[Curly Ripe Meat] Sports Management Questionnaire
One of my students asked to interview me on my career in Sports
Management. I thought it was pretty interesting to hear myself answer
these questions, mostly because I'm chuckling & thinking to
myself "aww... I sound all grown up!" Heee hee!
Please introduce yourself and how many years have you been a director
and choreographer?
My name is Amber Steele, and I have been a director and choreographer
since 2000.
What area of specialty did you study in college that lead to a career
in sports management?
I received my BA from the Theater, Dance and Performance Studies
Department, with an emphasis in Dance from UC Berkeley. I received my
Masters of Fine Art from Mills College in Dance, emphasis Choreography.
I also began my own dance company in 2005, which has given me
invaluable experience with managing employees, booking, taxes, billing,
etc. I wish that they taught that in the schools I went to, but they
did not. I have been teaching since 2002, beginning with individual
private lessons, then teaching classes at dance studios and also
teaching my dance company's master classes.
How involved are you with your athletes?
Very, especially the younger ones. Mentoring athletes often involves
getting to know their health and mental issues so that you can work
collaboratively on making a productive team in the midst of whatever
their personal life may throw at them. It's also important to maintain
a bit of emotional distance as the manager. I have to be able to direct
the room, stop personal moments from interrupting rehearsal time, and
to be able to have some sort of disciplinary recourse when the athlete
is not able to fulfill his or her obligations to the team.
What are the positives and negatives of your job?
Positives: I love teaching students and seeing the joy on their faces
when they achieve something they didn't realize they could do. I get to
dance every day! I get to work on big projects with relatively short
(one semester) deadlines, which means I get to see them through from
start to finish. I have a fairly open schedule.
Negatives: It takes decades to get job security. I have lots of time
when I am not at work... but doing work (email, class prep, scheduling)
that I am not getting paid for. In terms of my company, I almost never
make more than a couple hundred dollars in profit, yet I spend most of
the year in the red, paying for rehearsal space, costumes and makeup.
(They only pay you after the gig.) Even when I do get paying gigs, they
almost never pay enough money to compensate for time; just expenses.
What percentage of your clients pay are you entitled to or is that
confidential information?
For my dance company, I rarely make a profit/compensation for my time,
so I usually just pay the bills. My dancers don't get compensated
unless we are going out of town for a paid gig, and in that case I bid
for them to get a set amount, plus travel, room & board, and I charge
extra for administration & booking fees. I would collect all additional
profits, as it is my company & my choreography. When a different member
of the troupe was managing, she took 10% of the total bid as her fee.
If you are teaching dance at a studio, you usually have to get a
certain number of people through the door, for which you collect 30-40%
of their class payment, and then, if your class is in high demand, you
begin to make a higher percentage.
Some places will simply rent you the space, and allow you to take the
money directly.
Do you have a large staff that works with you as a management team, and
if yes, how do you accomplish your task through them?
Normally, I do the work myself. When we were planning more travel (and
I was in grad school), I hired one of my company members to take on the
job of booking our tour. For this, I gave her 10% of the bid, and paid
her separately as a dancer. When a smaller gig comes through, I often
have certain jobs delegated. For example, one member of the team is the
Rehearsal Manager. It is her job to gather everyone's schedules and to
pick rehearsal times, keep track of absences, and to keep everyone
informed. Another job is Prop Manager; this person makes sure that we
have all the equipment, props, makeup, etc. that we need for each
performance. The Stage Manager keeps track of our interactions with the
venue on the day of the event; including making sure we have water,
space to change, a locked room for our belongings, correct lighting and
sound. On the side of General Management, I collect all payments, keep
the books, file the taxes, reimburse for uniforms (when there is
profit), reserve and pay for rehearsal space, create promotional
materials, etc.
How secure is the job? What happens when an athlete wants to change
managers, gets cut from a team or retires?
It is not secure at all. There is plenty of work for me to make for
myself, but there is no constant influx of payment.
As with most creative/athletic endeavors, the only way to have a
consistent paycheck is via teaching, and even that is not very
consistent when the state government is in financial upheaval.
For my dancers, they are all free to come and go as they please, since
I am not able to pay them most of the time. For each event, I poll the
pool of dancers to find out who has the time to be able to rehearse and
perform. Most of my dancers also perform with other groups and have
other full-time jobs or educational endeavors.
Can you recommend this career to up and coming students who are
studying hard to be sports management?
Managing a dance company is a side project that I do because I enjoy
the process. I love teaching, I love rehearsing, and I love
choreographing. I deeply enjoy organizing, managing, and seeing
projects through from beginning to end.
If a person is studying sports management because they love the sport,
that may lead them down the path of enjoying this work, but loving the
sport alone is not enough -- taking part in the sport is only a small
percentage of the job. A great sports manager must love communicating,
negotiating and helping others to achieve their goals.
Conversely, an athlete who prefers to work on their skills alone, who
prefers to be directed and challenged by someone else, or a person who
is passive (or passive aggressive) in confrontational situations is
probably not going to be a good sports manager. Despite being in a
position of authority, good management frequently involves putting
one's own ego aside and helping your athletes and team to surpass you.
