The Non-Linear Path to Success in Sports

By: Dakota Zientek

“Success, however you describe it, is not linear. You're going to have some ups and downs. You're going to hear ‘No’ a lot, but you’ve got to be persistent.”

Aaron Clark, the media relations coordinator for the Chicago Bears, has always been interested in working in sports. Whether it was due to his time working for the school newspaper at Virginia Wesleyan College or being able to see his mom working as a Division I women’s basketball coach, Clark knew his passion was sports. 

As a student-athlete and member of the school newspaper, Clark learned how many positions there were to be filled to make a sports organization work, and because of that, he knew that there was a spot for him at an organization, no matter what it was. 

“I had always wanted to be in sports because I grew up around it,” said Clark. “I fell in love with it at an early age, but I also knew that there were opportunities. Knowing that there are so many avenues connected to sports that you can be a part of and make a career out of, that was always a goal of mine: to be connected to sports in some capacity.”

For many, the issue with working in sports is that their view is too centered on one idea. Since there are so many positions to be filled within a sports organization, a lot of the positions available aren’t known, so they aren’t reached for by individuals. 

“I don’t think a lot of people know about all of the different windows available,” Clark said. “Because, if you're not exposed to it, how would you know?”

The popular phrase amongst professionals is, “It is more important who you know, rather than what you know.” While that could be true, Mr. Clark does a good job at expanding on that idea. It is important to know the people within an organization to make yourself stand out in the crowd, but along with that, it is important to know what is available. If the focal point of a job search is too narrow, the jobs that a prospective employee doesn't see are ones that could be the job they're perfect for. It is just a matter of knowing what is out there. 

Another aspect of Clark’s expertise is to know that you will be rejected at some point or another, and while that is a tough pill to swallow, it is important to not let being rejected steer you away from working your dream job. 

When learning more about the key instances that got Mr. Clark to where he is now, his key moment was turning something negative into something positive. It started with,  “... the summer of hearing ‘No,’ from six or seven NFL teams. Finally, after those rejections, the team I never had any contact with ended up being the one I currently spend my career with.”

At the end of the day, it is important to know that the journey of working in sports is about persistence. If it were easy to obtain a job in sports, everyone would be doing it. However, that isn’t the case. 

Clark went on to describe the qualities he sees being the most successful in sports, specifically within the communications department. 

“[The tedious work] might not be the glamorous part of the job, but sometimes that’s your role as an intern,” Clark said. “When you do [that type of work], you can either take the approach of, ‘I’m going to do this for a year or two and also learn stuff along the way,’, however, I have also seen a lot of people that think, ‘I can't do this. This is too much work,’ and those are the people you see that, maybe this isn't the right spot for them.”

Clark goes on by saying, “It can be tedious, it can be strenuous, it can be a lot of work, but doing that is what separates the good interns from the people that don’t last as long in the industry.”

So, while it might seem like being an intern is just doing the dirty work of an organization, it serves a much bigger purpose. Organizations have a method to their madness on giving interns that type of work, as it is a way for the organization to gain your trust as a newcomer into the organization, and for many, the league of professional sports. 

Since professional sports have such a close eye looking onto them, it is important that each moving piece of the organization is held to a high standard, and that high standard is taught immediately. 

With that, the next time you are given a tedious task, just know that there is a reason behind it. That “tedious task” could be the task that proves you're ready to make your next big step as a professional within the world of sports.

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