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

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-gameRelated 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 SabanWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Follow Reuben on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Thanks 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 Paddy Quay, a sports content creator who helps athletes, sporting organisations and brands tell their stories. If you've watched Scott Pendlebury's or Isaac Quaynor's YouTube channels, you've seen his work.Paddy finished an Arts degree in 2019 and took a help desk job at Frogbox in early 2020, resetting passwords for community cricket clubs while COVID shut sport down. Nobody was posting the highlights from the streams, so he started clipping them into reels on top of the job he was hired to do. Frogbox's Instagram grew to around 10K followers, and running it became his role.On the side, he cold messaged sports social media people on LinkedIn and started his own podcast, The Digital Rookie. A conversation at a careers night his mum made him go to introduced him to Tom Robertson at Collingwood. Paddy interviewed Tom on the podcast, and six months later Tom asked him to apply for a job.When his Collingwood role ended, Paddy did it again. Through coffees, conversations and a part-time role at the Melbourne Mavericks, he built his own business. Since then he's filmed at the Winter Olympics in Italy, the Western States endurance race in the US and in the Azores with Beau Miles.Lots to look out for in this episode, including why loving sport isn't enough to get hired in sport, the LinkedIn message that got replies from the Golden State Warriors, how he turned a help desk job into a social media role, and how he rebuilt his career after losing his dream job.We cover:(00:00) Intro(02:18) Meet Paddy Quay(04:45) Quick fire questions(11:22) From help desk to running the Instagram(17:25) Building trust with players at Collingwood(23:15) Losing his dream job(26:10) The free shoot that sparked his business(42:40) Part-time at the Mavericks to his own studio(48:20) From the Azores to the Winter Olympics(54:20) Advice for aspiring content creatorsIf you liked this episode, give these a go next:#354: How building Kanga TV led to a PR & Comms job in sport, with Marnie Cohen (TGI Sport) #369: From warehouse to working with Olympians - Building a sports marketing career w/ Pat McGregor #309: How I landed a dream job at Cricket Australia | Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad Want a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Follow Reuben on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Thanks 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 Mitch Siwek, Acting Sports Presentation Director at Cricket Australia. If you've been to an international at the cricket, you've seen his work: the big screen, the anthems, the music and the pyro.He started as a 15-year-old Cricket Blast volunteer, then graduated at the end of 2019, just as COVID shut sport down.What happened next came down to one question he asked after a uni tutorial, a podcast he started so his resume wouldn't have a gap, and a string of volunteer gigs most people would skip. A few years later, he was hearing the Australian anthem at Headingley during a World Cup.Lots to look out for in this episode, including the question that opened the door to Cricket Australia, why five AFL clubs is the wrong volunteering strategy, and what his manager told him actually tipped the hire.We Cover: (1:43) – Interview begins(4:18) – Quick fire questions(11:16) – From Cricket Blast volunteer to Deakin(16:51) – The tutor who changed everything(21:00) – Graduating into COVID(26:21) – Volunteering across different sports(31:10) – The agencies behind sport(33:26) – What a sports presentation director does on match day(41:44) – Landing a World Cup secondment(48:39) – How to break into sports presentationIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#262: Sport Management grad to living the dream at the FIFA Women's World Cup and Cricket Australia#369: From warehouse to working with Olympians - How to build a sports marketing career w/ Pat McGregor#367: From Engineer to the FIFA World Cup - How Hector Arenas built a career in sports operationsWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Follow Reuben on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Thanks 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 Hon. Steve Dimopoulos MP, Victoria's Minister for Sport.Before entering Parliament, Steve ran a local café in Oakleigh, worked in the Department of Justice and at the Victorian Multicultural Commission, and served as a councillor and Mayor of Monash. He also worked for federal MP Simon Crean.Lots to look out for including how Steve came to lead the sport portfolio without being a lifelong sports fan, how Victoria secured the NFL through the work of government, what he asks potential employees in interviews, and how Melbourne's concentration of sporting organisations creates opportunities to connect with employers.We Cover:(03:40) - Quick fire: the "Minister for Fun"(05:28) - The interview question he asks potential employees(10:22) - What government's role in sport actually involves(18:50) - How Melbourne's sporting organisations create career opportunities(23:05) - What the NFL game was really worth to Victoria(26:48) - How Victoria secured the NFL(34:16) - What's being considered for the future of the MCGIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#355: From Man City to the MCG – How to land jobs at the world's biggest sporting events with Jamie Fisher#243: From Commercial Lawyer to living the dream at the NFL, IOC & Brisbane 2032 with Tom Hickey#370: Melbourne Meetup ft. San Francisco 49ersWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Follow Reuben on socials: | Instagram | Linkedin Thanks 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