Thanks to a reader who pointed out that Baseball Prospectus Radio had Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, President and Founder of Sports Management Worldwide on its radio show this past week.
Before getting into the actual dialogue of the conversation, let’s look a little into Dr. Lashbrook’s company.
Sports Management Worldwide offers online courses which train individuals for a sports related job (mostly known for its Sports Agent preparation program). By clicking here, you may view the topics covered in the Sports Agent course (topics that we aim to discuss on this blog for free). I am neither for, nor against the program offered by Sports Management Worldwide, though, as I have never had the opportunity to enroll in one of the courses that the company provides.
Here are some interesting segments from the Baseball Prospectus Radio show:
Dr. Lashbrook is getting ready for his Annual Agents Conference, which will occur in Indianapolis shortly. Its backdrop is the NFL Combine. Is not open to the public, but you can register for the event at www.sportsmanagementworldwide.com. Dr. Lashbrook’s website teaches people how to be Agents and courses are offered for college credit. The concept of offering such classes is only 3 years old.
Currently, Dr. Lynn Lashbrook’s company mostly represents NFL Europe and Minor League Baseball players.
It seems that Dr. Lashbrook lives by the quote, “You have to have a ticket to the game to catch a foul ball.” He believes that his company gives aspiring agents the opportunity for success, but will not gaurantee any clients. The courses are designed to start the process Lasbrook said, “We don’t think Universities necessarily are offering the most relevent course to break into the business.”
Some past students have become associate scouts, gotten into upper management, started their own agencies, etc. Graduates call up Sports Management Worldwide to inquire about current students for possible openings.
Personally, I am not very convinced that online courses are necessary for aspiring Agents. There is a lot of information that is available for FREE that future Agents should be reading up on (such as Collective Bargaining Agreements, the UAAA, etc….which are all discussed on this website). Going to Law School will also give you enough knowledge to successfully negotiate and draw up contracts.
If anyone has ever taken one of these classes, I would be happy to hear your input.
[tags]agents, law school, uaaa, cba, baseball, baseball prospectus, sports management worldwide[/tags]
70 replies on “Company Review: Sports Management Worldwide”
i want to be a carrer in sports managment so how can i get benifit from u rite now i live in india so how can i do this programme in india and after what is the future of this courses how much i can earn by this courses reply me plz earlier.. thankssss
The SMWW Hockey and General Manager and Scouting Course has some solid content, and material but the course itself lacks direction. Each week students will do the assigned reading, write a summary, and then take a 10 question quiz. This is all well and good if you were getting graded and or critiqued by the instructors but this is not the case.
They have a peer editing system where your classmates give you feedback on your work which is not what you should be there for as you are paying to learn from the so called experts from I.S.S. which is a scouting service that puts out lists, and rankings on all draft eligible players along with other junior leagues in North America. Once a week you have an online chat with your classmates and typically an I.S.S Scout which is a good format however the problem is the audio equitment you use is schotty and no one in the chat is ever seems to be at the same point in the curriculum as anyone is free to join the cahats even those who may have taken the class 3 years ago.
At the conclusion of the class you submit a scouting report on an actual game that you wathch on disc and a 6 page paper on the ins and outs of a hockey organization from both the business side, and hockey operations which is a great learning tool. But again you recieve no feedback from the instructors just your peers in the class which in some cases are people who might not have the insight that you have. With all due respect I m not paying to get advice from Bob in Manitoba who coaches squirt hockey, or Mike from Kalamazoo who once played JV Hockey its a joke.
The bottom line is if you are looking for a career in hockey then volunteer for a local Junior A team and do a little bit of everything from scouting to selling tickets. This will give you a firsthand insight into how an organization works as it will be no different at the ECHL, or AHL level it will just be on a higher scale. SMWW will not help you find a job at all as they offer you the opportunity to network through the online chats, and there career conference. Bottomline the content is good but do not take this course with the hopes that you are going to get a job working in hockey as that couldn’t be further from what actually happens.
Sports Mangagement Worldwdie is a total scam. I took two courses. I took the baseball gm and athlete management course.
First off, the books you can get at your local book store. Nothing special. Also, they didnt have some of the books, so I had to wait a week and a half to receive them.
second, the baseball course was a joke. didn’t help me work myself into baseball. they told me this smww scout website would help me get my name out there and nothing happened. Site is undeveloped too.
third, course work is a joke. Like the responder above, the instructors do not know what is going on in the course. there is no structure. students grade each other. instructors don’t look at your weekly work. WTF is that?
forth, live chats. It is always good to talk to the instructors, but it is just a bunch of rambling. You just talk. no structure. Like the athlete management course, dr. lashbrook didn’t know what in his own course and didnt even answer some of the student’s questions, even mine. Just avoided it. He is very annoying and will try to talk over you.
