CNN10 Special Edition: Exploring Careers in the Sports Industry

0:11 We're here at the home of the Atlanta

0:13 Braves truest park.

0:15 From the people who

0:16 keep the field looking major league

0:17 ready to the creative minds designing

0:20 what players wear to the planners

0:22 bringing that ballpark energy and

0:24 leaders making a difference in the

0:26 community.

0:27 Today we are stepping behind

0:28 the plate with the team behind the team.

0:30 Let's go.

0:32 Turns out a path to a career in

0:34 professional sports doesn't have to

0:36 include scoring goals or hitting homers.

0:38 It can go through science, art, music,

0:41 community work, food, and more.

0:44 Pro sports teams create a micro economy full

0:47 of hundreds of amazing people working

0:49 amazing careers.

0:50 And today we're rounding the bases with some of them in

0:53 this 10-minute special.

0:55 Meet Insung Kim, vice president and creative director of

0:58 the Atlanta Braves.

1:00 Some careers in sports start with a sketch and end up in

1:03 the hands of fans around the world.

1:05 I have one of the coolest jobs in the

1:07 world because I get to design things.

1:09 And the players and fans in one of my

1:11 favorite sports, they get to wear it and

1:13 they get to keep it.

1:14 So, it's really fun.

1:15 From jerseys to bobbleheads, creativity

1:18 is key.

1:19 This is the Outcast bobblehead.

1:20 So, we got Big Boy and Andre 3000 over here.

1:24 and play your lipstick Cadillac funky

1:27 music.

1:28 And for Mr.

1:29 Kim, a little nostalgia from

1:31 his childhood inspired some big ideas.

1:34 So, this is a new game used store here

1:35 at Truce Park called South End Trading

1:37 Company.

1:38 We wanted to remind you of kind

1:39 of the baseball card shops that you and

1:41 I went to growing up.

1:42 We you can actually come here and buy a baseball

1:45 from the game that you watch today.

1:47 So, we have a neon light outside the store.

1:49 So once all the uh baseballs from uh

1:51 today's game are brought over here um

1:54 the light goes on and you come in the

1:56 store and you can say you know what uh

1:57 this is this is my first baseball game

1:59 so I want to make sure that I get a

2:00 baseball from today's game.

2:02 Who is a teacher out there who impacted

2:05 you on your journey?

2:06 So I want to give a shout out to Miss

2:08 Spencer my uh my art teacher in seventh

2:11 grade.

2:11 Without her I never would have

2:14 pursued art.

2:15 She was the one that that

2:16 encouraged me and told me, "Hey, this is

2:19 something that you're really good at.

2:20 Maybe you should continue to u follow it

2:22 because she saw something in me and I

2:24 and I'm so grateful to her for that."

2:26 Amazing.

2:27 Impacting the next generation

2:29 teachers out there.

2:30 Keep it up.

2:31 This is Scott Beam, director of field

2:34 operations.

2:34 Long before fans fill the

2:36 stands and players take the field, work

2:38 on the field is well underway.

2:40 We're here 24/7 pretty much from March until

2:44 October.

2:45 So, there's a lot of demand,

2:46 but from fertilizing to cutting um to

2:49 dragging the infield to to managing

2:51 moisture, um there's a lot that goes on

2:54 into making this thing playable every

2:56 day.

2:56 Keeping a field looking major league

2:58 ready takes serious skill and science.

3:02 For the next generation out there, if

3:03 they're looking to maybe get into this

3:05 kind of career path, what sort of skills

3:07 or studies should they be working on?

3:09 I got you.

3:10 Science is big for us.

3:11 Um, obviously we're watching um disease

3:14 control.

3:15 Uh, we're fertilizing, so

3:16 knowing rates of fertilization.

3:19 I graduated from Penn State with my turf

3:21 degree.

3:21 I mean, that's a good program to

3:23 get into to be able to to learn this

3:25 stuff and to to do a career like this.

3:28 While players study the playbook, this

3:29 crew studies soil, weather patterns, and

3:32 more to make sure the field is game

3:34 ready.

3:34 The biggest thing for us is weather.

