Guest Speaker: Bill Popp

On Tuesday Bill Popp, the Reinhardt Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach, visited our class and told us all about his career and how he got to be the Athletic Director at Reinhardt. He went to West Georgia College where he played baseball for 3 years before transferring to Kennesaw State University. He received his Bachelor's Degree from KSU and then went to Oglethorpe where he was a volunteer baseball coach. He was called up as the head coach the following year and kept that job for 11 years. He then came here to Reinhardt where he started the baseball program in 2004. The school has gotten a lot bigger since then and added a number of other sports: Softball, Men's Lacrosse and Women's Lacrosse.

There are currently about 240+ athletes that attend Reinhardt.Reinhardt went from NJCAA to the NAIA to be included with the other 290 teams in the NAIA.Reinhardt also recently went from the SSAC to the AAC. He also told us how our men's soccer team had 3/4 of the total ejections last year of all men's soccer teams in the NAIA. Our conference is currently searching for more teams to add to the AAC. At Reinhardt they are looking at adding a few programs as well: Football and maybe Track.

Popp told us that a lot of what his duties are as the Athletic Director include the eligibility process for all athletes, as well as a list of criteria that each student needs to meet. I asked him what was one of the main reasons that Reinhardt changed conferences and he said that one of the main ones was the amount of money that we were getting for scholarships as compared to the amount that the other schools in our conference were getting. Another reason was that it was one of our program and school goals to match our playing field with those in the AAC.

I found this speech to be particularly interesting because I could see myself traveling down a similar road later on in my future.

Graduate Assistantship Explorations 1-5

For my five Graduate Assistantships, I chose these five positions: Tourism/Recreation/Sport Management, Athletic Training, Career Events, Intramural Sports, and a facilities graduate assistantship. I found all of these at the University of Florida.

The Tourism/Recreation/Sport Management graduate assistantship requires me to concentrate on tourism and commercial recreation, natural resource recreation, recreation administration and supervision, and campus recreation programming and administration.

The Athletic Training graduate assistantship program provides for intensive study in the sports medicine area emphasizing prevention, assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, therapeutic modalities, and administration. Clinical experience in the field is expected throughout the student’s tenure in the program. An extensive clinical outreach program provides assistantship opportunities for students who are certified athletic trainers.

The Career Events graduate assistantship requires me to assist in the coordination and implementation of the bi-annual Career Showcase and other career events. I also work with recruits, trains, and manage the showcase student committee and day-of-event hosts. I will work with my supervisor to create a plan to maintain a sustainable showcase committee. I will also make ongoing connections with employers, students, faculty and staff to promote career events and other center activities. I will aid in the management and maintenance of the Gator CareerLink Career Events Database System, and I will also conduct research and provide data analysis for career fairs and events.

For the Intramural Sports graduate assistantship, I would provide full administration of major and minor team and individual sports as well as special events. I would also help with extramural flag football and basketball tournaments; recruits, hires and trainings 300+ student officials each year.

The facilities graduate assistantship requires me to help manage two Fitness Centers and the Broward Outdoor Recreation Complex with hiring, scheduling, training, supervising, and evaluating the staff. I develop training strategies for employees and administers and updates facility inspection procedures for the recreation centers and other recreation facilities on campus. I also help with the development of the budget.

YMCA Site Visit

The Ped 350 class toured the YMCA in Canton Tuesday September 14th, 2010. Our tour guide Nicole Lawson gave us a tour of all parts of the facility: The main lobby, gym (basketball courts, volleyball nets, indoor track), aquatic areas (Indoor and outdoor pools), aerobics room, weight room, day care room, cycle room, cardio room, recreation room (with pool tables, etc.), and the Reinhardt room.
The YMCA center offers a number of different jobs ranging from membership management to lifeguarding. You could also be a cardio instructor, cycling instructor, aerobics instructor, aquatics instructor, and day care provider as well as other office and management jobs.
From this visit I have learned that there are a number of jobs that I can attain, even though they aren't the jobs I want to have for a life-long career,  that can help me in achieving contacts and opening my social network in my career field. Knowing people is a huge part of getting a job you want. It's all about who you know in the job fields.

