For many student-athletes pursuing scholarships in the United States, the ultimate goal is a professional sports career. However, with only a select few reaching the elite level, a career within the sports industry offers a compelling alternative. From coaching and managing major events to brokering sponsorship deals and working in sports media, the possibilities are vast.
Choosing to study sports management at university can be the perfect first step on this journey. But breaking into this competitive field requires dedication and the right opportunities. LaGrange College, a small but dynamic academic institution in Atlanta, is making significant strides in preparing its students for success in the sports industry.
In our recent webinar, FirstPoint USA spoke with Dr. John Head – Vice President for Enrollment and Student Experience at LaGrange College – to explore the exciting initiatives and opportunities available to their sports management students.
Above: LaGrange students working at the 2025 NCAA Basketball Tournament
“We have 160 different corporations connected to us and that provides great opportunities for our students when it comes to internships and jobs after college. We are a tight knit campus, you’re going to know everybody and its place where you’re going to be known by name, and you’ll have a really great experience here.”
There are just under 1,000 students on campus at LaGrange and Dr. Head points out that while many prospective students will be attracted by some of the much larger, higher profile universities, attending a smaller institution brings many advantages.
“I would say that’s the opposite. Let’s just say you had 35,000 students at a university, well you’re competing against 35,000 students for opportunities. Here at LaGrange, you don’t have that and at 800 to 900 students, your chances of being involved are a lot better.
In taking on the Sports Management degree, LaGrange focus on balancing classroom work with experiential learning and what sets them apart is getting students out and working as soon as they arrive on campus.
“We really want our students to gain experiences of working in sports management and we really help them secure those internships and placements that can make a difference. We have a dedicated careers office that helps them find internships and work opportunities and helps them build their resume, in addition to the core subjects they will take in class, such as accounting, finance, marketing and economics.”
LaGrange prides itself on the incredible opportunities in the field of sports management that have been created for its students, and in the past 12 months alone, students have worked at the NCAA National Championship basketball tournament, NBA side Atlanta Hawks, MLS club Atlanta United, the MLB’s Atlanta Braves, the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship and a NASCAR event. Arguably, the icing on the cake was a group of students being given the chance to work at the Super Bowl LIX event in New Orleans for a full week.
Above left: A visit to Twickenham, home of England Rugby; Right: The LaGrange College team at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans
“One of our students has been offered a graduate assistantship at the University of Alabama’s women’s basketball program, because of the things he’s been able to do on the sports management course. And a group of our students were given the chance to present at a national conference and were up against some of the biggest universities in the country, yet despite being one of the smallest universities in attendance, the group from LaGrange made it into the top ten because of the research project they’d done.”
And it’s not just experiences in the States that are on offer. The Sports Management degree students visited Premier League clubs in England, The Open Championship in St Andrews, Scotland and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
The experiences have most certainly paid off and recently, LaGrange sophomore student Wyatt Moore was offered a job immediately after delivering a presentation at a sports faculty.
“He was told it was the best presentation they’d ever seen by a college student! Although he was still a sophomore, they said they would keep a job open for him until he graduates. For us, it’s all about building that resume to prepare them for life beyond college and get practical real-world experiences, along with the academic work they are doing.”
Another benefit of the small, close-knit environment at LaGrange is their personalised approach to each student, giving them the ability to tailor opportunities to individual needs. In the case of the student who landed the assistant basketball coach role at Alabama, the faculty talked to him initially to find out where his interest lay.
“He wanted to become a basketball coach, so we helped train him and then he got the opportunity to work with our own basketball team at LaGrange, followed by our head coach reaching out to other coaches to give him the chance to work at various summer camps. Career opportunities have also arisen with companies involved in the business side of the sports industry, with one student landing a role with an agency selling sponsorship for the Atlanta Braves.”
In their final year, further emphasis is placed on readying graduates for the interview process and the faculty harnesses their industry connections to help with mock interviews and giving feedback on their answers and presentations.
That preparatory work has certainly paid off, and LaGrange boasts a highly impressive graduate success rate of 89% when it comes to getting a job or a place on a graduate program, before they’d even walked across the stage of their graduation ceremony.
“We’ve had that percentage consistently for the past five years, and I believe its down to preparing them for the transition into working life as soon as they set foot on campus. Everyone who gets a job offer gets to ring the bell in our chapel and invite their friends and family so that they have a nice celebration to go with it.”
The Sports Management degree at LaGrange College offers aspiring sports professionals a highly desirable blend of academic knowledge combined with invaluable real-world experience. The program's emphasis on practical application, networking opportunities, and career support equips graduates with a distinct advantage in a competitive job market.
Watch a clip of our interview hosted by FirstPoint USA's Laura Lewis with Dr John Head below, and you can tune into the full webinar by clicking here.
If you're a student-athlete with a passion for sports and a desire to forge a successful career off the field, register with FirstPoint USA to discover how you can apply to the Sports Management program at LaGrange College and take the first step towards your dream career in the dynamic world of sports.
