brands advertising and sales emphasises anirban das blah vicepresident globosport india pvt ltdthose who have experience in event management and a strong grasp of planning and detailed execution abilities are considered an asset sports executives need to be dynamic public speakers with managerial and marketing capabilitiesthese professionals need to have a keen business sense and the ability to form good relationships with their communities they should also possess excellent organisational skills be detail oriented and be sound decisionmakers people skills being a peopleintensive industry one has to interact with athletes support staff sponsors fans media celebrities government agencies and sports federations one should be able to manage a diverse group of individuals in terms of age race gender disability education and social background managing and utilising technology being enthusiastic and knowledgeable about sport and being an effective problem solver are among other skills required adds chako starting outentering the sports management field can however prove to be a difficult task entry level positions in this industry are generally reserved for individuals with intern or volunteer experience blah advises interested individuals should gain prior internship experience even if it is unpaid this remains a small and exclusive industry where many sports managers do not necessarily have specific qualifications but have learnt on the job some companies point out that they would rather give bright graduates a chance to intern than hire highcost management students who will in any case need to learn the game therefore while there is a lack of professionals in the sports business in india young management postgraduates might still find it hard to make itdasgupta concurs the experience that a student gains through internships will prove invaluable at this stage of hisher career volunteer experience with sports management companies will not only provide them with the working knowledge of this industry but will also boost their confidence to advance in this fieldplacementschako suggests in india as the industry is still in the nascent stage the recruitment process is largely via personal contacts sports management companies rarely advertise for vacancies visiting company websites is a good way to learn about vacancies dasgupta seconds this advice at present there are few placement agencies that are competent to look for an opening in the field and therefore many management institutes are playing the role of a catalyst and sending their young and trained talents to sports management agencies to screen and selectadvancementas the palette of saleable sports increases so does the groundwork for the popularisation and sustainability of these sports already young professionals can choose from functional areas like event marketing and management media planning producing sportsrelated content for broadcasting organisations sponsorship selling celebrity management tourism lifestyle clubs sports science and training and merchandising as the industry continues to grow new opportunities are likely to emerge in areas like research both economic and social administration for bodies such as the bcci sponsorship leveraging and evaluations media planning and audit finance merchandising corporate event and sponsorship management and infrastructure management