Saint Louis Public Schools

Beyond the Playing Field
SLPS program exposes students to jobs in the sports industry  

 

 

Depending on the sport, only 3 to 10 percent of high school athletes go on to play in college, and a miniscule fraction of those students get the chance to play professionally. A new St. Louis Public Schools initiative seeks to inform its student-athletes about the wide variety of behind-the-scenes jobs available in the sports industry—jobs that don’t involve slam dunks, touchdowns, or home runs.

Over the past month and a half, SLPS has held a series of workshops at Roosevelt and Soldan high schools, featuring sports industry professionals. The sessions encourage students to think outside the box when it comes to their future careers and stress work ethic, good grades, and college preparation.

The final workshop was held at Maryville University on Wednesday, October 16. Speakers included Marcus Manning, Maryville’s Director of Athletics; Shoni Jenkins, Maryville’s Associate Vice President of Admission and Financial Aid; and Jason Williams, professor at The Rawlings Sport Business Management Program at Maryville.