Students and staff in the Johnson State Business program have formed a new club based on the sports management focus that involves helping Johnson athletics with promotion, marketing and volunteering, while also giving students an opportunity to learn and experience more about the sports management world outside of the classroom.

The sports management club has become official within the past month, with a foundation and governing body made up with students in the program. While only having had one meeting, they have managed to create goals for the future of the club.

Their initial goals are to create connections and find ways to raise money so they can grow their role on campus. With five students officially enrolled and around 10 other sports management students slowly transitioning in and showing interest, this club plans to take action both on campus and beyond.

The new club at Johnson State plans to be an extension of the classroom, with more hands-on and professional based experiences. With the club being led by the students, they are given free-range to come up with and accomplish specific tasks they feel passionate about.

“If the students have something they are fired-up about, I work hard to support that,” said creator and faculty advisor of the sports management club, Andrew Lafrenz. They have already begun to develop an idea of a campus-wide frisbee golf tournament in the spring that would involve both Johnson and Lyndon courses.

Future hopes for the club are to venture off campus, and allow students to experience a lot of professional development, and also to bring professionals onto campus that don’t have to adhere to a specific class or syllabus topic. “We are in the process of creating a panel of successful and experienced individuals in the sports industry, and another event where we get to experience a sports arena being ‘flipped’ from one sporting event to another within a short period of time,” said Elizabeth Tapia, secretary and student member of the sports management club.

Lafrenz explained another plan that will help them focus on sports management and sport development will be hosting a state championship game using the Johnson fields. This will allow students to receive the real-life experience of running a sport based event.

The club will work to enhance student’s perspectives of the ports management world. “The sports management club is a great outlet for networking and learning about the sports business world. Being the secretary I also get to exercise administrative and other practical skills I will use every day in my career,” said Tapia.

Getting off campus will also enable students to learn and experience those practical skills, and think outside the basic educational framework that is put together in the classroom. They plan to visit other campuses, such as Norwich and the University of Vermont to see how their sports departments run big events. There has also been discussion of teaming up with the Lyndon campus to possibly attend a job fair at Gillette Stadium that would directly apply to these student’s futures.

With this new club officially implemented into the Johnson campus, the group hopes to see more interest in sports management, with larger attendance at meetings and sporting events.

The club is open to any student who shows interest in the sports world and wants to a part of a group that experiences professional development surrounding the sports business world.

As the club continues to grow, they plan to create and support sports based events that take place on and off campus.