Hello friends! 👋

Welcome to the ✨ SportsGrad Newsletter ✨ Each week we take a deep dive into how people are growing their careers in sport.

Here you’ll find insights, tactics and tools to help you win jobs, get promoted, work around the world, make an impact, and still get paid fairly in sport.

Plus the latest on what’s happening in the SportsGrad Community - a private group of legends lifting each other toward the careers of their dreams.

Meet people in the sports industry 🤝

Grow your network with like-minded peers and professionals in sport at our in-person Meetup events.

Melbourne - 9th Feb

Adelaide - 13th Feb

Perth - 13th Feb

Sydney - 15th Feb

Brisbane - 7th March

Meet Brody Burrows, the ultimate go-getter when it comes to sports media. Brody is a freelance broadcaster, journalist, podcaster, and content creator.

When the opportunity arose to work on the Australian Open in Social Media for Tennis Australia, a life-long dream came true.

During the tournament he collaborated with Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka, and learnt a ton working with the AO social team.

If you want to learn about his time at the AO, and the main lessons he’s carrying forward in his career, check out our interview with Brody below 👇

Lessons from working with the Australian Open social media team 📸

Tell us about your career background and your current role?

Unlike most in the sporting industry I’m based in a regional area (town of less than 200 people). I’ve always had a huge passion for sports and the analysis and statistics behind it. My parents used to call me ‘Bruce’ as a young fella after the great Bruce McAvaney, due to my ability to reel off useless AFL and Tennis statistics at will.

Once school finished, I had no idea what I would like to do so decided to move back and work on our family farm which was based around crops such as wheat, barley, canola and peas. During this time I decided to volunteer and teach guitar and drums at our small local school. I thoroughly enjoyed this and decided to study a Bachelor of Primary Education through Charles Darwin University.

As much as I enjoyed teaching, something was still missing. Sport had always been my number one love but had thought a career in it was impossible without a degree and being based in a regional area. Not long after finishing my degree, a job was offered on one of the local radio stations hosting the Saturday morning sport show, covering local and national sport to the Eyre Peninsula, a role I was lucky enough to get.

By doing this, I was extremely lucky to learn about the sales, social media and other roles behind what makes a successful media organisation and also fell in love with sports broadcasting and the crazy adrenaline it brings.

Two years later I now freelance out to the same station and have travelled around SA calling various sporting finals, including working at the inaugural Gather Round in Adelaide last year.

Whilst still working here on the farm part-time, I have also created and produced a weekly podcast with former AFL player Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt which peaked at #2 in the Australian Sports News charts during the AFL season last year. From here a TikTok channel was created where we now have over 4 million views and 5 thousand followers.

How did you find out about the Tennis Australia Social Media role, and how did you prepare for it?

I found the Tennis Australia role on LinkedIn after seeing one of my connections liking the post. From here, I sent a request to connect and followed up with a message to one of the head team members.

During early 2023, I realised that one of my weaknesses as a professional was Social Media. I made sure throughout the year to turn my weakness into a strength which in turn led to this opportunity.

Were there any new skills, trends, or insights that you picked up whilst working with Tennis Australia?

Teamwork makes the dream work.

I was incredibly lucky to work with some amazing people at Tennis Australia. There wouldn’t be enough space to mention everything I learnt but these are the key takeaways.

• Be over-prepared and organised. When working at an event like the Australian Open there will be times where it feels like nothing is happening and then suddenly everything finishes/drops at once. Learning to space out content and schedule for later when necessary increases engagement significantly.

• Stay calm. You’re going to mess up at some point, your next move is always the most important. Whether it be a spelling mistake (autocorrect doesn’t like tennis names), a missed post or even your phone over-heating on match point when you’re supposed to capture the reaction 😩 these things are going to happen.

• Look at your content often. What’s working/What isn’t/Why isn’t it? Different social media channels have different audiences and therefore require different content. For example, TikTok is definitely targeted to the younger generation whilst Facebook and X have a more mature audience. We managed to smash over 1 billion social media impressions during the tournament.

• Communicate. Self explanatory

You’ve done/you do a lot of freelancing work, walk us through what you do, and how you balance that with other commitments in your life?

I’m a freelancer, part-time farmer and musician but more importantly I’m a father and a husband. Family always comes first for me and I’m absolutely blessed to always have the support of my beautiful wife Lisa and 2-year-old Tilly.

When I first got offered the role for the AO, I was hesitant to take it mainly because it meant being in a different state for 3 weeks and leaving Lisa on her own with Tilly during the entire time whilst also being pregnant with our next bubs due in April.

Lisa encouraged me to take this amazing opportunity and without her I wouldn’t have achieved half of the successes I have over the past 24 months.

What advice would you have for someone who is wanting to pursue their own freelancing journey?

Ask questions, find others in your field and send them a LinkedIn message. It worked for me!

Think there’s no way you’ll get that role? Apply anyway! 

Look at your weaknesses as a sports professional, is it public speaking? Is it marketing? Is it social media? Turn it into a strength, there’s plenty of opportunities as a volunteer to help out.

Send me a message on LinkedIn! I’m always up to spin a few yarns over a zoom chat.

Any last comments/thoughts?

SportsGrad has been the single best career path I’ve made. Obviously I haven’t had the opportunity to study a sports related degree like so many others, but the community has helped me make connections and jobs have opened up quicker than I could have ever expected.

There’s always going to be someone more talented than you, but it means nothing if you work harder.

What’s happening in the Community?

Community Wins ⭐️

Here’s what SportsGrad Members got up to last week...

Ari Davis accepted a role with Western United FC as a Junior Academy Team Manager

Ethan Wren signed a contract with Fremantle Dockers FC to work as a Memberships Service Officer

Eeshan Konde Deshmukkh received an offer to work with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation as a Race Official

Tanishka Singh landed a role with Melbourne Victory as a Match-day Coordinator

SportsGrad Members have landed over 560+ jobs in sport.

If you've had a win, share it with us in the #wins channel on Discord!

Upcoming Member Events 💛

Members, to join an event, RSVP via Discord.

Pro Member Events:

🎤 Public Speaking Masterclass with Dickie Currer - Feb 7th at 12pm AEDT

🤝 Pro Speed Networking - March 14th 7pm AEDT

⚖️ Sports Law Masterclass with Michael Bricknell - March 28th 12pm AEDT

Do you work in sport? Apply to become a SportsGrad Pro Member

Rookie Member Events:

💬 Q&A with Vinnie Gorham (APAC Social Media Manager @ SailGP) - Feb 5th 12:30pm AEDT

🎤 Public Speaking Masterclass with Dickie Currer - Feb 7th at 12pm AEDT

🤝 Rookie Speed Networking - Feb 26th 7pm AEDT

Do you want to work in sport? Join the list to become a SportsGrad Rookie Member

Job Opportunities 💼

Looking for a new gig? Here’s a few organisations who want to hire SportsGrad Members:

📸 Social Media & Marketing Coordinator - Full-time | Sydney

🏆 Media & Events Intern - Internship | Melbourne/Virtual

More details on Discord - look for the 🔥FEATURED JOB🔥 tagged posts, and tell them SportsGrad sent you!

Need help hiring sports industry talent? Get in touch with Ryan.

Thanks for reading!

Catch you soon,

Acacia 💛

P.S. - The SportsGrad Podcast will be back in your ears on Monday!

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