We are approaching the half way mark in Professor Peter Carfagna’s “Representing the Professional Athlete” MOOC and students are definitely getting a treat. From the elite guest speakers that provide insight on the industry to the course structure breaking down the professional athlete & representation from the amateur years to the post career, students are being compelled to dive into the material and dissect the do & don’ts of athlete representation.
In week 3 of the course students will focus on the early stage of professionalism, selecting an agency, and the building blocks that the player and agent need to lay in order to be successful long term. Students will gain an understanding of how professional athletes approach the representation selection process, how athletes are analyzed during the early stage of professionalism from the team perspective, and tips on how to set up a professional athlete for a successful career on and off the field at the early stage of professionalism. The case study that students will examine will analyze the perspective of the budding star athlete, the minor league team representative and the superstar agent. This lesson will also focus on how an agent can build a mega agency from the ground up, and represent professional athletes through their progression to their peak earning years.
Guest speakers for this week are: Clint Frazier (Outfielder, Lake County Captains- Single A Affiliate of Cleveland Indians), Brad Seymour (VP and General Manager of the Lake County Captains), Jeff Schwartz (President & Founder of Excel Sports Management), and John Palguta (Managing Director of Sports at MAI Wealth Advisors, LLC). Guests will discuss: how the best high school baseball player in the U.S. in 2013, Clint Frazier, went about selecting his management team, the way Major League Baseball teams handle their minor leaguers, and what it takes for any of them to reach the Majors.
Course TA Ricky Volante said “This week we will be joined by a potential superstar baseball player, a mega-agent and one of the most experienced financial advisors in the business. This is a must-see lesson from start to finish, as we will look at: how an athlete handles the process of selecting his representative team and coming up through the minor league system, how an agent can leave a mega-agency, start his own and build an equally powerful agency, and how a financial advisor helps set up a young athlete for life through smart financial management and investments. Ultimately, the students will learn how to handle his or her budding superstar client for life, and in turn recruit more superstar clients because of their success as an agent.”
This week’s live discussion on the Early Stages of a Professional Athlete will take place on Sunday, October 5th at 6pm EST.