Pursuing a Career in Sports

By:Sally Lynn Sullivan

Hi, I am Sally Sullivan

My mission

• To introduce all of you to career opportunities in sports

• To highlight what I believe to be the key characteristics you need to be successful in a sports career

• To make myself available now and in the future to help you in any way I can as you investigate this possible career

My Background

• Born in Connecticut, 100 years ago

• Started participating in sports @7yrs old

• Played all sports: baseball, football, tennis, hockey, soccer and yes even kick the can

My Dilemma

• Pre Title IX

• Women did not play baseball, football, soccer or hockey so what was left?

Tennis and Skating

• I picked tennis but not because of this outfit trust me!!

Title IX

• Title IX, is a United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."[

Why Tennis

• Liked to run around; golf was too slow• Saw a trophy in a jewelry store window that I

wanted• I was nine• Played in the tournament and won the trophy• Awarded a top coach as a up and coming

protégé

1st Key Characteristics Slide

• Determination

• Passion

• Perseverance

Oh and you have to be one of these!!

Also need some angels in your life

What are angels?

• People that want to help you with no expectation of something in return

• People who are honest with their advice, rather than being self serving

• People that want you to be successful!!

These are my angels

• Bob Pamplin

Angels

• Skip Rowley

Angels

• Shirley Frye Irvin

Angels

• My Parents:

• Madge and Gus Gustavson

Blessed to have been taught by legends

• Mercer Beasley: (guy on the far left)

My first coach

• Great tennis coach neglected by history• By Brittany Urick

Staff Writer • Published: Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 • Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.• No one epitomized this mantra better than Mercer

Beasley, Princeton's tennis coach from 1933-37 and 1939-42. Plagued by poor eyesight, Beasley was never able to play the sport he loved. Instead, he educated himself in the fundamentals of the game and imparted the wisdom he gained to his students.

Someone who was willing to play with me!!

• Doris Hart

Doris Hart• Doris Hart (born on June 2, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri) was an American

tennis champion in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.• As a child, she suffered from osteomyelitis, which resulted in a

permanently impaired right leg. She started playing tennis when she was 10 years old, greatly encouraged by her brother Bud.

• Hart's first Grand Slam title was in women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1947, when she was still a student at the University of Miami (Florida).

• Hart's first Grand Slam singles title came at the 1949 Australian Championships. She also won singles titles at the French Championships in 1950 and 1952, Wimbledon in 1951, and the U.S. Championships in 1954 and 1955. In 1951, she beat her long-time doubles partner, Shirley Fry Irvin, in the Wimbledon final. In 1954, she saved a match point while defeating Louise Brough Clapp in the final of the U.S. Championships.

Little Mo Connolly

Little Mo Connolly• Maureen Catherine Connolly Brinker "Little Mo"• Born: September 17, 1934• Died: June 21, 1969• Hometown: San Diego, California, United States• Citizenship: United States• Handed: Right• Inducted: 1969• Grand Slam Record Wimbledon Singles 1952-54

Doubles finalist 1952, 53

• U.S. Singles 1951-53 Doubles finalist 1952

• Australian Singles 1953 Doubles 1953 Mixed finalist 1953

• French Singles 1953-54 Doubles 1954 Doubles finalist 1953 Mixed 1954 Mixed finalist 1953

• Tournament Record Italian Singles 1954 Singles finalist 1953 Doubles 1953 Mixed finalist 1953 Mixed 1954

• Wightman Cup 1951-54• • A too-brief flash on the tennis scene was that of Maureen Catherine Connolly, but it was of brilliant incandescence; she may have been the finest of all female players.

Little Mo• 1955: American tennis star 'Little Mo' to quit• One of America's greatest tennis players has announced she is retiring from the sport after a horse-riding accident. Maureen

"Little Mo" Connolly, 19, has dominated women's tennis worldwide since 1951. • She has won the women's title at Wimbledon for the past three consecutive years, in 1952, 1953 and 1954. At 16, she

became the youngest woman player to win the US national singles. • In 1953 she became the first woman tennis player ever to complete the Grand Slam, taking the US National Women's title at

Forest Springs, New York to add to her Wimbledon, French and Australian open titles. • Baseline specialist • Last July (1954), she broke her leg in a horse riding accident just a few weeks before she was due to defend her US title.

Although she planned to return to tennis, she has recently realised she will never regain her previous form. • Maureen Connolly's tennis career began at the age of 10 on the municipal courts of San Diego. Her first coach Wilbur

Folsom encouraged her to switch from left-handed to right and she soon became a baseline specialist with an especially strong backhand.

• She earned her nickname "Little Mo" from the sportswriters who likened her explosiveness on court to the battleship USS Missouri, known as "Big Mo", which was based in her home town.

• She later became a student of Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, a famous and demanding coach, who attempted to develop her competitive instinct by encouraging her to hate her opponents.

• Her announcement today comes as she has revealed plans to get married. Her fiancé is Norman Brinker, a US Navy officer and former member of the US Olympic equestrian team.

• She plans to take up sports writing for a San Diego newspaper and will also continue to play a role as a tennis coach. • E-mail this story to a friend

Billie Jean King• Billie Jean King Firsts • First woman commissioner in professional sports history (World

TeamTennis, 1984)• First woman to coach a co-ed team in professional sports (Philadelphia

Freedoms, WTT, 1974)• First female athlete in any sport to earn more than $100,000 in a

single season ($117,000, 1971)• Only woman to win U.S. singles title on four surfaces (grass, clay,

carpet, hard courts)• One of six inaugural inductees into the Court of Fame at the USTA

National Tennis Center (2003)• First woman to have a major sports venue named in her honor (USTA

Billie Jean King National Tennis Center - 2006)

Billie Jean King• Billie Jean King• Pro Tennis Legend• Billie Jean Moffit was born on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California. In her

early years she was an exceptional softball player; yet, Billie Jean knew that there was no significant future for a woman in softball. Her parents introduced her to tennis, the game that would change her life and the lives of other women.

