Student-athletes from Gateway Regional High recently visited Fenway Park. (Submitted photo)
“The students asked very insightful questions,” noted Bonenfant. “They got a great overall experience about work in a big franchise and in a city, which included riding the T and eating out in Boston.”
In addition to touring Fenway and standing on the Green Monster, students were able to speak with some of the key personnel in Fenway operations. Jarred Banner, Assistant Director of Player Personnel, described the work involved in advance scouting (watching an upcoming team on the Sox schedule) and international scouting (traveling to Japan, Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic to look at potential players) for the club.
Students also spoke to staff in the media relations and community affairs departments.
“I found the charity work they do interesting,” said Fairman, a Gateway senior who will major in Sports Management and minor in Business and Coaching at Springfield College next year. While Fairman is the only female in this year’s sports management class at Gateway, Bonenfant reported that about half of all college students in this major are women.
“With the rise of women’s professional sports and the growth of the sports management industry, you are seeing many more roles filled by women today,” Bonenfant said.
“It was interesting that few of the people we spoke with wore wedding rings,” said Yost. “Some of them even admitted that it is sometimes hard to watch a game when you work full time in the field.”
The long workdays and travel schedules for some jobs can make family life difficult.
Bonenfant said the new course came about because Gateway was looking for ways to increase course offerings, using existing staff. Bonenfant, a physical education teacher, majored in sports management in college.
“Overall, I think these guys had an eye-opening experience,” he said. “Sports isn’t just what you see on the field. There’s a lot to the business aspect.”
