Meet Luke Koutrodimos, the Match Day & Stadium Events Manager at the Cronulla Sharks, running game day at Ocean Protect Stadium, from unlocking the gates at 4:45am to working alongside the broadcast crew. He's also the club's current Club Person of the Year, and this season he was the finals series project manager, working alongside the NRL.
Luke's story started with one question. In Year 11, he asked then-CEO Lyle Gorman if there was anything he could do to volunteer. He spent his first year at the club unpaid, helping run school holiday clinics and packing up tables on game days, while his teachers told him he should be studying. Along the way, he studied business at Western Sydney University and spent four years at the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Lots to look out for in this episode, including how to get into match day operations at an NRL club: the question Luke asks anyone who wants to work in sport, why the quiet intern in the corner gets overlooked, the interview day that included a car accident and a bomb threat, and why he's watched one full game in 12 years. Plus, how he'd land a job in sport in 30 days if he were starting again.
We Cover:
(00:00) Intro
(04:05) Quick fire questions
(10:27) The question that got him in the door
(15:52) Earning your stripes
(17:26) The 2016 Premiership and the morning after
(18:42) The mistake new interns make
(25:04) Inside game day at Ocean Protect Stadium
(33:54) Stepping up into the role
(39:54) How to land a job in sport in 30 days
(43:18) The day the clock disappeared mid-game
Related Episodes:
🎧 #275: Running Match Days at Richmond Football Club with Shayla Clarke
🎧 #284: Journey to Football Operations Manager at the Sydney Swans with Steph Maiolo
🎧 #277: Journey from Event Coordinator in Melbourne to NFL Stadium Director with Eray Saban
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Thanks for listening, much love!
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