The SportsGrad Podcast: The Ultimate Guide to Make it in the Sports Industry

Meet Marnie Cohen, Senior Account Manager - Communications at TGI Sport, one of Australia's leading sports PR and communications agencies.Before landing her first official paid role in sport, Marnie spent seven and a half years building a career in fashion and lifestyle, working at boutique agencies, all while quietly laying the groundwork for the career she'd always dreamed of. Along the way, she earned a nomination for the Quill Award for the Student Journalist of the Year, won the Robert McDonald Journalism and International Relations Prize at Deakin University, and completed a cadetship at The Daily Telegraph in Sydney.When she eventually quit her PR job without a plan, rather than rushing back into full-time work, Marnie made a deliberate decision to step back. She took a part-time receptionist role and used every spare moment to build Kanga TV, a North Melbourne fan YouTube channel that she grew from a standing start into the very thing that helped her land her role at TGI Sport.For anyone wondering if your background outside sport translates and if the switch to sport is even possible, Marnie's story is proof that your transferable skills matter more than you think. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear exactly how Marnie did it!We cover:(03:32) - Interview begins(04:30) - Quick Fire Questions(11:28) - How Marnie started creating content for North Melbourne(14:05) - Who helped inspire Marnie along her way in journalism(16:02) - The story of how Kanga TV was born(26:26) - How Marnie balances Kanga TV and her role at TGI Sport(33:09) - Various roles that shaped Marnie's career journey(48:51) - How Marnie landed her current role at TGI Sport(51:14) - How Marnie demonstrated her transferable skills (55:31) - What does Marnie's role look like week-to-week(59:23) - Projects that Marnie has overseen in her role(01:02:15) - Marnie's involvement in the Carlton Draught launch(01:04:19) - Benefits of working in sport agencies(01:06:02) - Challenges faced while breaking into sport(01:09:54) - Impact of mentors on Marnie's Journey(01:13:15) - How to land a job in PR & Comms in the next 30 days(01:14:18) - Biggest pinch me moment working in sport(01:17:42) - What life would look like if Marnie didn't pursue a career in sport(01:18:55) - What would your strategy be to help get people to either attend or watch the upcoming 2026 Golf Australian Open(01:21:40) - Marnie's question for next guestIf you liked this ep, give these a go next:#233: How to be the Chief Media Officer at Formula E with Aarti Dabas#268: From PR agency to Head of Marketing & Comms at Sail GP, with Olivia Hogan#347: Sport Marketing & Communications - How to work in AFL, NBA and Seven Sport with Anthony AlsopWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokFollow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokThanks for listening, much love!

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programSo you want to work in sport.You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.How I can help you:1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programReuben

Meet Riley Bull, the Football Analyst at the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League.After leaving a half-finished Criminal Justice degree behind, it wasn't until he found football analytics that things started to click. He cut his teeth in a 5-month internship at Premier Data during peak lockdown before landing an unpaid internship at Port Melbourne in the VFL. Within 11 months, he was promoted to Head of Football Analysis and Data, a role he held for three years.Along the way, Riley also built transferable data skills in the supply chain industry, proving that analytics experience outside of sport is anything but wasted. Then, through the power of relationships he'd quietly built over years, a non-advertised role at the Saints as Football Analyst, one of the most competitive and niche roles in the sport, landed in his lap. He grabbed it and hasn't looked back since.If you want to hear how to turn data skills from any industry into a role inside an AFL club, this episode is one for you!We cover:(03:15) - Interview begins(04:54) - Quick Fire Questions(09:55) - Riley's first exposure to data analytics in sport(12:24) - Riley's role at Port Melbourne FC(17:15) - How AFL and VFL coaching team structures differ(21:45) - Riley's experience in data analytics outside sport(24:14) - Riley's role at St Kilda Football Club(34:33) - How is a football analyst's performance measured?(37:36) - Inside the coaches box for the largest comeback in AFL history(43:12) - Challenges Riley faced breaking into sport(44:46) - How did Riley decide this was the career path he wanted to take(46:39) - What helped Riley stand out in his roles(47:42) - Impact of mentors on Riley's journey(50:20) - How to land a job as a Football Analyst in the next 30 days(52:12) - What would life look life if not a career in sport?(53:26) - If you could fix one thing that's wrong with the sports industry overnight, what would it be and why would you want to fix that specifically?(55:14) - Riley's question for next guestIf you liked this ep, give these a go next:#230: Performance Analysis at Collingwood Super Netball with Bianca Litchfield#227: How to be a Performance Analyst for Pro Tennis Players with Shane Liyanage#259: How Champion Data deliver analytics all over the worldWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokFollow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokThanks for listening, much love!

