When it comes to careers in professional sports, most people think of the immediate roles, such as the players and coaches. However, jobs like sportscasting, photography, and marketing are vital professions in the industry that are often overlooked.
These professions bring the sports industry together. The photos that are reposted by your favorite team after a big win would not exist without photographers, and the most intense moments would be anticlimactic without brilliant announcers. Many Paly alumni have pursued sports-related professions after high school, for example, Dave Feldman, who commentates on the 49ers.
Feldman attended Tufts University after graduating from Paly (83’), and was an assistant basketball coach at Stanford University after playing for two years at Tufts. He had to start with small programs and slowly climb the broadcasting ladder.
“I had made a sportscasting demo tape in college, while interning at a TV station, and sent tapes all over the country, and I got hired in Sioux City, Iowa, to be the number three sportscaster,” Feldman said. “It was a small market in Iowa.”
Since then, Feldman has moved up to becoming the announcing play by play college basketball and PGA tour golf for ESPN, but also hosts Xfinity Sports Sunday for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I feel appreciated, and I feel lucky to have this job,” Feldman said.
His most notable accolades are winning 8 local emmys, 5 of which were for best sportscaster.
Almost every major sports broadcast at the college and professional level has sports broadcasters; however, the value they bring to the viewing experience of sports is often neglected. A standard broadcasting booth consists of two people: one play-by-play commentator and a color commentator.
The play-by-play commentator is responsible for describing the action that is currently happening on the court or field, in addition to adding excitement and emotion to the events that unfold. These commentators are often individuals who secure their positions by climbing the traditional professional ladder. Famous play-by-play announcers include Al Michaels, Mike Breen, Joe Buck, and Jim Nantz. Color commentators, on the other hand, are often former professionals who already had well-established careers in the sport they are announcing. Their first-hand experience allows them to break down strategies and explain key moments during the broadcast. Famous color commentators include Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Doris Burke.
The amount of preparation that is needed to be an announcer is another factor that is frequently undermined. Sports broadcasters at the professional level often have to go to team practices and meetings in order to familiarize themselves with the players and the play style of the team. Almost every broadcaster writes a broadcast board for every game with lots of important information, including player names, notable injuries, notable storylines, etc.
Skylar Burnett (‘23) is attending Indiana University, majoring in Sports Marketing and business. She successfully landed an internship with the department of sports marketing at Indiana and has made the most of her opportunity thus far.
“I partake in weekly office hours and assist in sporting events throughout the school year,” Burnett said.
Internships build credibility and reputation for future job opportunities, in an industry like sports they really help set you apart from the competition for jobs.
“The former head of the department was one of my professors last year, and I made sure to introduce myself and show interest in the Athletic Marketing Department,” Burnett said. “It’s also essential to be passionate about your work and strive to do your best in any role you take on. Keeping a positive attitude and being open to constructive criticism are just as important.”
To many, a future in sports adjacent careers can be just as appealing as becoming a professional athlete. Paly junior Elsa Packard has been dancing ballet for 13 years. Even though Elsa loved ballet, she never considered a professional career as a ballerina because she didn’t see it as realistic. Elsa entertained the idea of becoming a doctor for some time; however, the prospect of years of schooling did not sound very appealing.
“I feel like somewhere in the middle, I like to discover or like, I learned about PT and then the more I thought about it, the more I was like, oh, PT could actually be the perfect blend of a career in health and ballet,” Packard said.
PT, or physical therapy, evaluates a patient’s condition and creates a personalized treatment plan that includes exercises, stretches, and hands-on techniques like massage and joint manipulation to improve movement, manage pain, and increase function. PT is very common among athletes because it helps them recover faster from injuries, reduces the risk of future injuries, and enhances overall performance, ensuring that they are physically fit to perform their best at all times. More specifically, PT in regards to ballet looks a little different then standard PT.
“Physical therapy, but for ballet dancers, it’s really hard. We have such targeted muscle groups and stuff that no other sport does. Like, we have flexibility and we have strength and, like, legs and back and arms,” Packard said.
Elsa Packard was intrigued by the idea of a professional career in ballet-focused physical therapy after starting PT to help her with her many injuries from ballet over the years.
