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Standing in a large conference room at Nationals Park on Wednesday afternoon, H.D. Woodson High School senior Shanti Osborne asked panelists what advice they had for young people hoping to work for a professional sports team.
Osborne largely has her path planned. She鈥檚 hoping to attend Ohio State University and get a degree that will help her become a professional sports agent or manager. She鈥檚 become familiar with many of the traditional career options 鈥� doctors, teachers, firefighters and police officers.
But until the “Career in Sports Day” at Nationals Park, Osborne had been unaware of just how many roles there are to make a team function.
鈥淣ot only did it get me a free day out of school, it gave me a way to expand on what I want to do after school and enlighten (me), and drop more information about the different career paths there are,鈥� Osborne said.
The daylong event, featuring students from D.C.鈥檚 public and public charter schools, also served as a recruiting event for NatsPrep, a course from D.C. Public Schools鈥� Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, and organized through a partnership with the Nationals.
Wednesday鈥檚 event, though, offered about 150 students exposure to different parts of the game day experience. Through a panel discussion, the students learned what it looks like to transition from high school to college and then on to a professional career.
During a department fair, representatives from the franchise鈥檚 front office departments, such as human resources, engaged with students through an activity that helped them understand what their day-to-day jobs look like.
They got to sit in the dugout too, and had conversations about leadership in the press conference room where manager Dave Martinez addresses reporters after home games.
鈥淲e’re just here, opening up opportunities to D.C. students, helping them understand that when you go to college, when you go through a certificate program, whatever that looks like for you, that sports and working for your favorite team is also an option, instead of just regular, traditional career paths,鈥� said Ashleigh Hazley, senior director of youth programming with the Nationals.
Evan Weinstein, a senior at Jackson-Reed High School, said exposure to employees in ticketing, operations, community relations and corporate sponsorships helped him 鈥渂ecome more aware of the variety of career opportunities within sports.鈥�
He鈥檚 hoping to become a team鈥檚 general manager or president of operations.
Staff encouraged the students to be open-minded, adding, 鈥渏ust because you鈥檙e set or currently in the role of doing something, there鈥檚 always room to switch or pursue that end goal that you want to get to,鈥� Weinstein said.
Last year鈥檚 event featured 50 students, and Hazley said she鈥檚 hoping to double Wednesday鈥檚 turnout next spring.
鈥淲hen I was growing up, I knew that I could be an accountant,鈥� Hazley said. 鈥淒idn鈥檛 know you could be an accountant for a sports team. Sometimes, we鈥檙e limited by what we know.鈥�
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