The athlete management course is a joke. They tell you after your finished you will be an “agent advisor” or dr. lasbhrook likes to say an agent. But in reality, agent advisors are not agents. They are managers. One of my friends, who is a current agent advisor, said to that the NFL called him and asked for his players agent and the team told him he wasnt his agent, Dr. Lashbrook was. Dr. lashbrook says your the agent, but in reality the sports world recognizes agents only if you are certified with that league.
Also, Dr. Lashbrook does not do any work for the athletes. I needed help about one of my former clients and he sent me off to someone else. He is not really an agent, just a big talker and money stealer!
And my dad, who played professionally in the NFL, told me that the agent world and NFL thinks of this program and dr. lashbrook is a joke. No one respects him. He is degrading the agent world. Not everyone should be an agent.
He is a washed up wanna be agent, who had his 15 mins of fame with Jim Steiner and got booted out of that company cause he wasn’t capable of dealing with the business motto at the time. He also gives this lame story about watching Jerry Maguire movie, “soob soob soob” and how athletes want more attention. No athletes do not want more attention, they want an agent that will do the work, not some agent advisor who took a 8 week class and doesn’t know sh*t about the biz.
The only positive is that I got college credit for taking a easy high school type course. If you want college credit and wanna easy A, take this course. That is all you’ll get out of it.
You took two of these courses before your Dad finally gave you his “insider’s insight” that the NFL and the agent industry thinks the program and Dr. Lashbrook are jokes??? Geez, it must be tense around the dinner table at Christmas at your house!
I hear you FUSMWW and I agree with most of what you are saying. I’ve taken two of their courses in the past and I didn’t find them to be very helpful at all. In addition to taking 2 of their courses I’ve also worked in their Portland office part time in the mid 2000’s to understand how their business operates and get the scoop on how helpful their courses really are.
I’m sure that the most of you that are reading this blog are in someway considering one (or more) of their courses and are looking for some assistance before forking over 1500 dollars to this company that supposedly will “help you get a job in sports”. I know what that feels like b/c I remember how I felt sitting in front of my computer checking out their website trying to figure out if it was a scam or not. After all the website does seem convincing that this is your golden ticket to work in sports but b/c it’s so dense with so much written material it can feel overwhelming and necessarily give you a comforting feeling while browsing through it for the first time.
Needless to say I can honestly tell you that SMWW is NOT a scam. They are good people and genuinely want to help people get a job in sports. HOWEVER, you should also know that it is also NOT a job placement agency. By the time the course is finished there is absolutely no guarantee that you will be working for your favorite team or even presented with the opportunity to interview for a position with that team. What they do provide (in some of the courses offered) is a better understanding of the specific sports or career paths you want to learn about and hopeful pursue someday. Sometimes if you talk to a sales rep from the company or Dr. Lashbrook himself it’s very easy to get caught up in that idea of job entitlement after forking over 1500 dollars to a company that says they can help you with your career.
The other thing that I believe people should be aware of before signing up for a course is the structure and format of these online courses. For those of you that do not know, every class that you enroll in meets 1-2 times a week (online) and features a one hour discussion with the presenter of the chat as well as other classmates. Typically the host mutes everyone in the chat and allows only one person at a time to ask him/her a question while the rest of the group can only listen. The two most challenging parts to this are that often times people who go before you have stupid or irrelevant questions that do nothing more than waste time. Secondly if your towards the bottom of the chat roster (it goes in alphabetical order) you could be waiting up to 50 minutes into the one hour chat just to ask a question.
The other glaring problem with their chats is that the instructors or hosts don’t know what material the class is covering for the majority of the 8 weeks during the course. For example, many times I would go into a chat and ask the host about the assignment for the week only to find out they had no idea what curriculum was being covered or what textbooks we were supposed to be reading. I also found that the instructors weren’t even looking at the work I did for the week’s assignments and I was being graded by classmates that sometimes knew less about the material than I did.
In my opinion, I would not take a SMWW class again nor would I recommend it to anyone else. Alot of the information that they “try” to teach you can be acquired by yourself if you put in the time. If you want to learn about the business behind a particular sport, do it yourself. I wouldn’t solely rely on someone else’s network (SMWW) to help you land a gig with a pro sports team. Read books on the subject matter, like biographies of players and coaches or the history of the game, dig up any interesting relevant information online (it’s all there but most people just get lazy and don’t want to put in the effort), and lastly, try setting up informational interviews with anyone in your specific field that you feel you could learn from. Ask them about their life story and what they think about specific topics related to their field matter. Think about it. These people spend 40-50, sometimes 60 hours a week doing their given job at the office. Who would be a better resource to learn from than these people? Just think about it. If you were a top level executive for your favorite franchise or organization how would you respond if you got a nice email from someone (who deemed you a success in your industry) who wanted to hear your life story? No gimmicks, no sales pitch, no “Help me get a job b/c I want to work for your team”. Just someone wanting to learn how you made yourself into such a success story. Wouldn’t you be dying to meet with this person? One last thing I’ve noticed about the nature of the business is that generally when people find success (in any area of life) they can’t help but want to share it with other people. Why do you think some many people have written books? For money? yes. But it also gives people internal fulfillment when they know they helped someone out. Same exact thing is true for these executives working in sports.