“I don’t wanna be stuck with a job that I don’t relate to or don’t find interesting,” Packard said. “I want to do something that I can benefit from and wake up every morning and enjoy. I want to be able to help people, just like the people who help me.”
Since Packard is only a junior, she is still exploring what this potential career would entail. At Paly with classes like Sports Med, students have the opportunity to dip their feet into sports medicine.
“Next year I plan on taking sports med class to hopefully help me get a better sense of what PT in ballet would be like, and also just explore this area and see if it opens up any signs of passion for me,” Packard said.
Former Viking Editor-in-Chief Tyler Frick (‘24) currently attends the University of Michigan, majoring in Sports management. This past summer, he attended an internship back home at Stanford University.
Frick learned under Andrew Luck in his first season as a General Manager. Stanford Football is undergoing a major rebuild currently, and Luck has been tasked with turning around the program back to what it once was. This allowed Frick to observe some of the tough choices that have to be made in College Sports, and how recruiting works in the NIL era.
Stanford hired interim Head Coach Frank Reich, who has a ton of experience working in the NFL. Alongside Luck, the two have done very well in their first season together, as Stanford won its first three home games, two of them being against conference opponents.
An example of a Paly alum working in sports is Josh Yuen, who was a managing editor for the Paly Voice. But, he didn’t immediately pursue a sports career out of high school; instead, he pursued math at UC Berkeley. After graduating, Yuen honed in on his true passion and transitioned into the baseball business.
“I’ve always wanted to work in the sports industry, but wasn’t exactly sure how it would turn out or how I would get started,” Yuen said. “Fortunately, I was able to get a couple of positions that got my foot in the door, and got to meet some really cool people.”
After initially taking on small roles during the peak of the pandemic like a replay audio system assistant, marketing, ticketing analytics, and independent research, Yuen landed his current job as someone working with domestic player evaluations for the Miami Marlins.
One of the main factors discouraging many people to pursue a career in sports is the misconception that they won’t make a strong impact on a sports organization or simply a lack of awareness of the wide range of roles available in the industry. The reality is that professional sports teams are businesses in the entertainment industry in the same way that Google and Apple are businesses in the tech industry.
“It’s an entertainment industry, it’s a winning driven industry, it’s driven by putting fans in seats,” Yuen said. “This doesn’t happen overnight, you have to sell your tickets at a certain price, you need to have guest services, you need to have vendors, relationships with the league office, media relations, there are just a lot of different avenues in how the operation gets executed.”
A common misconception for sports fans is that high-profile jobs like general manager are the only jobs that can gain someone recognition in the sports industry. Yuen sets the record straight.
“Whether I was on the baseball operations side, or the business side, or the media video tech room, my role wasn’t like front and center; I was just lucky to have it,” he said. “There are a lot of different ways to create value in an organization, even if it isn’t front and center.”
The thing that makes the sports industry unique is that there is no specific degree or specialized skill that you need to enter the field. It is an industry that truly rewards people’s passion and work ethic over their book smarts.
If you want to analyze baseball or work in sports marketing or sports business, you can go and do that tomorrow, there are a lot of public resources out there, there are a lot of questions that people want answered,” Yuen said. “You don’t even need some sort of special degree or some sort of skillset.”
Paly doesn’t offer any specific classes that directly tie into a job in the sports industry, but there are many classes and electives that provide students with an opportunity to develop the necessary skills to pursue these jobs.
“When you take classes in econ, or psychology, you start to learn how to solve problems and those skills translate to the sports industry and that is definitely something that is applied in my career,” Yuan said. “The classes teach you how to solve problems, and there are sports journalism classes and publications at Paly that I can’t recommend enough.
“Be less concerned about what you want to study and college and focus more about what kind of question you want to answer,” Yuan said.
Another career in sports that doesn’t always get seen is photography. It’s an essential part of how fans experience sports because it captures the most iconic moments from big wins to quite emotional moments. Photographers are constantly battling for positions and whatever it takes to get the perfect shot. Working right next to elite athletes, they often end up soaked, muddy, or even trampled over in the process. Most people only see the final photo that gets posted, not the chaos that went into taking it.