3:36 Um, especially down here, we're not a dome

3:38 facility.

3:39 So, you know, I'm always

3:40 watching the weather.

3:41 Tarping is of utmost important on this field.

3:43 I have a system underneath the field that I can

3:45 pump 102,000 gallons of water in an hour

3:48 off of this field.

3:50 I mean, that's that's

3:50 what we care about is the player safety.

3:52 Um, and then, you know, obviously want

3:54 to look good, but if it has to take a

3:56 seat back to look good, we want to make

3:57 sure it plays good.

3:58 You hear that?

3:59 Preparation, preparation, preparation, and attention to details.

4:02 He didn't say 100,000 gallons of water

4:05 off this field.

4:05 He said 102,000 gallons

4:07 of water he can pump off this field.

4:10 That's awesome.

4:11 From the field to the front row seats,

4:13 meet Katie Hearn, manager of game day

4:16 staffing and administration.

4:17 If you like meeting, greeting, and making people

4:20 smile, you can make a career out of that

4:22 as well.

4:23 Katie, you help manage the

4:24 people that fans interact with most at a

4:27 ballpark.

4:28 What makes a great employee?

4:30 Being a good teammate.

4:31 I tell people who

4:32 come to work for us the the importance

4:34 of being a good role player.

4:35 If you coming from playing a sport, you know

4:37 that the person who passes the ball is

4:39 not always going to get the limelight,

4:41 but they are so important to the game.

4:43 And so we all work together as a team.

4:45 It's a team sport on the field and off.

4:47 So we tell people know your role, get

4:49 excited about your role, get excited to

4:50 do your role every day, and you're going

4:51 to have a great time.

4:53 Katie always says one thing.

4:55 What is the most important part of your uniform?

4:58 And it's the smile.

5:00 If you can come to the

5:01 ballpark, give a warm and sincere

5:04 greeting with a smile and it's got to be

5:06 sincere.

5:07 Uh, anticipate the fan needs

5:09 and at the end of the night we give them

5:11 a bond farewell and we make sure that

5:14 they enjoy theel at this ball park

5:16 create memories that they'll ever forget

5:18 and relationship that they'll always

5:20 have for the rest of their life.

5:26 After landing your dream job, your life

5:28 changed in a major way.

5:30 Tell us your story and what kept pushing you through

5:33 it.

5:33 I started with the Braves in 2016 and

5:35 then I suddenly lost my vision in 2017

5:37 and I really wanted to continue working

5:39 because of the passion I had built for

5:40 our guest and for our staff.

5:42 And so the Braves were really supportive of that.

5:44 We had an accessible advisory committee

5:46 at the time that were really helping us

5:48 decide what we were going to put in

5:49 truest park.

5:50 I was lucky enough to be a

5:51 part of that in my very first year.

5:53 Right now, we're standing in section 39,

5:55 which is front row accessible seating.

5:56 I want to make sure that this ballpark is

5:58 the most inclusive place that you can go

6:00 watch a game or any type of

6:01 entertainment.

6:02 So, that is what keeps me

6:03 here, and that's the passion that I

6:04 continue to to hold every day.

6:06 Next up, Danielle Badassi, VP of

6:09 community affairs and executive director

6:11 of the Atlanta Braves Foundation.

6:12 If you dream of creating positive change in the

6:15 world, you can do that far beyond the

6:17 field.

6:18 How does your career show that

6:19 having a career in sports can impact

6:22 people far beyond the playing field?

6:24 Oh my goodness.

6:25 Well, first of all, I

6:27 like to say that I have the best job in

6:29 baseball um because I get to use this

6:32 whole stadium, all of our players, our

6:35 teammates, all of our fans, and I get to

6:37 go and do good things for our community.

6:40 So whether that's um supporting youth

6:42 baseball, um building baseball fields,

6:46 it's going out and doing food

6:48 distributions, I get to build community

6:50 through baseball every day and it's fun.

6:53 And beyond the ballpark, the impact

6:55 keeps growing.

6:57 We uh honored one of our Braves heroes

7:01 uh Hank Aaron with the establishment of

7:03 the Henry Lewis Aaron Fund.

