SMBA and The LeBron James King's Academy

“90% of life is just showing up.” -- Woody Allen

The most difficult part of SMBA thus far? Explaining to my family and friends back in Boston how I have managed to live in San Diego for 7 months without learning how to surf. For my family, friends, and most other people unfamiliar with the sports industry, the SMBA culture is a difficult one to understand. Yes, we have class only three days a week. But no, that doesn’t mean we are at the beach the other four. If you are a loyal follower of this blog, you already know that SMBA students spend their free days volunteering for any sports related job they can get their hands on. The payoff? Valuable industry experience, the opportunity to enlarge our personal networks, and, usually, lots of fun. There is also the small chance attached to every volunteer job that it will completely surprise and a seemingly ordinary volunteer job will turn into an experience so great – so inimitable – that it becomes an unforgettable memory. Only in sports.

Of course absolutely none of this was going through my mind when I showed up to the LeBron James King’s Academy volunteer orientation last Thursday. The 500-kid camp was held from July 24th to July 28th on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla. I knew the camp needed bodies, and I had figured a day or two of volunteering would net me a couple glimpses of LeBron and a free t-shirt. My expectations for receiving any responsibilities of significance were realistic (that is, they were low). After all, the LeBron James King’s Academy is one of the premiere youth basketball camps in the world and featured nationally renowned high school coach Dru Joyce II, 15-year NBA veteran Olden Polynice, and NBA All-Star Mo Williams. Oh yeah. The reigning NBA MVP LeBron James was also kicking around all week.

However, my modest expectations of being important were fully reversed at the volunteer orientation when the camp’s Executive Director Damon Haley gave me the position of Overnight Administrator (yes, I named the position myself). The camp had 192 overnight campers and I was put in charge of three important daily tasks. One: get the kids to bed. Two: get the kids to breakfast. Three: keep the kids safe in between task one and task two. Task three sounds simple enough in relatively quiet La Jolla, but there are few jobs as heavy or as tense as taking care of someone else’s children, and, while I know I was nowhere near the most important person at the camp, I’m sure plenty of mothers would have put me pretty highly on their lists. I took my responsibilities extremely seriously.

The broad message of my LeBron James King’s Academy experience? Just show up. The sports industry is incredibly unpredictable, especially for those of us starting at the bottom. SMBA students never know when we might luck into that next valuable professional opportunity so we just show up. I began my King’s Academy experience thinking it wouldn’t even make it onto my résumé; now, I expect it to be a focal point of my next interview. I received incredible experience working directly with the Academy’s Directors, who leaned on me heavily to make the hours of 11 pm to 7 am pass by as smoothly as possible each night. And, when the camp was outside of those hours, I was able to sit courtside for some awesome basketball, nightly scrimmages between a team of counselors led by LeBron and Mo Williams, against a team of elite college players. In all, the LeBron James King’s Academy will be truly an unforgettable memory.

Below are some pictures of other SMBA students who also volunteered at the camp! Enjoy!

- Tyler Griggs
SMBA '10

Group photo shot of Lebron and volunteers. Please note that I am not in this photo as it was taken during the daytime and I was surely off somewhere taking a nap (yes, I'm jealous).
Front row (L-R): SMBA '10 Erika, SDSU student Emily, Best Basketball Player in The World, SMBA '10 Erin, SMBA '10 Christin, SMBA '09 Kristen.
Back Row (L-R): SMBA '09 David, SMBA '10 Sam, SDSU student Ben, SMBA '10 Taylor, SMBA '10 Steve, SMBA '10 Alex.


An awesome shot of the 500 campers imitating Lebron's "Chalk Clap."

More of the SMBA '10 gang. From left to right: Sam, Kaiser, Erin, Erika, and Taylor.

Lebron taking questions from the campers. In case you were wondering, turns out he owns 14 cars.

Cal State Games!!

www.calstategames.org

Over the course of 4 days from July 16th – July 19th, a number of SMBA students worked various positions for the California State Games, which is a statewide amateur sports festival that is a grass roots program of the United States Olympic Committee. The mission of the Games is to promote and nurture the health, education, and well being of residents by managing a high quality amateur sports event that encourages community participation and provides an Olympic experience.

Students worked in a variety of positions, including as directors for Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, and Softball, as well as Junior Lifeguards and Logistics. As directors, the students were given the great responsibility of managing their respective locations. This included setup, coordination of events, managing volunteers, and communication with competitors/spectators. The students also distributed the prizes to the competitors, which included medals (Gold, Silver & Bronze) and Championship Banners to Team Competitors.

Despite the long days, the event was incredibly rewarding. Not only were we able to learn what it takes to run a huge multi-location event, we got to watch kids doing what they love most. Seeing the emotion on the kids’ faces as they played was just awesome. Not only were they focused, you could also see the excitement and enjoyment.

We would like to thank Sandi Hill and the rest of the California State Games staff for giving us the great opportunity to get some great hands-on experience, and for being incredibly nice, professional and helpful throughout the weekend. You guys rock!

