Ever Thought About Working in the Non-Profit Sector of the Sports Industry?

By: Cass Ferguson

Have you ever thought that working in sports doesn’t mean solely working in pro sports? If you really think about it there are about seven different sectors within the sports industry. There is pro sports, amateur sports, college/university sports, facilities, sporting goods, and non-profit just to name a few.

As you may or may not know, Sports As A Job wants to be the human connection for people and companies to seek out opportunities, and sometimes those opportunities aren’t well known, but deserve the spotlight. That being said, we would like to shine the spotlight on Emma Lambert, her story and the non-profit side of sports. 

Emma’s journey with motionball and the non-profit sector actually started back as she mentioned, “Before I knew it. Before I knew this is where I wanted to be.” Emma went to Queen’s University and never thought when she helped out with Queen’s motionballU chapter that she would fall in love with events, sports, and non-profit, but little did she know that is just what happened.

Emma currently works for motionball, which is a national non-profit organization “Whose mandate is to introduce the next generation of donors, volunteers and sponsors to the Special Olympics movement through integrated social and sporting events.” The power motionball brings to one’s life is just once reason Emma joined the Queen’s motionball chapter, why she originally applied for the Events Coordinator position and why she is still with them as the ‘Manger, Special Events’.

Over time she has grown the motionballU program from two or three schools to now having an outstanding 32 universities across Canada, helped grow & organize three galas, organize and plan 50+ annual events in 27 Canadian cities, and so much more. 

She entered the world of non-profits, as we mentioned before, as the ‘Events Coordinator’ with motionball. This role was the first of its kind. There was not a written book on “how to do” this job, which had it challenges, but it allowed her to make this job what she wanted and do things the way she thought was best. “Motionball allowed me to grow, experience and do so much within my first few months. I was able to prove myself and showcase I can do so much more. They saw my success and gave me my own portfolio of our motionball Marathon of Sports events.”
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Motionball’s heart is so big; everyone involved with motionball have even bigger hearts. Knowing how big everyone’s hearts are, you would think motionball’s head office has hundreds of employees, but you would be wrong. As of right now there is only six full-time staff, but back when Emma was entering the world the team was smaller, but being so small gave her the opportunity to fully learn all that goes on in the organization.

Learning and growing are a part of every job no matter what. Emma mentioned that she has the personality to want to learn. She always wants to be involved with all the organization has to offer, and now more than ever, her personality is going to shine. Working for an organization that involves events, and to be specific in-person events, during times like what we are going through right now, allow someone like Emma to reevaluate how and what they are going to do. 

Evolving in this virtual world is becoming more and more of what motionball is having to do. We wanted to know how does a national organization like motionball get through these hard times. Emma said that, “Everything moving forward is probably going to be moved to online/ virtual platforms. This situation is all new to us as we are used to hosting events in person, so each day is a massive discussion on how we can bring some normalcy to our organization. We have hosted many weekly dance party Zoom calls, but moving forward we need to see how we can bring a normal game of soccer to an online platform, and how can we continue our fundraising.”

Working in a world that is adjusting to your new normal Emma said, “I am very fortunate to still be very young and working for an organization where I feel like I have a voice and my voice is heard, which only helps me get through this time.” 

Emma noted that, “Working for motionball during a time like this fills my heart because yes, I get paid, but from the founders of motionball (The Etherington Brothers) to the Event Directors to the students, are all volunteers. They put their hearts and heads into our mandate, and without these people I don’t know if I would be doing what I’m doing.” 

Her journey thus far has led her to graduating from Queen’s University, going back to school at George Brown University for the Sports & Event Marketing course, volunteering with motionball, interning with Right to Play, working with the Parapan Am Games, and so much more.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow events are still here and will always be here. Knowing this, we asked Emma what piece of advice would she provide someone who’s looking to get into events. She was able to provide us with the following:

“This is a question I get asked a lot and I love answering it because I believe it’s true and it has helped me out. I believe volunteer as much as you possibly can. Use your resources, like internet, search a list of local events coming up in your area and reach out to them asking how you can get involved. You won’t learn what you like or what it takes to work in events unless you try it.”

The bottom line is don’t be afraid to volunteer, don’t be afraid to show your volunteer experiences because that shows what you are willing to do even if it means not being paid for it, and most importantly, follow your dream.  

Interested in events and/or the non-profit sector, you can connect with Emma through the links below: 

Website: www.motionball.com 
Instagram: @emmalambert11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-lambert/