In closing, I can see where some people would get alot out of these classes and enjoy them but I personally would not recommend SMWW to anyone I know trying to get involved in sports. Do your homework, create your own network of contacts and learn as much as you can about the industry, the career paths and the trends before committing to working in sports.
I agree with everything, you said. You are right it isnt a job placement agency, but the instructors dont even know what week your on. And when puttin SMWW on your resume it does not give you any advantage over other candidates. Hiring Managers dont look at SMWW like it holds any weight.
You do learn if you read the books and all but like you said you can learn the same things by just doing the research on your own, and talking to people who are already in the idustry.
I would not ever take another SMWW class and will not reccommend it to anyone else.
Also people feel it is a scam because Dr. Lashbrook is a scam because he says he will help you in his initial call when he tries to get you to take one of the classes. Yes people need to be proactive and help them selves with finding a job but Dr. Lashbrook shouldnt say he will help if he isnt really willing to.
I agree with everything, you said. You are right it isnt a job placement agency, but the instructors dont even know what week your on. And when puttin SMWW on your resume it does not give you any advantage over other candidates. Hiring Managers dont look at SMWW like it holds any weight.
You do learn if you read the books and all but like you said you can learn the same things by just doing the research on your own, and talking to people who are already in the idustry.
I would not ever take another SMWW class and will not reccommend it to anyone else.
Also people feel it is a scam because Dr. Lashbrook is a scam because he says he will help you in his initial call when he tries to get you to take one of the classes. Yes people need to be proactive and help them selves with finding a job but Dr. Lashbrook shouldnt say he will help if he isnt really willing to.
I appreciate the information you provided but want to know a little more. The only reason I would take a class from SMWW is to help with networking and meeting people in the sports industry. You said that you can send letters and contact successful people to hear their stories, but does SMWW open up some of these doors for you? Obviously you still have to put out the effort to contact people, but do you have that option? Will Dr. Lashbrook and the staff help connect you to people in the business if you ask?
No Dr. Lashbrook will not set up a way for you to connect to other sports industry people, he will pass the job off to ur instructors then they will tell you to network your self
To answer your question no. Like Maunman posted below, the company will say that they will “connect” you to professionals but in reality they don’t. You might get on the phone with someone from the company and they’ll tell you all these things you want to hear in an attempt to lure you into buying a course but at the end of the day they will not help you with networking or get your foot in the door.
For example, when I enrolled in their courses (unaware of what to expect) they told me they would connect me with professionals in the field and would do everything in their power to help me succeed in my career. It was all just a load of crap. As soon as I enrolled and the payment went through no one ever followed up with me to offer me leads in getting contacts much less see if I was even passing the course. If they don’t bother monitoring your educational progress through the course what makes you think they’ll connect you with the industry?
The “professionals” that they will “try” and connect you with will most likely be in ticket sales. They’ll sign you up for a course such as Digital Video Editing for the sake of the example. At the beginning they’ll tell you all about the course, the assignments and when the projects are due. But little by little they’ll mention over and over again how tough the market is for that career and that “there are just no opportunities available”. You’ll then find out that even that dream position you wanted requires several more years of experience, education and oh by the way you’ll need to be networking your butt off just to get a whiff of an opening somewhere. But alas, a career in sports is not forsaken just yet. There are plenty of opportunities working in ticket sales, which they happen to have as an additional course for only 1500 dollars! The only problem with ticket sales is that you will be working far more hours than you would like, will be paid WAY less than hoped for and will be practically pigeonholed in sales for years to come.
The only time they’ll ever paid attention to you or even mention contacts around you is if they know you have something that they want. I’ll give you another example. When I stopped working there I took up another position with a pro team across the country doing marketing work. As soon as word got around that I would be working for this franchise Dr. Lashbrook practically jumped on me and told me he wanted me to get him in touch with the general manager and owner of the team so he could promote himself and his business. I mean c’mon, there’s no way that’s going to happen.
So to answer your question Plo8486, no they don’t connect you with professionals, or at least the professionals you want to meet. It’s just another one of their tactics to lure you
The proposals we see here are very interesting.
Anyone would love to have a scout or manager certificate, still I don’t know to which degree will the course help me. I live in Romania, here you have to live among the “big people” to have any kind of entrance into the soccer world.
There is also the online payment issue, which over here doesn’t really work, people are scared of internet scams and I’m still questioning the fact that the diploma, or certificate that I get will somehow help me.
And I forgot to mention that 1000 euro for online courses over here are qi\uite a lot of money.
