Scheduling. A simple word that causes way too many problems.
When people think sports they picture the grand stadium packed with people cheering, a battle on the field, and the ridiculous prices of concessions. What they don't think about? How the team prepared for the event they're watching. Ok, that's a generalization; some people probably think about the path to the result. But in reality, how many? How many people think "oh, we have to have four two-a-days this week but the field is being used for X, Y, and Z, and we have to do X press conference and fly to Y for Z. Basically, it's a madhouse.
My boss from VT Recreational Sport Clubs was recently promoted to Assistant Director and is now in charge of scheduling all of Virginia Tech's fields, courts, and facilities. When he took the job we all kept saying "how bored he would be because that can't possibly take up too much time" and how "he'll be just sitting on Excel in his office all day not talking to people, because how many people does it take to schedule something?" Ha. Wrong. The beauty of sports is that no two days are ever the same because no two games/practices/events are ever the same. However, this creates a scheduling and logistical nightmare for the individuals who run the facilities. It's like an awkwardly large game of schedule Tetris; what goes where?
College athletics also has the unique blessing and curse of having roughly 4 months of the year where class is not in session. This is great because it gives local groups the opportunities to use the fields they may normally not have access to, but it also creates the problem of a potentially lacking income during that time.
I love this job because it's presented me the opportunity to see different aspects of the sports business world that I had never previously considered or paid much thought to.
When people think sports they picture the grand stadium packed with people cheering, a battle on the field, and the ridiculous prices of concessions. What they don't think about? How the team prepared for the event they're watching. Ok, that's a generalization; some people probably think about the path to the result. But in reality, how many? How many people think "oh, we have to have four two-a-days this week but the field is being used for X, Y, and Z, and we have to do X press conference and fly to Y for Z. Basically, it's a madhouse.
My boss from VT Recreational Sport Clubs was recently promoted to Assistant Director and is now in charge of scheduling all of Virginia Tech's fields, courts, and facilities. When he took the job we all kept saying "how bored he would be because that can't possibly take up too much time" and how "he'll be just sitting on Excel in his office all day not talking to people, because how many people does it take to schedule something?" Ha. Wrong. The beauty of sports is that no two days are ever the same because no two games/practices/events are ever the same. However, this creates a scheduling and logistical nightmare for the individuals who run the facilities. It's like an awkwardly large game of schedule Tetris; what goes where?
College athletics also has the unique blessing and curse of having roughly 4 months of the year where class is not in session. This is great because it gives local groups the opportunities to use the fields they may normally not have access to, but it also creates the problem of a potentially lacking income during that time.
I love this job because it's presented me the opportunity to see different aspects of the sports business world that I had never previously considered or paid much thought to.