Around the world, millions of sports fans offer standing ovations and invigorating cheers for their favorite sports teams and athletes. However, do you ever see millions of sports fans give thanks to the management teams behind these athletic superstars? Not very likely.

Sports managers, otherwise known as business managers, are responsible for handling the business ordeals and ventures of sports teams and athletes. These managers work at the collegiate and professional levels, as long as their service is in demand to manage relations for the athletes.

As you could imagine, being a sports manager comes with a list of responsibilities. These can include managing the financial situation, making travel arrangements, and creating arrangements for gear and amenities needed by the individuals involved. Overall, sports managers are responsible for easing the burden on their clients, and taking care of the business aspect of the sports industry so that their clients could focus their efforts on training. Sports managers strive for their clients to be competing at their highest level, and this is why sports managers are such a critical part of the team.

Clientele for sports management can vary from managing a single athlete to managing a whole sports team.

For a single athlete, a sports manager is responsible for arranging accommodations that will be unique and personalized towards the individual they are serving. For instance, sports managers can help manage the individual’s media appearances.

In terms of managing a team, a sports manager would be overseeing the entire organization that they are responsible for. Meaning, there is a much larger set of responsibilities that they will take on. For example, sports managers could resolve conflicts between different departments within the sports organization, or maintain the employees so that all the inner workings of the organization runs smoothly.

If you are interested in becoming a professional sports manager, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that “the median annual salary for a sports manager in the United States is approximately $64,200.00.” However, the BLS does claim that the “top 25% of sports managers in the U.S. earn $120,290.00 per annum.”

Education-wise, a sports manager is recommended to earn an associate’s degree that could teach subjects such as the fundamentals of coaching, physical education, business ethics and law, and management. However, if a sports manager wishes to rise to an upper-level management job, a master’s degree is recommended.

At Arcadia High School (AHS), we have numerous sports teams that any student could try out for. This includes badminton, baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swim and dive, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. On these teams, there are student sports managers that could be freelanced by the teams.

Seniors Skylar Leung and Kayla Cheung describe their experience as sports managers for the Girls Varsity Basketball team.

In terms of the responsibilities for the Girls Varsity Basketball team, Leung reported, “I attend all of the games and keep track of the individual athlete’s stats. The stats include points, rebounds, steals, and assists. I am also in charge of recording the games in order for the team to look over their mistakes later. ”

AHS sports managers are not perfect from the start, especially because they were not formally trained. Yet, these students learned to adapt to the various situations.

Cheung said, “At the beginning, I was thrown into a lot of situations where I had to do tasks (take stats, create social media posts, and run errands) that I was not 100% competent with, but still had to accomplish because they were necessary for the team to have. I learned as I went, and asked plenty of questions which the coaches answered willingly, which was a great help.”

Students can also take on the role of sports manager for personal reasons.

As a former AHS basketball player herself, Cheung stated, “I feel like being a sports manager allows people to stay connected to the program and the people that remain in the program, while not having to commit to all the requirements of being an athlete on the team. I personally enjoy being a manager because I get to spend time with my friends that I would have otherwise lost if I wasn’t associated with the team.”

Despite not being physically active on the field or court like the athletes, sports managers are still valuable members of a team; they are the reason why these athletes are able to shine and perform at their best level.

Thank you to all sports managers out there!

Photo courtesy of FREEPIK.COM