Internship-Career Exploration Submissions 1-5

I researched and found five potential interships and/or careers: North Georgia College and State University Assistant Softball Coach, Davenport University Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, Iowa Lakes Community College Head Softball Coach, Athletic Marketing and Promotions Assistant at the University of Arkansas, and a Sports Performance Internship with Olympic sports at Stanford University.

Each of these have their own unique features about them that I find interesting and can see myself enjoying as a future career or internship.I am interested in pursuing a coaching career, and I am also good with marketing. Since I am a college athlete, I know a lot about strength and conditioning as well and so I find the Sports Performance Internship to be a path that would give me a great experience and help me get to my next step in my career path.

NGC&SU Assistant Softball Coach: I would be helping set up practices and organize team activities.


Davenport University Assistant Women's Soccer Coach: Assisting in coordinating practices. Work directly with the players and can work one on one with them for individual training.

Iowa Lakes Community College Head Softball Coach: Establishing a team and schedule. Organizing practices and work out schedules for players. Keeping athletes grades up and help them remain eligible to play.

Athletic Marketing and Promotions Assistant at the University of Arkansas: Working to manage the teams' budget and organize fundraiser activities and events. Also promoting the team and encouraging people to attend athletic events.

Sports Performance Internship with Olympic sports at Stanford University: Training athletes hoping to compete in Olympic sports. Establishing a strength and conditioning training program as well as a nutritional program.

Guest Speaker: Vic Mitchell

Vic Mitchell, the Shorter University Head Women's basketball coach, visited our class on Tuesday and talked to us all about things we should do when deciding a career and picking a location and a number of other things.He got his undergraduate degree as well as his graduate degree at The University of Georgia. He first managed mens basketball after a summer of volunteer work, which he said was a important thing when trying to be asked to stay on for a job later. After he managed the team, he got a desk in the coach's office and started doing more recruiting work. For 14 years at Shorter he has coached multiple sports.

He wanted us to know that if we are going to be a coach that it is important to get involved with that schools events. You also have to be able to work with people well, and know how to set up and run effective practices. You should also go into a job knowing what it is going to take to make the sport successful. Know the philosophy of the institution that you are going into, whether that be to make money, win, academics, or whatever it may be. Think about the benefits and costs of every decision you make.

I really learned from Vic that it is important to get involved with as many things during school as possible to get experience. You also have to work your way up in every position you want to achieve. You can't just get your dream job, you have to start with the small jobs (like managing a men's basketball team). Also you must make sure you stay on top of your duties as a coach and when you are told to do something, they expect you to do it no mater what you have going on.

"Becoming Invaluable" Article Response

I agree with the article "Becoming Invaluable" when it says that you should make sure you have plenty of talents and are very well-rounded. It is better to be good at a number of things rather than to be great at only a couple of things. The article also was very helpful in giving me a guidline for what I should be doing to prepare myself for my future career in sports after each year in college. I like how it emphasized how important it was to look into internships and graduate programs before you need to in order to get familiar with all of it and be ready to start your career.

I like how the article also was realistic in telling me just what I am going to be going into with my career plans and how competitive it will be. If I am not planning to go to graduate school, then i have to know just how much I will be behind those workers I am competing with that did go to graduate school. I also recieved a number of tips for writing my resume, and what I should be doing to make my resume as impressive as possible.

I also agree with the points the article made when it was talking about planning for my career strategically. Looking into all the aspects of my future career is very important in finding the right job and location to work at. Overall, this article was very helpful in setting up my future education plans as well as career plans.

Guest Speaker: Peggy Collins Feerehy

This Tuesday we had a guest speaker in class. Peggy Collins Feerehy works at Reinhardt University and she is the Director of Career Services. She was very helpful in providing the class with information on writing resumes and how to pursue future career options. Mrs. Feerehy told the class how it is important to visit career fairs and there are going to be four career fairs this school year alone. She also informed us that it is important to dress business-like to help in appearing like you are serious about finding a career that suits you.

She also provided us with plenty of helpful tips to keep in mind when writing your resumes. She said it was important to start with verbs when describing your skills, then you should list your previous jobs and positions in cronological order, and finish up your resume with a summary. References should be given on a separate piece of paper from the rest of your resume. Portfolios are better in showing the smployer what you look like and how you work. She said that it was important to "know what you are selling."