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programSo you want to work in sport.You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.How I can help you:1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programReuben

Meet Ryan Patterson, product manager at Premier Data, a fast-growing sports technology startup that's closing the gap between elite-level analytics and grassroots sport.Ryan's path into sport is anything but linear. From scanning groceries at Woolworths at age 15, to progressively building his university qualifications across three degrees, a Bachelor of Business that evolved into Sport Management, and then a double degree adding Sport Science once he realised data analytics was where his future lay, Ryan has consistently leaned into what excited him rather than following a predetermined plan. Alongside his studies, he represented Deakin University on study tours in India and Chicago, always looking to make the most out of every opportunity in front of him.Over six years, he's worked his way through four distinct roles at Premier Data from casual coder to Product Manager, while simultaneously spending seven Australian Opens in the Ball Kids Ops team at Tennis Australia. Ryan has sat courtside for Grand Slam finals, worked inside Collingwood's coaches’ box, been featured in a Netflix documentary at the AO, and helped build a startup from 20 games to 250 games a week.But his real superpower? Saying yes before he knew the answer, starting small, and staying long enough to grow into something bigger than he imagined.Tune in to this week's episode to hear exactly how he did it!We cover:(3:18) - Interview starts(5:18) - Quick-fire questions(11:02) - How the study trip to India and Chicago added to Ryan's university experience(15:13) - Ryan's internship with Collingwood FC(18:22) - How Ryan landed his role in the Ball Kid Operations team at the Australian Open(26:31) - Coolest moments from Ryan's time at the Australian Open(28:59) - How Ryan manages his roles across the AO and Premier Data(30:14) - What is Premier Data(37:18) - How Ryan progressed to his current role as Product Manager(41:47) - What does Ryan's look like on a day-to-day basis(45:41) - How Premier Data builds partnerships with new sports(48:50) - Challenges Ryan faced breaking into sport(51:14) - Advice Ryan would give his younger self(52:50) - Impact of mentors on Ryan's journey(56:20) - How to land a job as a Sport Product Manager in the next 30 days(59:06) - Biggest 'Pinch Me' moment in Ryan's career(01:00:00) - What would Ryan's life look like if he didn't work in sport(01:00:42) - What's something we might lose from sport in the next 10 years(01:02:21) - Ryan's question for the next guestIf you liked this ep, give these a go next:#227: How to be a Performance Analyst for Pro Tennis Players with Shane Linayage#257: How the AFL analyse their data with Dat Visualisation Lead, Penny Privett#288: How to be a champion data competitions coordinator with Ashleigh Newton-SpenceWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokFollow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokThanks for listening, much love!

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programSo you want to work in sport.You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.How I can help you:1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programReuben

Meet Sarah Dyce, Public Affairs and Marketing Manager at the Victorian Institute of Sport.Sarah has a wealth of experience in sports communications, working behind the scenes of the moments that matter most. After graduating with a Bachelor of Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Notre Dame in Perth, Sarah made a bold move to Melbourne in 2018.But here's the part most people don't know. Sarah never set out to work in sport. She arrived in Melbourne in 2018 with a marketing degree, no contacts, and a determination to avoid a nine-to-five in Perth's mining and oil and gas sector. She found a listing on a website better known for arts and theatre jobs, applied for an unpaid internship at Swimming Australia, and quietly outworked everyone around her until the industry had no choice but to take notice.What followed was years of contract roles spanning Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games as part of the Australian Olympic Committee's Main Press Centre team, worked the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, the World University Games in Berlin, the Australian Open, A-League Finals Series, and helped orchastrate one of the most viral moments of the 2025 Australian Open - the now-famous Carlos Alcaraz and young fan John's encounter that captured the world's attention.In this episode, Sarah takes us through the mindset shift that made contract life work for her, the networking habits she built that kept the opportunities coming, and the deliberate decisions she made along the way that led her to the role she has today. If you've ever talked yourself out of applying for a sport role because you didn't feel "sport enough," Sarah's story is the one you need to hear!We cover:(03:07) - Interview starts(09:23) - Quick Fire Questions(16:32) - Why Sarah moved from Western Australia to Melbourne?(20:11) - What her time at Swimming Australia taught Sarah(24:08) - Why Sarah left a full-time role to pick up contract work(28:48) - Sarah's takeaways from contract work(31:54) - How Sarah managed to stack contracts(36:42) - What a day in the AOC Main Press Centre team looks like(43:14) - Differences and similarities of working at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics(51:53) - The viral AO moment Sarah helped make happen(57:27) - How Sarah landed a role at the World University Games in Berlin(01:02:46) - How Sarah's current role at the VIS came about(01:07:20) - How do you measure success across the various roles Sarah has held(01:09:28) - Biggest challenges in sports media and PR(01:11:16) - How you can stand out in a saturated sports media landscape(01:13:22) - How to handle difficult situations as a sports comms professional(01:16:19) - How to build trust and relationships with variou stakeholders in sport(01:19:00) - Impact of mentors on Sarah's journey(01:24:07) - How to land a job in sport media and PR in the next 30 days(01:25:49) - Biggest "Pinch Me" moment working in sport(01:29:39) - What is a takeaway from a family member that influenced your career in sport?(01:31:22) - Sarah's question for next guestIf you liked this ep, give these a go:#281: Journey to Head of Media Rights at Cricket Australia with Abhi Arunachalam#312: How Vimal Kumar Became a Cricket Writer, Built 600k+ on YouTube & Travelled the World#335: How to land a job at the VIS with Director of People & Community, Daniel SimonsWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokFollow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokThanks for listening, much love!

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programSo you want to work in sport.You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.How I can help you:1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/programReuben