Students tap experts for sports careers

By Edith Katz

The second annual DSA Sport Business Conference, presented by the Graduate Diploma in Sport Administration, was held March 18 and 19 at a downtown hotel. The DSA is based in the John Molson School of Business.

The conference attracted over 75 participants, including students, faculty, alumni, and professionals from marketing and advertising from Quebec and beyond.

Michael Farber, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, told the audience that “in 1979, everything changed in sports” because of the advent of ESPN and TSN. Farber lamented the way the sports television networks have changed the focus from the hockey game on the ice to the game “presentation.”

Ray Lalonde, vice-president of marketing and sales for the Canadiens, talked about the challenges of marketing a team during the cancelled NHL season. “While we are still marketing the Canadiens, we have time now to plan for the 100th anniversary of the team in 2009,” he said.

Building on a 2004 student initiative, a committee of five students in the DSA program not only organized the entire conference, with 14 speakers and panelists, they raised funds for the event from more than 15 sponsors, including the sports law department of Heenan Blaikie.

A raffle and silent auction raised $500 for Right To Play, which uses sport and play to encourage the healthy development of the world’s most disadvantaged children. The members of the organizing committee were DSA students Adam Kertesz, Annie Bourbonnais, Maryann Smith, Les Wasserman and Olivier Simek.

In the panel on the future of amateur sport, Graham K. Pilon, owner of the South Shore Monarx football team, talked about the tremendous growth in interest in football. “It’s all about education,” he said. “We want our young players to stay in school and to continue their education in CEGEP and university.”

Gilles Courteau, commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, said, “We are growing and will soon have teams in Ontario and the U.S. The increase in the number of women’s teams is huge.”

Recent DSA graduates and even current students are in great demand in all parts of the sport world.

Several students are working as program coordinators in leisure, culture, recreation, sport and social development for Pointe Claire, Dorval and Westmount. Two are in marketing for the Athletics and Recreation Departments at Concordia and McGill.

Two other students were hired recently by Basketball Quebec and Rowing Quebec, the provincial sport federations. One student found his dream job with the Montreal Alouettes as event coordinator and a few months later was promoted to his boss’s position when she left the organization.

A job opened up for a recent grad as sponsorship associate with the Grand Prix in Montreal following his internship with CART in Indianapolis.