Hi Darren,
I just came across this blog post from 2007 regarding SMWW. Did you ever find out any more info, specifically whether it’s legit? I have a family member who is interested in taking the 8 week course, and am concerned about whether it will really help with breaking into the sports mangaement industry.
Thanks!
Since writing the post, I have spoken with Dr. Lynn Lashbrook and his wife and believe that they are quality individuals. That being said, I cannot give their class a positive or negative assessment without experiencing it first-hand.
Hi
I intend starting up a sports management company especially concerned with cricket in India. Can someone throw light on the process, activities and services which a firm could undertake.
Regards
Sathish
Hi sathish, i read your post in this webpage. I am vivek and I live in New Delhi. Even I am looking forward to step into this career. If u had got any information, please share with me. My no is 9818180362
Spoke to ASSbrook I meant Lashbrook on the phone. What a jack ass. PEOPLE, he wants $1450 for you to take a course. SCAM! He is out to take your money. Most of his clients are second tier athletes that are worthless and disposable.
SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
Rudest person I ever spoke to. Classic white privileged cracker that does well in life and kicks people down. He only cares about black kids that will make him money.
You want to be a sports agent. Talk to one in your area.
Sorry I’m late on this blog post, but have you taken any college courses yet? I have a college degree that cost me 50k. Broken down, that’s about the same price as each of the SMWW classes. Upon graduation from a well known Florida university I was NOT guaranteed a job, and in fact, 11 years later, am barely involved in the field of the program I studied.
A good education is not cheap, and you are NOT guaranteed a job once you’re done.
Comment Hello Darren my name is Al Thomas and I am an agent advisor with SMWW and I can verify that it is legit. Dr Lynn and Mrs Lashbrook are quality people that not only care about black kids but about all people. It is really said that Josh feels the way that he does and I will pray for him and hope the best for him. As for me I have been truly blessed and if Akeem Jordan the starting will linebacker on the Philly Eagles is a worthless and disposable second tier athlete as Josh would say we represent , then Amen Brother I will take him all day long B Blessed
Our son took an online course with SMWW and received full university credit for it. My husband and I sat with him many times during the 8 weeks and enjoyed what he was learning. This has only added to his double degree in a positive way.
To Elaine,
I am writing to you to ask whether or not the SMWW course is a postive qualification has your son moved on into the world of sports because of his qualification and did he meet individuals on the course that were able to land him a job?
Sincerely,
Callum Mckeever
This was 2 years ago you still have not taken it?
I would likw to echo Al Thomas as it relates to Lynn & Liz Lashbrook. I completed their Athlete Managment course 3+ years ago and have found success each year in the draft since. I represent a QB for the Carolina Panthers, a LB on the Bengals practice squad last year, a QB in AFL2 at the Boise Burn and am currently working with Shane Morales a WR out of Oregon State. Lynn Lashbrook has been instumental in guiding me and hundreds of other people like myself who have taken the personal responsibility to build a successful base of athletes that have a desire to play at the next level. Seems to me that Josh is looking for someone to do the work for him and would not be a good fit for this program with this type of attitude.
I would echo the sentiments of Joe A and Al. I am an Attorney and have had a successful Law practice for 23 plus years. I took the SMWW agency course 3 or 4 years ago and have gotten to know Dr. Lashbrook and his wife well over the years. Josh you may need to consult with your attorney about publishing statements that are not factually accurate that which could result in damages to the person or company about whom they are made. Your allegations of this being a Scam are patently untrue.
SMWW courses are not only taught by persons within the sports industry that are qualified and experienced but many of the courses are accredited. Further Dr. Lashbrook and SMWW ( including my self as the Directory of baseball for SMWW) teach and preach the highest standard of ethics within the field. Dr. Lashbrook and others at SMWW don’t consider any human being to be “second tier, worthless or disposable”. If you knew anything about the agency business you would realize that it takes much more time and dedication to deal with people/athletes, that are not on everyone’s radar, considered to be the top of the heap or the most sought after. Those that you refer to as worthless we and Dr. Lashbrook see as people in need of guidance and advise. Dr. Lashbrook and his agents try to help those people even though there is little or no money to be made doing it.
Breaking into the agent business is hard work and there is no better education or company for this than SMWW. By the way I don’t know if you have checked on the cost of education lately but these classes are not overpriced.
If you believe strongly that Dr. Lashbrook’s philosophy or system is not the right path for you then certainly you are entitled to your opinion, however you are not entitled to publish untrue and libelous statements. You should print a retraction and an apology. SMWW offers quality courses and is a legitimate company, above board, ethical, experienced and effective.
Thanks for the influx of many “pro” responses on SMWW over the past couple of days. Dr. Lashbrook actually reached out to me about trying out his service myself so that we can do a review on this site. I get emails constantly from people asking whether or not they should take the course. Until I see what it provides, myself, I say that I hear mixed reviews.
follow @Darren_Heitner on twitter
JOE B. should i take the course that DR. Lashbrook offer????