Sam Batarseh, SMBA ‘10

FIGHT NIGHT

Coach Gina Reyes, Coach Dave Nielsen, & Irene Patricia Estrada (SMBA class of 2010)

The ring at 4th & B Downtown San Diego

Since I am one of the few individuals in SMBA V who is interested in getting into the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) industry, I thought I would shed some light on this particularly rapid growing sport. In terms of its popularity in San Diego, there has been an increasing number of gyms that are competing against one another with each gym's main focus being that of Mixed Martial Arts.Some disciplines in MMA include Brazilian Ju jit su, Muay Thai, Judo, and Greco Roman wrestling... just to name a few.

One of the more popular disciplines that I will focus on is Muay Thai.

What is Muay Thai? Literal translation- “Boxing Thai” Muay Thai serves as an essential part of the history of Thailand. For centuries the Thais were forced to defend their country and themselves from threatening powers trying to capture their land. They adopted and soon mastered a form of hand-to-hand combat, which today is known as Muay Thai. Over a period of time, it became custom for Thai males to train in this martial art as a right of passage into manhood. It was also adopted into military training and went on to become the national sport of the country. Muay Thai to some is considered one of the most devastating martial arts disciplines. It is often referred to as the “science of eight limbs” because it concentrates on eight points of contact which includes elbows, knees, hands, kicks, and shins.

On Saturday July 25, 2009 Battle of Comicon was held at 4th and B in Downtown San Diego. On this night,five Muay Thai fights took place with the last fight being the Main Event for the California IKF (International Kickboxing Federation) cruiserweight title.

It was a huge night for American Boxing Gym because head coach Dave Nielsen was going up against the current cruiserweight champion Derek "the Tornado" Galanis. For those of you who have never experience these events, fight night atmosphere is always exciting and most fights leading up to the main event are filled with some good and aggressive technique. It is also amazing to see the diversity of fight fans and the increasing numbers of attendees.There were different representatives from gyms around San Diego and not to mention some of those who traveled from different states to attend this event.

It was no surprise that there was a good amount of American Boxing supporters at the fight, myself being one of them. As a person who trains and has stepped into the ring as a contender, I felt a roller coaster of emotions that would have probably been intensified if I myself would have stepped into the ring that night. But I had the utmost confidence, that Dave Nielsen was going to take the title away from Derek “the Tornado” Galanis.It was only a minute or two in the first round when Dave Nielsen saw an opening and landed a left hook on Galanis not only once but twice, which made "the Tornado" immediately fall to the ground.

The referee called it and the results- Dave Nielsen won by TKO (Technical Knock Out)!

This was a definite victory for American Boxing MMA and Fitness center (ABF)! I’ve been training at ABF for the past three years and in my opinion, it is one of the few gyms here in San Diego where the trainers take their time to help develop not only a fighter but also their members.If you have aspirations to start training in Mixed Martial Arts and/or compete you should check out their website http://www.americanboxing.net/ and get trained by the new IKF cruiserweight champion Dave Nielsen.

As an added bonus for ALL YOU LADIES, who want to train...Learn from the reality TV Show FIGHT GIRLS star: Head female Muay Thai Coach Gina Reyes. She is one of the fiercest female Muay Thai fighters out there in the industry! I’ve had the pleasure to know and train beside her for the past couple of years... she is definitely a Wonder Woman!

Once again congratulations to AMERICAN BOXING!

I'll have more fight night stories to come...

~Irene Patricia Estrada, SMBA Class of 2010

SMBA and Soccer United Marketing

Recently,  Jon Bamel and I had the opportunity to work with Soccer United Marketing (SUM) at the Mexico - Guatemala friendly match at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. SUM holds the exclusive rights to Major League Soccer, US Soccer Federation, Mexican National Team, Chivas Guadalajara and FC Barcelona games in the USA. The company is a first rate sports marketing firm in the US and working with them has been a tremendous experience for both of us. 

The friday before the game, Jon and I took part in a SUM staff soccer game, which included former Mexican star Luis "el matador" Hernandez. He may be a little past his prime, but he was amazing! Playing with him really gave us some insight on how good these guys really are.

 Jon and I were in charge of the Football Fietsa fan festival, handling the set up, operations and take down for all sponsors. Acting as liasons between Qualcomm Stadium employees, SUM staff and Mexican National Team tour sponsors (such as Home Depot, All State, McDonalds, Coke and AT&T), we really gained an appreciation for what it takes to run  successful experiential marketing campaign. 

We had a number of other duties at the event, most notably escorting former Mexican National Team stars Zague and Alberto Garcia Aspe to their sponsor suites. I can't even explain how nuts the Mexican fans went as we went by, it was really something to behold! After the festival was over, we got to watch the second half of the game from field level, an experience we will never forget. Check out the pictures above!

We're headed to San Francisco for the FC Barcelona - Chivas Guadalajara game on August 8, so expect another blog post!

-Adam Fritz, SMBA 2010

 

DR: Meet the Press

The press release on our trip to the Dominican Republic can be seen here. The text is below.

