Tomahawk Talks: A Sport Industry Insight Panel

By Braves Give

During the first two months of the 2016 school year, the Atlanta Braves hosted high school students at Turner Field for Tomahawk Talks: A Sport Industry Insight Panel. Each visit included a tour of the ballpark and a panel discussion with sport and entertainment industry professionals.

In August, Parkview High School brought students to the ballpark as a reward for positive behavior through the Considerate, Productive, and Responsible Program. These students gained a glimpse of the sports industry from members of the Braves Front Office, representing a wide variety of departments including Accounting, Community Affairs, Digital Marketing and Public Relations.

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Early in September, students from Campbell High School’s AV, Tech and Film program arrived at Turner Field to learn more about the audio/visual and film careers available with a Major League Baseball team. The Braves’ Game Entertainment department shared industry knowledge and advice regarding fan experience and editing/producing content for in-game and online usage. Following the panel discussion, the students took a trip to the BravesVision offices to learn more about the equipment used at the ballpark.

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Next, Culinary Arts students from Booker T. Washington High School learned about the hospitality aspect of sports and entertainment. Upon arrival, the students went to the visiting dugout for a quick photo opportunity. After the photo, our guests watched Delaware North Executive Sous Chef, Rory Bancroft, demonstrate the making of The T.E.D., a specialty hot dog created just for Turner Field. Finally, the students had the opportunity to hear from a variety of Delaware North employees ranging from Human Resources to the District Manager. The panelists shared various backgrounds, communicating to the students that there is rarely one certain path to get to where you want to be.

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Our final group came from Harrison High School’s Sports Medicine program. Following the students’ tour of Turner Field, Director of Player and Health Performance, Andrew Hauser, and Head Athletic Trainer, Jeff Porter, spoke to the students about their day-to-day duties including treatment programs and pitchers’ schedules, positive and negative aspects of working in the sports industry and shared ways for the students to get ahead now.

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In total, close to 100 students and teachers participated in the Tomahawk Talks panel discussions. All participants left the ballpark with a new perspective on working in the sports industry and of course a goodie bag full of Braves swag including tickets to a future Braves game.

Thank you to all who helped to make this panel series possible!