So mr Heitner, are you taking the coarse now? I’m graduating from college in december and really want to be a scout. but im afraid this might be a scam. can u please send me feedback.
Still haven’t taken it. It definitely isn’t a scam, but I cannot give any personal critiques about the program.
SO. The sports management world wide is not a scam. Because I really want to take it so it can help me become a sports agent. Have you or any one you know taken it. AND are you by any chance a sports agent.
Any updates? I found a link to this blog/site on google after extensive searching for opinions from people who can give pros and cons. So many of the postings and opinions I see look like packaged responses. I’m interested in their GM/Management classes, I already have a masters degree and have spent 12 years consulting in a different, currently employed but looking for a change. Not willing to fork our the money for something that is just fluff.
I’m also very interested in finding out more about this course. I’m extremely interested in breaking into the baseball world and was hoping that this program would add to my resume. Since I live in Eastern Canada, the opportunities for “latching” onto a scout are virtually non-existent. Not really sure where to go from here…
Ya same. I have searched a ton of searches to find this. I have heard people who have taken these courses but no indepth reviews. What I have heard though is that this is not a scam and that it is very helpful and you learn a lot from it. With that said, I have heard that although it makes you very resouceful, the certificate they give you is not that valued. This is not a VERY well known site so a certificate will help you but it isn’t a huge thing. If you are taking this for the certificate I advise against it. If you are wanting to learn more and have a profession in this by blowing people away with knowledge take it. I want to take it but I want a indepth review of someone who has taken the course. I am looking at GM/Scouting courses.
Hi im am currently looking into this online course and was wondering since i am still only 19 and currently working on a sports managment degree. Should I wait to finish up college and get more expierience before taking the course? please email me at [email protected]
sorry my email is NOT [email protected] it is [email protected].. thankyou
I am currently exploring the option of taking the sport marketing team at our university to a conference hosted by SMWW. As a graduate student and our sport management programs graduate assistant, I am naturally skeptical of taking ten of our top students across the country for an event that has the “potential” to be a worthwhile event. The names and associations are awesome but we already work directly with several professional sport organizations gaining hands on field experience and networking in that method. I do not want to use money that we typically allocate for scholarship purposes to an event that is focused on the bottom line. Does anyone have unbiased feedback regarding conferences hosted by SMWW? I would greatly appreciate the feedback.
I have taken 2 courses through SMWW and have attended one of their seminars at the MLB Winter Meetings. The courses are without a doubt one of the best things I have done to pursue a career in baseball. They are professionally run and offer great insight and knowledge from some of the best minds in the sport industry. I currently intern with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and I know having SMWW on my resume helped me get the job. I would not hesitate recommending anyone to take these courses or attending their seminars.
I am a professor of sports management at Lynn University in south Florida. Our unique program focuses on practical application of learning in the sports industries.
I have attended a number of the SMWW conferences, have spoken at a few and worked in partnership with SMWW to put on the Baseball Career Conference in December. I can tell you, without hesitation, that the SMWW conferences are quality educational experiences — as good as any continuing education seminar you will ever attend.
I also can attest to the fact that the SMWW online courses are of the highest quality. Many of our students have taken SMWW courses and moved the university credits to their Lynn U degree plans. The courses are of high academic rigor and quality.
Dear Professor Curtis,
I just heard about SMWW 5 minutes ago, it seems exciting, but I saw one of the videos posted by the online college, and for soccer they misspelled UEFA “EUFA” for fields in soccer. That left a weird impression on me, because what if I wanted to study the market for soccer? Are they qualified? Because, so far, I have only heard about American football players and coaches being signed but nothing else. To me, that doesn’t show me that they can offer me an opportunity to meet and make relationships with people in soccer. Best of wishes.
Thank You,
Best Regards,
Abdullah Al-Shalan
I just enrolled for the Athletes managment course today, so if anyone wants feeback I’ll let you all know. This is a big career change, I am qualified solicitor(lawyer) in the UK and I want to get into sports management industry. But it is a closed shop in this country. I think that this course will work for me. You have to take a risk every now and again.
Im trying to figure out is this is a scam or not? i would like to start with SMWW but im a little nervous. How did your experience go?
Hi Tony
I have read about half of these posts and I have spoken w a rep within SMWW and I am quite confused bc some posts dictate a great, positive experience and then others seem very emotionally driven and negative towards the SMWW course. I really want to just have some structure and guidance as I am comtemplating law school though I want to make real industry contacts which you cannot obtain just from studying law….so big question…what are your recent experiences with SWMM?Thanks Royal D
i am thinking of doing a scouting course and was wondering what the job prospects are and how valid the qualification is
I have filled out an application for the program but haven’t decided on whether i want to spend the money on something I am not sure is a scam or not. But like another poster said sometimes you have to take risks…$1400 is a lot of money but will I benefit in the long run? My question is do I need to have some college courses that are sports management related to have a better chance at getting a job in the industry once these online courses are completed? If so, then I need to know because as of now I only have psychology courses on my transcripts. Im am a basketball junkie and need a career change. I want to do something that I love doing…going to a cubicle everyday to do mindless work is not what I want to do for the rest of my career. I am willing to take the risk but need more info about how the program positions you to be qualified for jobs in video editting and scouting…those are the two courses I am interested in taking. Good luck to everyone who are looking for feedback on this course.
