After working for a few years in the sanitation business and not being happy with it, Rich Hamilton, a former sports management major from University of Louisville, was looking to get back into the classroom. While thumbing through the Fall 2011 course catalog, he

noticed a new course being offered.

“Luckily I stumbled across PE 215 Intro to Sports Management,” said Hamilton. “I didn’t know that DVC was offering some of the same courses I was taking at Louisville in 2008, for a fraction of the cost.”

Last fall was the first semester that PE 215 found its way onto the DVC course catalog. Former Athletics Director and now head baseball coach Steve Ward created the class with an intent to give students interested in sports management real field experience.

“We wanted to open student’s eyes to as many areas of sports management as we could,” said Ward. “Whether it’s experience in fund raising, broadcasting, sports retail, health management… we try to accommodate all student’s interests.”

PE 215 has a lecture class that takes place only in the fall. In the spring, an attached internship program, PE 216, is offered to those dedicated students who want real first hand experience helping coaches and sports administrative workers on campus throughout the semester.

While the lecture classes teach a text, Ward also invites speakers from various fields in sports to give students an unprecedented look into their field. The speakers include CBS Sports reporter Dennis O’Donnell and Denver Broncos contract writer Mark Sullivan.

“All the speakers have said the same thing,” said Ward. “Experience in internships is the most important thing when looking for a job in sports. When employers look at your

resume and they see you’ve interned, that’s the difference maker.”   

The internship opportunity is the real crux of the class. Ward tries to be as flexible as possible with the internships and gives the student an opportunity to choose where they want to work.

Rich Hamilton has been assisting Athletic Director Christine Worsley in beefing up the DVC Athletics website and maintaining the Facebook and Twitter pages. He is also building DVC’s first athletics alumni database. Needless to say, he’s getting that valuable

experience that he couldn’t get at Louisville.

“At Louisville, you would have hundreds of students vying for a handful of internships on-campus, so I figured I had to be proactive about this opportunity,” said Hamilton. “I’ve enjoyed it greatly. My passion is sports. When I quit working in the sanitation field, I swore to myself that I was going to do something that I love as a profession and not for the paycheck.”