Good management is about facilitating team success.
Management. I thought it was pretty interesting to hear myself answer
these questions, mostly because I'm chuckling & thinking to
myself "aww... I sound all grown up!" Heee hee!
Please introduce yourself and how many years have you been a director
and choreographer?
My name is Amber Steele, and I have been a director and choreographer
since 2000.
What area of specialty did you study in college that lead to a career
in sports management?
I received my BA from the Theater, Dance and Performance Studies
Department, with an emphasis in Dance from UC Berkeley. I received my
Masters of Fine Art from Mills College in Dance, emphasis Choreography.
I also began my own dance company in 2005, which has given me
invaluable experience with managing employees, booking, taxes, billing,
etc. I wish that they taught that in the schools I went to, but they
did not. I have been teaching since 2002, beginning with individual
private lessons, then teaching classes at dance studios and also
teaching my dance company's master classes.
How involved are you with your athletes?
Very, especially the younger ones. Mentoring athletes often involves
getting to know their health and mental issues so that you can work
collaboratively on making a productive team in the midst of whatever
their personal life may throw at them. It's also important to maintain
a bit of emotional distance as the manager. I have to be able to direct
the room, stop personal moments from interrupting rehearsal time, and
to be able to have some sort of disciplinary recourse when the athlete
is not able to fulfill his or her obligations to the team.
What are the positives and negatives of your job?
Positives: I love teaching students and seeing the joy on their faces
when they achieve something they didn't realize they could do. I get to
dance every day! I get to work on big projects with relatively short
(one semester) deadlines, which means I get to see them through from
start to finish. I have a fairly open schedule.
Negatives: It takes decades to get job security. I have lots of time
when I am not at work... but doing work (email, class prep, scheduling)
that I am not getting paid for. In terms of my company, I almost never
make more than a couple hundred dollars in profit, yet I spend most of
the year in the red, paying for rehearsal space, costumes and makeup.
(They only pay you after the gig.) Even when I do get paying gigs, they
almost never pay enough money to compensate for time; just expenses.
What percentage of your clients pay are you entitled to or is that
confidential information?
For my dance company, I rarely make a profit/compensation for my time,
so I usually just pay the bills. My dancers don't get compensated
unless we are going out of town for a paid gig, and in that case I bid
for them to get a set amount, plus travel, room & board, and I charge
extra for administration & booking fees. I would collect all additional
profits, as it is my company & my choreography. When a different member
of the troupe was managing, she took 10% of the total bid as her fee.
If you are teaching dance at a studio, you usually have to get a
certain number of people through the door, for which you collect 30-40%
of their class payment, and then, if your class is in high demand, you
begin to make a higher percentage.
Some places will simply rent you the space, and allow you to take the
money directly.
Do you have a large staff that works with you as a management team, and
if yes, how do you accomplish your task through them?
Normally, I do the work myself. When we were planning more travel (and
I was in grad school), I hired one of my company members to take on the
job of booking our tour. For this, I gave her 10% of the bid, and paid
her separately as a dancer. When a smaller gig comes through, I often
have certain jobs delegated. For example, one member of the team is the
Rehearsal Manager. It is her job to gather everyone's schedules and to
pick rehearsal times, keep track of absences, and to keep everyone
informed. Another job is Prop Manager; this person makes sure that we
have all the equipment, props, makeup, etc. that we need for each
performance. The Stage Manager keeps track of our interactions with the
venue on the day of the event; including making sure we have water,
space to change, a locked room for our belongings, correct lighting and
sound. On the side of General Management, I collect all payments, keep
the books, file the taxes, reimburse for uniforms (when there is
profit), reserve and pay for rehearsal space, create promotional
materials, etc.
How secure is the job? What happens when an athlete wants to change
managers, gets cut from a team or retires?
It is not secure at all. There is plenty of work for me to make for
myself, but there is no constant influx of payment.
As with most creative/athletic endeavors, the only way to have a
consistent paycheck is via teaching, and even that is not very
consistent when the state government is in financial upheaval.
For my dancers, they are all free to come and go as they please, since
I am not able to pay them most of the time. For each event, I poll the
pool of dancers to find out who has the time to be able to rehearse and
perform. Most of my dancers also perform with other groups and have
other full-time jobs or educational endeavors.
Can you recommend this career to up and coming students who are
studying hard to be sports management?
Managing a dance company is a side project that I do because I enjoy
the process. I love teaching, I love rehearsing, and I love
choreographing. I deeply enjoy organizing, managing, and seeing
projects through from beginning to end.
If a person is studying sports management because they love the sport,
that may lead them down the path of enjoying this work, but loving the
sport alone is not enough -- taking part in the sport is only a small
percentage of the job. A great sports manager must love communicating,
negotiating and helping others to achieve their goals.
Conversely, an athlete who prefers to work on their skills alone, who
prefers to be directed and challenged by someone else, or a person who
is passive (or passive aggressive) in confrontational situations is
probably not going to be a good sports manager. Despite being in a
position of authority, good management frequently involves putting
one's own ego aside and helping your athletes and team to surpass you.
Good management is about facilitating team success.