As students prepare for life after graduation, North Central helps facilitate internships and other opportunities to apply the skills they’ve learned during their time as a student. Recently, North Central’s sports management class connected with alumnus Troy Pearson ’88 to get firsthand experience at the headquarters of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx.<\/p>\n
Pearson serves as the director of the Timberwolves\/Lynx Youth Basketball Academy. On October 24 at the Timberwolves\/Lynx corporate offices downtown Minneapolis, the North Central sports management class was given a tour of the business operations offices including the ticketing, media, marketing, game operations, and corporate sponsorships complex.<\/p>\n
Two guest speakers addressed\u00a0the class regarding operations within the Timberwolves\/Lynx franchises. Vice President of Fan Experience Jeff Munneke challenged the students to develop valuable communication skills\u2014 specifically in building relationships with other professionals. Munneke started his career in the ticket sales business and explained to students the importance of obtaining a strong work ethic.<\/p>\n
Munneke also challenged the students to develop excellent interviewing skills explaining, \u201cthe sport industry is a very competitive job market. How will you stick out from the hundreds of others wanting the same job?\u201d He continued, \u201casking good, open ended questions and doing research on the organization prior to the interview are important aspects in preparing for a successful interview.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students also heard a brief presentation from Mike Welch, Vice-President for Corporate Sponsorships. Welch explained how his department works with companies and organizations, developing a corporate sponsorship agreement. Welch expressed the importance of storytelling and developing win-win relationships when pitching a sponsorship to a potential partner. Welch walked through a corporate sponsorship pitch, showing NCU students how that the Timberwolves\/Lynx landed a now Founding Level sponsor.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall the experience for our students was an amazing opportunity to hear from experienced professionals in the sports industry, truly enhancing their education. The concepts, principles and theories learned in the classroom were supported and reinforced through these types of opportunities,\u201d said Jon High, Sports Management professor. “Special thanks to Mr. Troy Pearson for his work in organizing the tour and arranging for the speakers. These North Central students greatly benefited from this learning experience.”<\/p>\n