1. Recreational Sport Management & Careers

2. Management
As we look to describe management, we must first recognize that it is a term that takes on varied interpretations.
Product: The existence of something can be called a product
the core product is the central focus of management interests such as:
seeking to accomplish something
being successful
working for a profit
gaining satisfaction and/or meeting set goals and objectives.
Definition of Management: influencing operational functions and resources to reach a goal.

3. Influence What role does ‘influence’ play in management?
leadership
Modern terms
Influence defined: affecting a person or a course of events or simply to affect an outcome or change.
2 key areas of management:
Administrative Operations
Delivery Operations

4. Administrative Operations
The Authority….Big Kahoona
The ultimate system (executive) that applies functions that influence the desired results or outcome.
Influences product creation through
Information
Theory
documents
Operation Areas (functions):
Planning
Organizing
Directing
Controlling

5. Administration Operations: Functions
Planning: a predetermined and theoretical thinking that is designed to accomplish set goals and objectives.
Organizing: the idea of recognizing or identifying and then designing or structuring all workers/employees duties and responsibilities plus areas/space into a system that should produce positive results.
Directing: the process of guiding and channeling individuals and/or groups to pursue common goals.
Controlling: represents the process within administration of assessing and correcting all resources as they affect product success.

6. Delivery Operations
The idea of working on bringing a product forward to a user or a participant.
Can be described as:
Integration of the resource
Employees, $, facilities and equipment
Administrative functions that create and maintain interests which lead to purchase/use
Operation Areas (functions):
1. Production
2. Support
3. Auxiliaries
4. Maintenance

7. Delivery Operations - Functions
Production: the contact efforts and information, out front activities, daily tasks and responsibilities that are applied that create the product to be experienced by a given audience.
Support: activities that take place behind the scenes or are a backup, and not out front or in contact with the product benefactor.
Auxiliaries: specialized products management may need to consider that are outside the core product and its delivery in bringing the product forward in a production effort.
Maintenance: the idea of keeping facilities and equipment in proper, safe, and functional condition can be described as maintenance or what could be thought of as a support function.

8. Resources Critical Resources in Management
Employees
Money
Facilities
Equipment
Play critical factor in management
Greatest challenge to management is proper use of resources

9. Resources
Employees: Management cannot take place without there being human involvement with the product throughout the total effort.
Money: Nothing about management can create such attentiveness as does money as a resource, whether it is as an income or expense.
Facilities: The greatest physical responsibility in the management effort is the existence of a facility (indoor or outdoor) where the product is produced and delivered.
Equipment: any item, object, or thing (mechanical or otherwise) that enhances operational efforts.

10. Reach
The effort to reach out (or marketing) to increase use of a product incorporates assessing a targeted population as well as creating specific strategy that helps accomplish product availability and success.

11. Goal
No matter what the specific product or how recreational sport is designed, management always wants to accomplish something, move forward and find success, or simply meet predetermined expectations.
Service Goals: the idea of wanting to provide a positive and meaningful experience for users or recipients without the incentive for making money.
Profit: Whether the production is a sale of an item or the use of an environment for an experience for a charge, the end result or the continuance of the organization revolves around generating a level of income that ultimately reflects a profit.

12. Careers
Professionalism: The character of professionalism is important, because it is the feature that distinguishes you in your career.
Professional Basics: recreational sports is a specialization within leisure recreation and/or sport.
Worldly Impact: to people all over the world, recreational sport is a significant field that delivers a very unique and popular product with the basic principles and practices of sports for all with fun and fitness as the incentive.
Knowledge: all professions have what is known as unique, classified, and categorized information that is formally recognized as having been developed for the purpose of academic professional preparation or training.
Control: incorporates various strategies that ultimately assess and correct the activities of the profession.

13. Leadership Systems
Leisure recreation and/or sport have many varied leadership systems that influence what is taking place throughout the world or more specifically the United States.
Association: true professions have formal associations or societies that influence the members. These structures represent a variety of systems depending on the scope and nature of the profession.
Specialty Organizations: professional organizations, usually specialized, focusing on a specific recreation or sport activity. (note fig. 5.2, p. 54)
Trade Groups: trade groups provide up to date, relevant facts and information that can enhance the delivery of recreational sports. (note fig. 5.3, p. 54)

14. Production Choice
Job opportunities within the field of recreational sport can be divided into two broad specialty areas identified as systems having either a program emphasis or a sport emphasis.
Programmer: represents those learned competencies that are found in the different recreational sports delivery and program areas to include instructional sports, informal sports, intramural/extramural sports, club sports, and special events.
Specialist: involves management systems that require specific training in one particular sport activity.

15. Career Paths
There are two general career paths to be considered in looking at employment options:
Public: The idea of recreational sport in a public setting is rather extensive to include local, state, and federal governmental management systems.
Private: Management systems of this nature are designed to sell a sport activity as a product with high emphasis on marketing and accurate accounting of funds.

16. Career Stages
Fundamental to understanding your career options and choices is to realize the different stages or management levels that exist.
Early: Entry level and early career employment usually occurs and lasts between one to six years, primarily with a role that involves specific delivery of sport activity to participants.
Middle: Middle management responsibilities usually occur between five to fifteen years depending on the agency, organizational structure, career options and movement opportunities. In this stage a professional may find themselves in charge of other employees.
Late: Late or upper management represents the executive and administrative effort of leisure recreational services within a particular agency.

17. Application Exercise
You are seeking an entry-level recreational sport specialist position as you begin your career. Conduct a self-assessment to determine your potential for employment noting your background, positive traits, and career path expectations. Also, explain how you see yourself as a professional, identifying what leadership system(s) with which you hope to become associated, and how you hope to make professional contributions to the field of recreational sports.