. As the company grows, the website will grow with it and we have plans to continue to add new features.

Select this text to view the new website.

SMWW Attends the 2007 Sports Forum

A great way to learn about all of the different types of sports jobs and careers that are available to you is to attend sports focused seminars. Some of the SMWW team recently attended the 2007 National Sports Forum in Los Angeles (Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, Bret Polvorosa & Joey Seymour, a former SBM student & now current employee with the LA Kings, pictured above). The “NSF” rotates it’s venue every year and revolves around networking, acquiring best practices in sports business, venue tours and listening to featured speakers.

Featured speakers included a wide range of sports executives from all major sports, executives from the athlete representation side (Creative Artists Association - CAA represents some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and recently brought in professional athletes under their umbrella including Peyton Manning and LeBron James), large global sports sponsors including Toyota, VISA, McDonald’s, Coca- Cola and Budweiser and entertainment leaders from ESPN and Fox Sports.

The benefit of attending a sports based conference is that it allows people who are already in the business to expand their network and learn new ideas and for people that are looking to enter the sports business as a career it allows those people to learn of the many different ways you can get injected into the business. There are so many different ways to get into the business you all love but unless you meet new people and learn of different options, it’s a very tight door into the industry.

The SMWW Career Conference in Indy on February 23rd, 24th and 25th will be a great way for you to meet people who are in a wide array of positions in sport. Held every year during the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the SMWW Career Conference (register here) will feature speakers ranging from certified agents, NFL coaches, professional scouts, members of the sports media, sports business executives and a host of others. We encourage you to register soon, as we are getting close to capacity.

Follow this link for an overview of the Conference or get get registered today...

New Agent Advisors Join Our Firm

SMWW is proud to announce that four new agent advisors have joined our firm in the last month:

- Mike Sciarappa - California
- Frank Carbone - Arizona
- James Knights - New Jersey
- Dimitri Ziogou - Ont. Canada
- Scott Duchscherer - B.C. Canada
- Ismial Hamdani - Nancy, France
- Dr. Emmanuel Johnson - Florida
- Cyprian Khumalo - Maryland
- Gerardo Mena - Florida

We have high hopes for all of our graduates and we look forward to helping every new agent sign their first client or advance their current career!

If you are interested in becoming an agent advisor with SMWW, you will need to complete the Athlete Management Course. For more information, select this text...

For questions or to enroll in our course, call us today at 877-SMWW-Now

Earn Your Masters or Doctorate Degree!

Earn your Masters or Doctorate through Northcentral University online! M. ED, PH.D, ED.D and MBA are all available with a specialization in Sports Management. It is possible to get a masters degree in a little over a year.

There are no residency requirements, you work at your own pace, all online, and all from home. Courses are typically 16 weeks long; however you may take an eight-week accelerated course.

SMWW President and Founder Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, who is also a certified NFLPA agent, and Sally Sullivan, former sports attorney and agent of Venus and Serena Williams, teach many of the courses.

Call 1-877-SMWW-NOW to speak with one of them today or for more information, select this text...

Hockey Student Advances His Career

The SMWW Hockey GM & Scouting Course continues its high level of success with our graduates working their way into a position in the game they love. Thanks to the course’s use of RinkNet software (which is used by the majority of NHL clubs), students come out of the course with a specific skill set that makes them more marketable to clubs and a better understanding of what it takes to land a job in the industry.

This month we bring you the story of Andrew Lavoie.

SMWW: Andrew, could you tell us about your new position?

Andrew: I have recently taken on a more active role with the Halifax Wolverines Junior A Hockey Club in Nova Scotia. I had originally taken a position as only a territory scout in my local area, but I was promoted to scout of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

This season will be my first official season at the Junior draft, and I will be looking forward to the excitement. I am scouting at the Midget AAA Major, Midget AAA Minor, AA/AAA High School, Junior B-C, as well as Major Junior games. I also attend any and all showcases that take place in the Maritimes. I truly feel that this course has given me the confidence needed to become a great scout, and it also adds some depth to go along with my Midget AAA coaching duties. I am looking forward to gaining some hands-on experience, and will be looking to advance to the next level in years to come.

SMWW: What was your experience like in the Hockey GM & Scouting course?

Andrew: The SMWW course was an amazing experience, and one that I will never forget. I have gained some life long friends from this course, and will rely on feed back from them in the future.

I truly believe that SMWW has expanded my knowledge base, as well as my prospects of becoming employed full time at a high level in the game I truly love. I enjoyed this course so much that I plan to take another course in the near future to further broaden my horizons in the game of hockey. The amount of information that I gained through working with others in the course was invaluable and would take months, if not years, to gain individually.

SMWW: How did it help you gain your position with the club?

Andrew: This course was able to provide me with in-depth information, such as RinkNet and other tools to give me a leg up on the other local scouts. This course has given me the confidence to take a step back and look deeper into the game and understand who the players actually are.

This course has given me the patience to understand that it’s not about being the best player, but learning to find the players that are a perfect match in the interest of the hockey club.

SMWW: Would you recommend the course to others who want to get into the business of hockey?

Andrew: I highly recommend this course to anyone who is thinking about advancing to the next level of the game. This course inspired me to be more confident in my judgment.

I found myself going above and beyond our Sunday chats to talk with classmates on previous discussions for more detailed opinions. I was also surprised on all the little things that I was able to pick up from the instructors that make the job so much easier.

SMWW: Anything else you would like to say?

Andrew: I would like to thank Dr. Lashbrook, Dino Caputo, Michael Oke, Bill Kent, Annie Shultz and my classmates. I am very grateful to all of you and look forward to speaking to you in the future. This course was well worth the time and effort and I know the rewards will be forthcoming. I am now one step closer to my dream position in hockey.

If you are interested in learning more about the inside game of hockey, select this text to enroll in SMWW’s Hockey GM & Scouting Course.

Or SMWW today at 877-SMWW-Now to get on your way to an exciting career in hockey!