• In 1967 she was selected as "Outstanding Female Athlete of the World". In 1972 she was named Sports Illustrated "Sportsperson of the Year", the first woman to be so honored; and in 1973, she was dubbed "Female Athlete of the Year".

• She was the first female athlete to win over $100,000 prize money in a single season. Billie Jean King spoke out for women and their right to earn comparable money in tennis and other sports. Her constant lobbying and commitments have broken many barriers.

• Billie Jean King established the first successful women's professional tennis tour. She founded tennis clinics for underprivileged children. For her contributions to tennis as President of Tennis-America, Billie Jean King was awarded the National Service

• Billie Jean won for all womenBy Larry SchwartzSpecial to ESPN.comBillie Jean King won six Wimbledon singles championships and four U.S. Open titles. She was ranked No. 1 in the world five years. She defeated such magnificent players as Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Margaret Court. It isn't a reach to say that Billie Jean King has done the most for women in their fight for equality in sports.Yet of all her matches, the one that is remembered most is her victory against a 55-year-old man.

• History has recorded all King accomplished in furthering the cause of women's struggle for equality in the 1970s. She was instrumental in making it acceptable for American women to exert themselves in pursuits other than childbirth. She was the lightning rod in starting a professional women's tour. She started a women's sports magazine and a women's sports foundation.

• But what is remembered most about her is that she humbled Bobby Riggs. • Let's get that match out of the way. Riggs, a 1939 Wimbledon champion turned hustler, had

already massacred Court on Mother's Day 1973. So King, who previously had rejected Riggs' advances for a match, accepted his latest challenge.

• "I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn't win that match," she

Billie Jean King

2nd Key Characteristics Slide

• Hard Work: 250 Cross courts and 250 down the lines

• Discipline

• Focus

National Doubles @Brookline CC

Youngest players in the draw

• My partner and I were 14

• #1 Doubles Team in the country

• Playing with legends…Like>>>>

Maria Bueno: Wimbledon and US Open Champion

Darlene Hard: US Open Champion

Dennis Ralston:

3rd Key Characteristics slide

• Sacrifice

• Long Hours of Practice

• Learning how to win….and lose…with courage and grace!!

Fast Forward: My adult life

• Went to College• Became an airline stewardess for Pan Am• Met my husband• Got Married• Had two sons• Got Divorced

My Family Today: Scott and Will

Callie

Law School: Lewis and Clark in Portland OR

“I want to be a sports and entertainment Lawyer”

• Picked my courses to focus on sports and entertainment:– Agency– Constitutional Law– Two courses in Tort Law– Contract Law– Sports Law Class• Paper on negotiating a professional athlete’s contract• The right of student athletes to get an education

Key Clients

• Jennifer Azzi: Basketball/Stanford/Olmpian/Pro

• Katy Steding: Basketball/Stanford/Olympian/Pro/Coach

• Lincoln Kennedy/Pro Football

Last But not least

• Venus Williams

And…..

Richard Williams:

And….Serena Williams

4th Key Characteristics Slide

• Know what you want: have goals• Make a plan: in detail• Target those that can help• Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want

5th Key Characteristics Slide

• Have the courage to go after what you want• Have a very strong ethical compass in place • Advise your clients based on integrity not on

what they want to hear• And if they don’t listen….• WALK AWAY….RESIGN!!

The Next Step: Spectrum Sports & Entertainment

• Marketing Business• Agency Work• Elite Camps• Endorsement Deals• Event Management• Endorsement Acquisition• Press Campaigns

This is

Skip Rowley and Me as Partners

Why did it end?• Effective Sports Management Leaders, like Athletic Directors, Academic Advisors, Sports Agents,

Team owners, should and must be models of ethical and moral leadership. These very leaders face moral ethical dilemmas every day. Handling ethical dilemmas such as “looking the other way” when there is illegal recruiting in your athletic program (Athletic Director); failing to help an athlete see the importance of education over sports (Athletic Advisor); offering a bribe to a college coach, so that you as an agent can represent their athlete as he or she becomes a professional (Athlete Agent); ignoring the presence of steroids on your professional team because your players are hitting homeruns and filling the seats with fans (Franchise Owner). Handling ethical and moral dilemmas such as these require someone with a strong internal moral and ethical code as well as an ability to translate that code of morality and ethics to those with whom he/she interacts. State your personal moral and ethical code, defend why you believe in it; and finally present how you will present that code to those that you lead. Please use examples that support your thesis and explain why the following is true. “There is a line between right and wrong. The moment you cross that line, to “look the other way”, fail to help a student athlete understand balance of education vs. sports, take a bribe, or ignore illegal actions, that line disappears, and forever more you do not understand right from wrong.”

• •

Today: Passing it along

• On line professor• Teaching:– Sports Management Courses• Law• Ethics• Diversity• Leadership

In the end it is all about Leadership• What is leadership?

• Leadership is the cornerstone of the Sports Management Specialization and this theme is carried throughout all our courses. Discuss the general requirements needed to be an effective sports leader and then specifically identify the characteristics needed and the challenges presented in a sports leadership role. It will be important to research what a leader is, citing examples first in the non sports world and then in the specific sports leadership role i.e. Athletic Director, owner of a sports franchise, an academic advisor to student athletes. As you identify a specific sports leadership role, please characterize not only characteristics, duties, but also challenges that will need to be met and how you personally will meet those challenges.

And so I ask you

• What characteristics did you find compelling?• What is your ethical compass?• What do you think constitutes a leader?• What is your next step to pursue a career in

sports, sports management, coaching?