And check back in to the blog over the next days for more of the inside scoop on the trip!

Megan Moyer, SMBA 2010

The College of Business Administration at San Diego State University announced today the next phase of a joint endeavor with the San Diego Padres in the ongoing effort to provide new economic opportunities for people living near the Padres Dominican Republic Baseball Park in the city of Najayo.

Visiting the Dominican Republic

Thirty-eight SDSU students enrolled in the university’s Sports Business MBA program returned this month from the Dominican Republic where they studied in the Padres’ state-of-the-art player development complex.

During their 10-day stay, they interviewed community members and studied the socio-economic climate of the region with the intent of investing $20,000 in new economically viable entrepreneurial ventures. The students are developing four comprehensive business plans for the proposed ventures.

First-ever venture into microfinance

It is the first time ever that an American university and a major league sports team have collaborated to provide microfinance capital and other incentives designed to stimulate economic growth in an international setting.  

“There’s been more of an emphasis on corporate social responsibility by Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic and the Padres have stepped out front with its support of this unique educational partnership,” said John Francis, the SDSU management professor and co-creator of the program.

“This project provides an enriching real-world educational experience for SDSU students, but it also offers tangible economic benefits for a community in dire need.”

Benefit to students

According to Scott Minto, director of the SDSU Sports Business MBA program, students will not only learn new skills, but how sports organizations can give back to the communities they work with.

“The skills developed by this project in Najayo are applicable to other segments of the increasingly global sports industry,” Minto said. “The class has the opportunity to learn firsthand how the power of sport can help organizations like the Padres break down political, economic and cultural barriers to make a positive impact on an international level.”

Q & A

Nate had a couple of questions for us in the comments, so let's see what we can do about answering them ...

What is the average GMAT score for a SDSU Sports MBA student?

I checked with our Director, Scott Minto, and he replied that, while we don't have the current class average on hand, "the minimum I look for is a 600, with a competitive score being 650+".

Also, how many students work internships during the school year?

While much of our class focused on academics at the beginning of the year (when we take most of our quantitative courses -- statistics, accounting, etc.), by now most of us are involved outside of the classroom as well. Practical sports experience ranges from one-time volunteer opportunities (for example, the Red Bull Air Race Christen wrote about here earlier this year, or the California State Games coming up this weekend), to longer-term work leading up to a major event like the Rock and Roll Marathon, to consulting projects or on-going internships with local sports companies or groups.

The program schedule (most weeks we meet Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, leaving Tuesday and Friday open) allows for a good deal of flexibility in using out-of-class time, and there are a lot of sports events and companies in San Diego, so there are plenty of chances to gain experience while in school!

Any other questions? Keep 'em coming.

Megan Moyer, SMBA 2010

Guest Speaker: Upper Deck

Jason Masherah

Director of Sports Brands – Upper Deck

www.upperdeck.com

We had the awesome opportunity to have Jason Masherah speak to our class. Jason is the Director of Sports Brands at Upper Deck, which includes MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLS.  If you are unfamiliar with Upper Deck, they began as a domestic trading card company in 1989, and have evolved into a worldwide Sports and Entertainment giant. They have exclusive autograph memorabilia deals with the biggest names in sports, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Derek Jeter, among others. When you think trading cards or autographed memorabilia, you think Upper Deck. They are based locally in Carlsbad, California.  

Jason began by detailing his journey from an undergrad student at Michigan State, to an MBA student at Indiana University, to his current employment with Upper Deck. He explained to the class the steps he took getting into the position he is now, and gave us some great tips on how we can position ourselves for success in the sports industry. 

Jason then gave us some background on what he does in his position at Upper Deck. He explained to us an interesting case study he was presented with during the beginning of his employment, which was to resuscitate a product, Fleer, which was just purchased by Upper Deck. Fleer had just gone through bankruptcy and had a negative stigma amongst the collecting population. The steps he took to revitalize the product resulted in it being the highest revenue producer for Upper Deck. Personally, as a collector, the 20^th anniversary set Upper Deck produced through the Fleer brand was incredibly innovative, and was really well received by the collectors at large.  

A huge thanks goes out to Jason from the SMBA ’10 class for taking the time to speak with us and giving us great tips for pursuing our future careers in the sports industry! 

Sam Batarseh, SMBA ‘10 

We're Baaack!

After a great ten days in the Dominican Republic, the SMBA class of 2010 is back -- at least in the US, if not in San Diego. We're off now, enjoying a week of summer break, then headed back to the classroom to wrap up international business, jump back in to marketing, and kick off organizational behavior.

Over the next week or so, you can look forward to posts on our trip to the DR -- tours of micro-credit projects with Esperanza, a coffee tour including a trip straight up a mountain in the back of pick up trucks, a historical tour, and, of course, lots of time with the Padres. 

Also coming soon, a couple of posts that didn't make it up before we hit the road.

We're deep in to recruiting season now, so if any of you prospective students are lurking here, hello! Let us know what you want to know -- we're happy to answer any questions.

Adios ...

Megan, SMBA 2010