I am a professor in Sport Management and came across this site doing some research. Here is my .02.
Sports agency is perhaps the single toughest industry to break into. You really need to know someone already in it. I have not taken any courses offered by SMWW but have seen them promote at conferences. While I hesitate to call it a scam, as this implies some sort of fraud, I do take exception with the way it is marketed. I believe it to be misleading.
When I hear Mel Kiper come onto ESPN radio and claim that SMWW can make you into a sport agent in 6 weeks or have you “working in the front office” of a pro team, I feel it is a disservice to people who really want those types of careers. Like I said, I have no experience with the classes or program, but as long as I hear stuff like that, I cannot take this seriously and cannot recommend it to anyone.
I just got off the phone with SMWW, and seems quite real. The employee suggested I also took college courses in sports management, and basically said that to get into the business you need more than just the SMWW course. I think the best thing you can do as a wanna-be-hockey man or woman is to complete a Sports Management program and get a degree, and add this course as a seasoning to your resume.
And Mike, I do believe that it is just a marketing swing to say that, and I do not believe that SMWW themselves are saying that, but rather Mel Kiper saying that.
Anyways I have a family friend who is currently a scout in the NHL, and I am just communicating with him to see if he suggests I take this course. I will keep you posted.
Hey Xavier,
Im currently looking into taking some courses to try to get into the hockey scouting business. I played hockey my whole life but didnt make it as a player due to injuries. Im looking to stay in the hockey world any way i can. I would be interested in any information you get from your friend in the business. email me at [email protected]
Thank You
I have recently filled out the SMWW forms and talked to a representative. My question to any and all of you that have commented on this is, is it worth it? I am graduating in may with a bachelor degree in sport management, will these courses better prepare me for and get me a job in soccer operations for a sports team? 1400 is alot of money and I just want to make sure its a sound investment for my future. I want to learn from the professionals in SMWW and develop contacts to help me get a career I enjoy, rather shell out the money and not hear from them after I complete the courses.
Can anyone recommend the Soocer Agent course at SMWW mainly led by John Print?
Hi Diego,
I completed the soccer agent course at the end of 2009. I found the course to be interesting and informative and John Print to be an excellent coach and facilitator. What the course has done for me is give me the start that I was looking for and the basic knowledge needed in order to take the next step in becoming licensed, in my case with the English Football Association.
That said this course alone does not make a successful football agent and to be fair to SMWW they never told me that it would. I would recommend the course but only to individuals who are prepared for the reality of attempting to make a good living out of being an agent, this reality being that unless you are extremely fortunate it will likely take years not months to become established. That being said it is fantastic to be involved in working within sport and telling people you are a sports agent definitely gets their attention.
I wish you the best of luck.
I graduated from an SMWW Football Agents Course in December 2008 and have never looked back to be honest. Although not a registered FIFA agent (which was not necessarily my intention anyway), I am affiliated and work with a UK based sports management company as a football advisor and absolutely love it. The SMWW course gave me the confidence to break into a career that I have always wanted to be involved in and has allowed me to gain many contacts already within British football. I can highly recommend the course as a substantial step forward into what is an extremely competitive and challenging business. The contacts you make are invaluable and if you love networking (essential in this game!), you will do well.
My suggestion…DO IT AND DONT LOOK BACK!
Is there anywhere i can get into contact with you because i’ve been having reservations about it if its a scam etc and wanted to discuss the process of it all
I had taken a class with SMWW about 5-6 years back and had a middling experience. The course itself was aimed towards a hopeful career in the NHL general management and/or scouting fields.
I spoke to Dr. Lashbrook directly via phone and he was a great guy. I’m in sales so I’ve heard all the cons and half-truths this world has to offer, and Dr. Lashbrook is certainly not that type of person. He is very genuine.
I believe at the time the course was somewhere in the $600-800 range. It was very similar to an online college course where we had small but manageable assignments and a couple of books to read. We also had biweekly internet chats amongst class members and a “guest”, which was also good. A pro scout as well as EJ Hradek (a very well-known writer in NHL circles) were amongst those that chatted with us.
