Rugby Camp

Peter practicing a dive pass

An opportunity arose through my work with the USA 7s group to spread the gospel of rugby to the youth of San Diego. It has become quite clear that one of the best ways of growing a budding sport in the US is through the grassroots level. We have partnered with the YMCA of La Jolla to become a feature in their summer sports camp. This year, numbers were low and, subsequently, very manageable. I worked with Dan Lyle, the USA 7s tournament director, on the week-long curriculum for the group of 7-12 year olds, and I put it to practice all last week.

Aidan with a form tackle

The kids learned the basics of the game, from passing to kicking to tackling, along with some of the intricacies of the sport, including offsides and scrums. The majority of the sessions consisted of drills and practical exercises, followed up by a fun game to put what they just learned to use. It was a lot of fun working with the kids, seeing them progress over the course of the week. By the end of our five days together, they were able to play a game of touch rugby with minimal stops, with some of the kids working some strategy in on their own.

YMCA/USA 7s Rugby Camp '08

They particularly liked when Dan came out for one of the sessions. Having a true legend of the sport run around with them (not to mention someone 5 times their size) was a treat they won't forget for a while. Without being prompted, every one of the kids mentioned how they couldn't wait until they could come back next year. One of my bigger goals enrolling in this program was to help expose rugby on a large scale to the American public. The more I've been immersed in that issue, the more I realize it will take similar efforts like this by many in their local communities all over the country for the sport to really take hold.

Gearing Up for Football Season

SMBA IV had the opportunity to meet and discuss many current issues with NFL Senior Manager of Football Operations and Development, Merton Hanks. The former Pro-Bowler was in town for a few hours Thursday night to meet with the SDSU football team and graciously allowed us to meet with him.

Mr. Hanks discussed his many responsibilities for the NFL ranging from college relations to approving fabrics for NFL jerseys and even working with former Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) to propose a bill to ban Internet gambling.

Some topics discussed with Mr. Hanks included the current stadium issue faced by the Chargers, opportunities in the NFL, the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and the effect the recent loss of Gene Upshaw, the Executive Director of the NFL Players' Association, will have on the organization.

We greatly appreciate Mr. Hanks' valuable time as we know it is a busy time of year!

Sports IV Meets Lacrosse

For a majority of the summer, I have worked with Major League Lacrosse's Los Angeles Riptide. The Riptide play out of the Home Depot Center and have experienced a lot of success this year. The team recently completed its third season by playing their final game at OCC in Orange County.

The game before that last game I was sitting outside of the locker room with head coach John Tucker. When asked if I was ready for the move of the game, I told him I was excited since it was moving to my home town. He said that it would be great if we could get a good crowd for the last game, since the team has worked so hard to get to this point and the guys on the team were 'great guys who deserved the support.' From there I got the idea to try to recruit people to come.

Since the game was an hour closer to San Diego than normal, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try to introduce lacrosse to my classmates (on top of my normal babble about lacrosse during class discussions). The ticket managers for the team felt the same way. They put together a special package for my classmates to come -- not only could SDSU Sports MBA students purchase discounted tickets, but they would also receive a Riptide hat (it was more exciting apparently than we could imagine).

I felt like this was a big challenge for me. The organization now knew that I was trying to get people to come to the game, so it was important that I exceed expectations with the opportunity. Lucky for me, my classmates were supportive and 9 people made the trip to OCC!

The game could not have been any more perfect for a first time spectator. It was the last game of the regular season, we had already secured a spot in the playoffs, and we were playing the San Francisco Dragons -- our coastal rivals. There seems to be some historic rivalry between the two teams that has built over the past three seasons. The game was rough. The penalty flags were flying and men were being checked hard.

Taking a break from my operational duties, I ran to the stands to see how my classmates were doing. It was hard to get in a word because they were terribly busy starting the 'Lets Go Riptide' chants that were being picked up on by the rest of the stands (Although the Nor Cal natives were starting trouble cheering for the Dragons, but hey, whatever gets you into it, right?).  

The Riptide ended up losing that game. It was the first game they had lost to the Dragons ever. However, it might have been a great gain for the Riptide. Not only did they have a successful turnout at OCC (way better than HDC in my opinion), but might have even converted some sports lovers to lacrosse fans!

LA Tennis Trip

Benedikt (Benni) Stronk and I followed our love for tennis by making a trip to Los Angeles to watch the semi-finals of the Countrywide Classic LA ATP Tennis Open. This was our second visit to watch a major ATP tennis tournament this year, having gone to Indian Wells earlier in the year.

We made a pit stop at Irvine so Benni (Mr. GQ of the class) could do some shopping and look his best for the occasion.
Once we got to the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, Sanjay Bhardwaj, who is an ex-SMBA SDSU student, showed us around the tournament site. We had fun hanging with Sanjay and he was reminiscing about the good times he had as an SMBA student.

Benni and I also had our fellow countrymen competing on Saturday. A good friend of mine, Rohan Bopanna (India) played the doubles semi-finals in the afternoon.

Knowing these top professional players has its perks because we were given access to the Player’s Box for Rohan’s match. Benni and I had a great time watching this nerve-racking tennis match and we kept thinking about similar battles during our professional tennis careers. We also could not help but act like experts while sitting on the sideline by giving a live play-by-play to each other on the mistakes made by the players.
After Rohan made it to the finals, we were able to spend some time catching up and having a chat over dinner at the official restaurant on-site. We had some great food, thanks to Rohan.
In the featured evening match, Benni got to see his fellow countryman and former sports Army companion Dennis Gremelmayr (Germany) go up against the crowd favorite, Andy Roddick. Roddick played a near perfect match and cruised to an easy win over the German. Of course, this did not please my temperamental German friend who was constantly fuming during the match.
In the end, we had a great time watching some exhilarating tennis. Watching these matches today definitely made us anxious to get back on the tennis court and try to emulate the guys we saw.
Update: Rohan went on to win his 1st ATP Professional doubles title the following day!