Paly alum Tyler Wong (‘23), now part of the creative media team at Texas Christian University (TCU), knows exactly what that’s like and the full process of what goes into sports photography and he knows the best ways to get involved in these programs.
“I emailed the director of creative content here at athletics when I knew I was attending TCU and I had a video interview over the summer where I showed my portfolio,” Wong said. “I was introduced to and shown around the offices and my very first event was shooting behind the scenes of TCU Triathlon. A team that I have become great friends with”
Wong’s work has taken him from high school sidelines to packed and energetic Division one stadiums, where he gets to photograph some of the biggest and most electric moments in college sports.
Sports photography isn’t as easy as it looks. Photographers have to deal with harsh lighting, fast action, and the pressure of capturing moments that happen in an instant. Through his work, Wong has had a variety of memorable moments. One being his first trip on the road photographing at the BIG XII Swim and Dive Championships.
“I met some of the coolest people I know and some of my closest friends at TCU,” Wong describes. “Working 12 hours a day was exhausting but I had a blast and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
It’s a fast-paced and unpredictable work environment, but that’s part of what makes this job so fun and exciting. Even though photographers aren’t the ones scoring or coaching, their work is what fans see firsthand on social media and news headlines. Every photo shared and every highlight posted starts with someone behind the camera.
“The athletes appreciate what we do so much and it means a lot when one of them acknowledges you and thanks you for making them look good on social media with a fire pic or cool edit,” Wong said.
For Wong, the motivation comes from knowing that a single image can tell an entire story. His work has a major impact on the athletes, coaches, fans, as well as the community as a whole.
“One thing that keeps me motivated is the thought of how many other people would want to be in my shoes. I love what I do and it’s a blessing to enjoy what I will do to support myself and my family in the future,” Wong says.
Through his experiences, Wong has learned the best ways to become a sports photographer, “Keep working, know your value, and to be honest, most importantly build genuine connections and relationships. Those will get you so much further than having extreme skill.”
Sports photography is just one of many careers that show there’s a lot more happening in sports than what’s just seen on the playing field. It’s also about the people capturing those moments and turning them into lifelong memories.
Two positions that are often never seen or recognized by the average viewer are dietitians and equipment managers. These two positions at the college and professional level are similar in that they do everything to make sure the players are the most ready for their game days.
Equipment managers are in charge of all the uniforms and equipment. It is a lot of work to prepare 60 uniforms week in and week out, and it is even harder when the team is wearing a throwback jersey or an alternate jersey, and they have to change up their routines. They are also in charge of getting balls ready for in-game use, as there are specific requirements each ball has to meet before being used in a game.
Dietitians are another position that have to do similar tasks. NFL dietitians have the responsibility of making sure all players have the nutrients and fuel to perform at the best during game day. Every player has different foods and liquids that they need based on their weight and position. Dietitians often have to prepare meals and snacks ahead of time to make sure they have the proper food ready for all players both before and during games and practices. A lot of NFL teams also create their own unique electrolyte drinks and bars that are specifically designed for professional athletes and not commercially made. Dietitians play a huge role in the physical shape of athletes, and that translates greatly to in-game performance.
Even if you aren’t athletically gifted, there are still countless opportunities in sports beyond being a player.
“I’ve always loved football and basketball, I love to follow the stats of the players of teams that I like and the teams I know my teams will play,” senior Brandon Tu said. “In the future, I would like to pursue a career in sports data analysis, focusing on how revenue trends influence the decisions teams make.”
For students with interests in pursuing these career paths, it is important to start learning early and gaining as much experience and knowledge as possible.
“Get as much information as you can, like, know everything you can about all kinds of different sports, and just be as knowledgeable as you can, and be yourself,” Feldman said.
“I recommend students to continue to read a lot, that can be books, nonfiction, podcasts, just start to consume information,” Yuen said.
Whether it’s broadcasting, sports management, or sports photography, there is a place for every kind of passion in the sports industry. The key is to keep an open mindset and to never be afraid to take the first step into a field you are passionate about.