This is definitely not a scam in any way shape or form, although I do question the validity and effectiveness of it. A big complaint for me was that it seemed like we didn’t cover a lot of things that should have been main points of the course. Never once did we discuss how to evaluate players and their skills (the main reason why I wanted to do this). We were all given a copy of the NHL’s newest collective bargaining agreement but that part of the course essentially boiled down to reading it and taking a 10 or 20 question quiz. Our chats with NHL movers and shakers basically had no direction and pretty much ended up with most people asking questions about current NHL goings on (will Team X make the playoffs?, etc.).
That’s essentially my main gripe: The class lacked direction. A course titled “NHL GM and Scouting course” should deal with hard numbers and a rigorous examination of the league’s CBA as well as a direct communication of how real scouts evaluate players. I got none of that from said course, and the last straw that left me disappointed was that we never even got formal grades that we were promised. I know this for a fact because while I was wondering where my grade was other students were asking where they were too (we all had each other’s e-mail addresses). We never received them to my knowledge. When the class ended we were never given, again, direction as to what the next step was. Okay so we took a class. Now what? Even if the answer was to spend more money with SMWW that would have been better than nothing and I could have made that choice in an informed manner one way or the other.
I see that some people that have taken the classes have enjoyed success in the sports industry and I’m pleased to hear it. Unfortunately my experience with SMWW wasn’t quite the same as theirs and judging by the course I took I would wager that those people probably had the drive necessary to make it in the field regardless of whether or not they received this type of help.
“I would like to take this time to rate Dr. G. Lynn Lashbrook, his wife Liz and the entire Sports Management World Wide organization and agency with a 100% thumbs up. Moreover, I would highly recommend http://www.sportsmanagementworldwide.com/ and http://www.smwwagency.com/ to anyone looking to pursue a career in the sports industry.” Sincerely, Vaughn L. McKinney.
specifics for your recommendation…why?
I am thinking about taking the Football GM and Scouting course. Is there anyone who has taken the course recently that can offer feedback? It seems as if the course will be helpful either way if you are a true football fan. What kind of assistance do you get after the course?
Vaughn – Can you tell us your specific experience that enables you to give such high remarks? People here are craving info, not just thumbs up without explanation.
I took it upon myself to email 20 agent advisors listed on the SMWW website, to ask directed questions regarding their experience with the course (that I am taking). To my surprise I haven’t heard from any of them but its only been 24 hrs.
I suggest if you want to know about the program, the best folks to ask are the ones listed on the SMWW website. http://www.smwwagency.com/sports_agents_map
I would like to say that the courses I took with SMWW were a great experiance. Like any college course, the student does not always know what they want when they start. I started with the Baseball GM and Scouting course personally. Shortly after starting the course I accepted a temporary sales position with a Major League Baseball team. Having been in sales for the better part of a decade I was hoping to use this as a way in the door to become a scout.
Two weeks into my new career it became clear that the quickest path to advancement and the best paid front office staff were in sales. I contacted SMWW to see about switching my course to their Sports Sales program. They allowed me to change courses halfway through at no charge.
Less than three years later may income has doubled each year in the industry and I am now a Sales Manager in the AHL. Much of my success is due to the contacts I was able to make with SMWW. The sports industry is a very small club. Those who truly “get” what it takes to run a successful organization are few and far between. Somehow many of that elite group ended up as part time instructors for SMWW.
Working in sports has been a dream come true, but don’t expect an online course to give you the presidency of your favorite team. You have to work hard, long hours. Often you have to be willing to move for advancement. If you take the course use your instructors and their network.
Be prepared to start at the bottom and earn the dream. SMWW can open that door for you. You just have to walk through.
I have taken an SMWW course for pro scouting and honestly, I think it helped me a TON! It gave me the knowledge and confidence to take the next step, which was actually getting out there into the hockey world. I am now working with a local Junior A team and learning a lot.
The contacts that I met through SMWW ALONE made it worth it. I am now in contact with Major midget/Junior A-B/Bantam coaches and scouts in the city, we are networking and growing our operation at an amazing pace now.
SMWW is not a “miracle course” that will make all your hockey dreams come true, however it will help give you the tools, contacts and know how, to help YOURSELF get out into the wonderful world of hockey!……If the self motivation is not present, then I recommend sticking with “couch coaching”.
I’m going through the Ath Management course right now. Most of it can be done through self study. For the class, they give you a couple books that you can order yourself on Amazon. They tend not to really answer hard questions during the conference calls from time to time, you get the same packaged-up answers. Even though I had a feeling that this was how the program was before I joined, I looked at their “Agent Advisor” opportunity as an easy way to get experience instead of waiting to get brought on as an intern somewhere.
The troubling thing is for me now that I’ve heard from some experienced agents that many GM’s don’t respect Agents that come out of SMWW. One agent told me that SMWW has been labelled a “certificate factory.” They’re polluting the industry with a lot of incompetent people that are simply in the way and have no connections or prior experience (whether sports or otherwise) that would help them succeed. This is ruining it for the people that are really serious and have a real shot at being successful, in my opinion.
I am thinking of taking the rugby management course. Is there anybody that have done the course and can give me advice?