JCC Maccabi Games

After a busy week of marketing final and international business presentations some of us still had the energy to volunteer for the JCC Maccabi Games. The Olympic-style sports competition for Jewish athletes between the ages of twelve and sixteen was held in the San Diego area. Over 1600 athletes turned out to participate in the 14 sports and activities. These Jewish youngsters were competing in different age groups and playing levels, and the winners were given gold, silver, and bronze medals.


Fortunately, I was able to help out the tennis event and even though it got a little hectic at times it was great fun. I saw great tennis, emotions, sometimes-even tears but the sportsmanship these young kids portrayed was just amazing.


Although we were only a small group of the over 1000 volunteers but the effort we put into the event was definitely worth it, and our help was really needed and appreciated.

AVP Crocs Tour

What more can you ask for than working in the San Diego sun surrounded by hundreds of beautiful volleyball players and fans? The great scenery and location were not the only benefits of working at the Crocs AVP Tour this weekend at Mariners Point in San Diego. My fellow classmates and I worked with the Marketing Coordinator for AVP to help promote and run the weekend event. It was interesting to work with her and the Crocs marketing team, since we are currently discussing ways to activate event sponsorships in our integrated sports marketing class. The real world knowledge gained from being at this event helped me write my final paper on sports marketing.
The tournament ran from Friday to Sunday and featured some of the top volleyball stars from around the world, I even had a ten minute conversation with Olympian Holly McPeak. While meeting athletes is great, being part of the event enabled me to meet some of the major players on the business side of the sport. I ended up working with the AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato's daughter-in-law, registering players and organizing transportation. The chance to rub elbows with some of the most important San Diego sports business people in the VIP tents was a welcomed bonus as well (not to mention the free food and drinks).
Of course every event has its problems as there were numerous times of hectic running around the sand looking for a player who was supposed to be giving an interview. Another interesting problem was the California Coastal Commission stopping by and requiring that the stands be lowered by 3 feet because it could impact the hunting of a local bird of prey. You learn that if you want to work on events, you need to be ready for anything. Overall, it was awesome to be a part of the “behind the scenes” work that goes into creating an event like the AVP. From my work at the San Diego event, I was invited back to help with the Manhattan Beach Open next month, so look for the next blog about the sun, sex appeal, and sand of the AVP tour.

Friday = Golf

We have had several speakers talk to us about the importance of being able to not embarrass yourself on the golf course. This might sound ridiculous, but the reality is that people in the sports business tend to play a lot of golf. You never want to find yourself in a situation where the boss/potential client/potential employer wants to go on a foursome and you have to turn it down because you don't play golf. Most of the class has taken this to heart as most are golfing or going to the range whenever the coursework allows. Fortunately, San Diego offers perfect golfing weather the entire year, so there is always a way to find time to get out there and hack-it-up for a few hours.

We have been able to go out regularly on Friday mornings with a foursome of varying participants and have collected a decent set of records from those events:

Lowest Score 79 - David Stark Admiral Baker South Course

Highest Score Not sure.............after 120 strokes things get a little hazy

Longest Putt ~55 feet - JP Wainscott Sea N Air (blind squirrel finds the nut)

Longest Drive 280 - Drew Zinzer Sea N Air

Most Lost Balls (18 Holes) 9 - JP Wainscott Admiral Baker North

Closest to killing another golfer Brendan Wells Sea N Air (validating the life's work of the guy that invented the plexiglass window on the front of golf carts)

2nd Place in killing category JP Wainscott Sea N Air (proved that when our group yells "fore".............we mean it)

Best score on Par 3 using only a putter 6 Brendan Wells Admiral Baker North

Best Tin Cup Moment Scott Roegner Sea N Air Three consecutive shots into the water with Brendan (who if you haven't figured it out yet, isn't the best golfer in the world) giving Scott advice on how to improve his swing. Priceless.


Unofficial Rankings

1. David Stark
2. Scott Roegner
3. Tyler Ortiz
4. David Lloyd
5. Anthony Zazo
6. Drew Zinzer
7. JP Wainscott
8. Brendan Wells

Marketing Final

We just concluded a class in advertising from an Integrated Marketing Communications perspective. The class, taught by Dr. George Belch, was one of the most enjoyed classes based on class participation. We learned alot about advertising in various mediums: print, TV, internet, mobile communication, etc. We also learned about consumer behavior and the importance of building a solid brand through various media outlets. The final was a three-hour written exam (computers were allowed, thanks Dr. Belch) and we analyzed four different case studies. The questions were much more detailed and focused on specific concepts taught in the course, but here is a paraphrased version:

1. How should Under Armour go about marketing/branding a new line of basketball or running shoes? This is something they are considering, but not on the market yet.

2. There is a shoe company from Italy called Goex shoes. They plan to introduce a new running shoe in the US. Their shoe has thousands of tiny holes in the sole that allows air into the shoe without letting water in. This keeps feet dry and cool while running. Develop a marketing plan for Goex entering the US market with this new technology.

3. Starter wants to endorse Tony Romo. What are the pros and cons for each (Starter and Romo) for this proposed sponsorship? Do you think Starter should pursue this? So you think Romo should agree to a sponsorship from Starter as opposed to Under Armour, Nike, Reebok, etc.

4. An analysis of the US Olympic Team's marketing campaign around the upcoming Olympics.


It was a difficult but fair exam and we had to use knowledge taught from all modules of the course. Fortunately, Dr. Belch is going to be involved in future classes.

After the test was complete, a group of us relaxed on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay by making a bonfire on the beachfront and enjoying a few beverages.