The Bulls Sox Training Academy is an example of a Sports Management agency that provides a tremendous amount of recreation and leisure. As you might be able
to tell, it is run by the Chicago Bulls, a professional basketball team, and the Chicago White Sox, a professional baseball team. The training academy provides several avenues for basketball and baseball players to improve and showcase their abilities.
Although the Academy has camps and activities for all ages, they mainly focus their attention on players from the ages of 6 to 18. The Bulls Sox Training Academy was started in 1994 when the White Sox started their first program to instruct young children through the form of summer camps. In 2001, the Academy decided to offer their services all year round. Today, the Academy has three Chicagoland locations in La Grange, Tinley Park, and Northwest Indiana.
The Bulls Sox Academy offers several different ways to develop the talents of its participants. The Academy can basically be broken down into two separate programs.
The Baseball/Fastpitch Softball program is run by the White Sox and offers instruction to kids from the ages of 3 to 18. This program offers hitting and pitching clubs that travel to a variety of cities in the Chicagoland area, giving more youth the opportunity to improve their skills. The baseball program offers an elevated level of instruction to talented high school players called "Elite Baseball." The White Sox also offer a camp every year in which their players are the instructors. The Basketball program is the second specific program the Academy offers and is run by the Chicago Bulls. Players from the ages of 6 all the way up to adults are given the opportunity to improve their abilities. Different camps are offered to each age level. Shooting camp, ball handling camp, and skills camp are just a few of the many offered. Just like the White Sox players camp, the Bulls also offer a camp where the Bulls players are the instructors. The Bulls Sox Academy offers private lessons and team training to both the Baseball and Basketball programs.
As you can imagine, the Bulls Sox Training Academy offers plenty of employment opportunities. Although some of positions require specific requirements, there are others that are much broader. The instructors at the camps and private lessons usually come from a background of being involved with the sport they're instructing on. To get started in that area, a person might want to get involved with their local high school team or coach a youth team in the summer. Other jobs the Academy offers are more on the business and marketing side. The Academy has to continue to create a profit if it expects to remain open. To get involved with these jobs, one might want to start out with a job that deals with both sports and business, such as a job with promotions with a small minor league baseball team.
Like most businesses and programs in the world, the Bulls Sox Training
Academy has had to deal with the poor economic climate. The Academy has had to deal with the fact that the service it provides is a luxury and not a necessity. With people cutting back financially in all aspects of their lives, this form of leisure is certainly being negatively affected. A major positive trend, though, is the fact that youth all over the United States want to become successful in sports and are taking part in programs like the ones the Academy offers. Parents are also willing to pay for these services when they can afford it because they want to push their children to be active and successful.
The Academy's definition of leisure would revolve around being active and improving yourself in some way. The main benefits provided by the Bulls Sox Academy would be providing youth the opportunity to be active while improving their skills in the sports they love. It also provides parents with a way to keep their children physically fit and off the couch. Besides that, the Academy also gives its participants excellent instruction from some of the best instructors in the country.
Overall, I had a pretty good experience researching the Bulls Sox Training Academy. I emailed the Coordinator of Operations with the White Sox Academy, Dan Schaffer, and he responded within 24 hours. I was really impressed with this service. I believe this form of Sports Management has a definite spot in the world of leisure and will continue to have one in the future. As kids are getting more and more competitive in today's sports world, the high school athletes of the future will be forced into specializing in one sport and becoming their absolute best at that sport. The Bulls Sox Academy will be one tool that they will turn to to improve their abilities. Because of this, more and more institutions like this one will open up. That's why it's important for the Bulls Sox Academy to stay up to date and modern. If the Academy is able to do this and continue to provide quality instruction to youth, their future is very bright.
http://www.bullssoxacademy.com/ was the main source I used in my research.
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