I am a graduate of sports management worldwide. I graduated from the motor sport management program almost a year ago and I must say that this school is the biggest waste of money. I felt confident entering this school thinking that it would help my career. After a couple of weeks I regreted my decision, the assignments were ridiculous. The assignments are not graded and feedback is not given, your not able learn anything. The final exam is the only grade that you recieve, and the questions that were given to me were from a book title ” Stock Car Racing Lives”, I couldn’t see how that would possible help me in the career that I’m chasing. The feeling that I got from the school is that they only want your money and could care less about their students. The school also promised that they would help with an internship, of course they didn’t help at all. If your considering this school, I would think again. It’s a waste of time and money, go to college.
maybe u should have applied your self and maybe u woulda got somewhere
I just got off the phone with a graduate of the SMWW masters in Sports Leaderships program. He was a great young man that wasn’t pushing the courses on me, just answering any questions I had. He even transfered me to Dr. Lashbrook after telling me how he could help me with something that involved his prior expirience. These are good people, that had an idea to help others. Why is so hard to believe that sometimes people are just kind and not out there to make money off everyone.?This is a networking opportunity of a lifetime and they don’t teach personality , so if you aint got you aint got it.
The Sports industry is all about who you know, Dr Lashbrook will say he can help you get in the business but he really wont. The SMWW classes dont get me wrong you will learn things but the classes it self do not carry any weight as far as putting it on your resume.
If you do not take an SMWW class you will be in the same position as someone who has taken the class.
I took the sports businees managent course and I am currently looking for a job in ticket sales, I am being proactive after I apply and calling the hiring managers showing interest in positions and I am emailing them too. But most of the time I am still not getting an interview for going the extra mile to show interest.
Bottom line it is all about who you know, in any level of sports you are trying to get into. These classes with SMWW will not put you ahead of the curve nor will they separate you from other candidates, if you do not know anyone in sports you will not get anywhere.
My suggestion to anyone pondering to take an SMWW course… Please take my advice… START NETWORKING WITH PEOPLE WHO ALREADY WORK IN THE SAME AREAS OF SPORTS YOU WANT TO GET INTO. BY DOING THIS YOU WILL DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE AS WELL AS GAIN CONTACTS THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SAY YOU KNOW PEOPLE. BY NETWORKING YOU CAN LEARN INSIGHTS INTO THE BUSINESS AS WELL AS DEVELOP CONTACTS, WHO KNOWS MAYBE THE PERSON YOU CONDUCT AN INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW WITH WILL BE THE PERSON TO HIRE YOU.
TRUST ME IF YOU TAKE AN SMWW COURSE YOU WILL ONLY WASTE MONEY, PUTTING THIS COURSE ON YOUR RESUME CARRIES NO WEIGHT.
I can’t see this being quite legit…I mean to be a well developed and prosperous sports agent. 95% have a law degree…(mainly in contractual law). Along with a history of working along side the industry from one aspect or another.
REAL successful sports agents are typically young…willing to give up social life and starting a family cause of the endless amounts of traveling and have real accredited educations (graduate level).
I’m not saying you wont learn anything or get a good look at the business itself…but to me it seems just a way to make bogus money in a time where people are going back to school to qualify for a job they can have security in during the economic period.
And yes Mel Kiper is the icing on the cake….pretty much insult people’s intelligence with his part in the commercial promotion.
If you get a chance ESPN’s E:60 did a look-in on the life and processes of being a sports agent and how stressful it can really be.
Don’t waste your money IMO
(I have pretty much worked in sports my whole career…equipment manager at a local Univ, soccer team manager, houston astros spring training rep, part time events coordinator at Disney’s WW of Sports.) I love working in this industry cause its someting im passionate about. Anyone can do it…connections are important and from what I read it sounds like they pretty have no post-grad networking assistance.
Mel Kiper….lol
Hey I am thinking of taking the Basketball GM/Scouting course and wanted to know if it was a good idea? I am 22 years old and my only true passion is for Sports and I want to become either a scout or someone involved in the management and GM positions of this field but I don’t know how to get in. I have a few college courses that might pertain but mainly I was wondering what the Basketball GM/Scouting course was all about? Do you get job opportunities at the end? Do you need more actual college courses afterwards? I’m confused as to what it actually does for me. Thanks and PLEASE HELP!!!
Nope. Not a good idea. Run for the hills and do not spend your money.
I am a Sophomore at the University of North Alabama. I have some questions about the SMWW Baseball GM/Scouting Course. Is it legit? and is it to early for me to do it? please send me a email if you have any idea about it. Or if you could help me out in any way. Also if you just want to talk baseball or the about the sports management field. PLEASE EMAIL ME [email protected]
I am a currently enrolled in the course. Seems like I am a little late here. If there is interest, I would be happy to post my opinion once I have taken the full measure of the course.
Please do.