7:05 And through that, this past year, we've been able to

7:08 announce a project called the Hank Aaron

7:10 Diamonds.

7:11 The Hank Aaron Diamonds are

7:13 going to put a brand new baseball and

7:16 softball infield at every Atlanta public

7:18 school high school over the next year.

7:21 So, um, we've already opened four, uh,

7:24 baseball fields opened in February on

7:26 Hank's birthday, which was a really

7:28 special thing.

7:29 And now we're in the

7:30 process of of building the four softball

7:32 fields.

7:33 So, we're going season by

7:34 season.

7:35 Um, so when we're done, we'll

7:36 have 16 brand new Hankar and Diamonds

7:38 across all of Atlanta public schools.

7:41 And that to me feels like a love letter

7:42 to our kids in Atlanta that that will

7:44 have an opportunity to to play on a

7:46 hankaren diamond to to feel like they're

7:48 a part of the Braves.

7:49 And and that's really what this all about.

7:51 For many, that's what makes the job

7:53 truly meaningful.

7:55 This can change lives.

7:57 What I do every

7:57 day gets to change lives.

7:59 whether it's just giving someone a moment um

8:01 extending the life of a child and and um

8:05 creating opportunities and and that's

8:08 the privilege of all of this.

8:09 So whether it's science, design,

8:11 entertainment, or simply showing up with

8:13 a smile, these careers prove you don't

8:15 have to be on the game day roster to

8:17 work in professional sports.

8:20 Did you notice how everyone said that

8:21 they have the best job?

8:23 Well, it may be

8:24 hard to compete with Jeffrey Schmidt,

8:26 senior director of entertainment and

8:28 events, and he had a surprise for us.

8:31 Oh, man.

8:31 It is so good to see you, Cory.

8:32 You, too.

8:33 Listen, you're in Braves country.

8:34 You got the hat.

8:35 You're looking good.

8:35 But you know what?

8:36 If you're going to take

8:36 in the experience, I I got I can't let

8:38 you go without a jersey.

8:40 But check it out.

8:42 Oh, yeah.

8:43 That is just for you right

8:45 there.

8:45 Check that out.

8:46 We got to do this

8:47 in style.

8:48 I need to wear this.

8:49 Yes.

8:50 For those of you who love music and

8:52 performing arts, did you ever think you

8:54 could join a pro sports team and bring

8:56 some positive vibes, baseball season

8:59 typically runs April through the end of

9:01 September into October if you make the

9:03 postseason, but this is a year- round

9:04 operation.

9:05 It takes us all year to plan

9:06 these experiences.

9:08 I have a team of over

9:09 100 people that help put on the game day

9:11 experience just for the live

9:13 entertainment element.

9:14 So, between our drum line and our our tomahawk team and

9:17 our mascot team and all the live

9:19 entertainers and variety performers that

9:21 come out, you don't just have to be a

9:22 baseball fan to come to a game like

9:24 this.

9:24 You just be an entertainment fan.

9:26 Jeffrey's path to his career might not

9:28 be what you'd expect.

9:30 So, I wanted to be on Broadway.

9:31 Musical theater was my passion.

9:33 That's what I wanted to do.

9:34 So, for a brief moment, I

9:35 went to a theater school in New York

9:36 City.

9:37 Um, but I realized quickly that I

9:39 kind of I love the passion of being in

9:41 the live experience.

9:42 So, I ended up

9:44 after college going into theme parks.

9:45 I worked in theme parks for 14 years

9:47 creating consumer events and also uh

9:49 I've been all over the country.

9:50 Did that for 14 years.

9:51 And now this is my 14th

9:53 year in Major League Baseball.

9:54 Turns out the path to a career in pro sports

9:57 doesn't have to go through a game day

9:58 roster.

9:59 It can go through arts, music,

10:01 science, community work, leadership, and

10:03 good oldfashioned teamwork.

10:04 Thanks for learning with me and playing ball today.

10:06 I'm Koi Wire.

10:07 We are CNN 10.

10:09 I'm out of here.