Hard and Soft Skills for Career Success in Sports Management
Sports management is a dream job for many avid fans, who might lack athletic ability but relish the opportunity to be involved in their favorite sporting event. Sports managers apply the knowledge and skill of business to sports, working for professional teams, college athletic departments, sports associations and other organizations to develop business processes and achieve organizational goals.
Yet, sports management is an extremely competitive profession. Because sports management involves a field that many are passionate about, an overwhelming number of job seekers apply for available sports management positions, and only the best of the best stand out. Those interested in pursuing a career in sports management need to do what they can to set themselves apart from their competition, which includes earning a sports management certificate online and honing the following must-have skills:
Communication
Communication is an essential skill for any career, but it is especially important for those in sports management. Sports managers should be able to understand and convey information to all sorts of different professionals, from peers in sports management to athletes to media personnel and more. Practicing different communication styles and becoming well-versed in many methods of communication can help make a candidate distinct from their competition in this career field.
Writing Skills
A mode of communication of specific importance to sports managers is writing. Day-in and day-out, sports managers are compelled to perform many different writing tasks, such as memos, reports, contracts and other documents that facilitate success for athletes, their teams and their organizations. Writing needs to be clear and concise to communicate information quickly and effectively, so prospective sports managers should consider improving their writing skills before entering the field.
Flexibility
Sports managers have dozens of responsibilities. Often, a sports manager might jump from performing public relations for an athlete to coordinating travel for a team and balancing an athletic organization’s budget to communicating with promotional brands. Because there is so much a sports manager is expected to do in a day, sports managers must be flexible, capable of jumping between tasks or taking on new roles.
Time Management
Balancing all their daily tasks can be difficult for sports managers, who must carefully control their schedules to ensure everything gets done on time. Effective time management is essential in this field, and the ability to demonstrate one’s ability to stay on top of a multitude of responsibilities could help differentiate one from the competition. Working full-time while participating in athletics and pursuing a sports management certificate online can help strengthen time management skills for this career.
Organization
With so much to manage and so few hours in the day, sports managers must be impeccably organized. Fortunately, there are various digital tools to help sports managers keep track of their scouting reports, ticket sales figures, athlete media profiles and more. Even as a sports manager moves up the ranks and gains access to executive assistants, a well-honed organization skill is vital for developing effective processes that keep their minds and desks in order.
Analytical Skills
Sports managers are constantly on the hunt for ways to improve their organization, through improved business processes or better athletes and game strategies. The ability to discern patterns from data is an incredibly useful skill in sports management; in fact, the effective leveraging of data is generally how teams with smaller budgets can still triumph over much larger, massively funded franchises. Though many sports organizations utilize the expertise of data science teams, it might be useful for prospective sports managers to shore up their data analysis skills with online courses.
Creativity
Because there is such significant competition in the field of sports management, those interested in pursuing this career need to be creative in how they apply and interview for available positions. Having the necessary skills listed on one’s resume is advantageous, but making genuine bonds with important members of an organization can also be a vital step to securing a job. Spending time shadowing or interning for an organization can help hopefuls develop relationships with powerful executives, and researching hiring managers during the application process can provide insight into avenues for connection.
Many are eager for a job close to what they love — sports. Fortunately, those with enough determination can develop the skills needed for a sports management career.
