About five years ago an article appeared in the New York Post stating that ESPN of all places was opening a high school on Manhattan’s West Side, for sports business. It would be the first of its kind the story said, one that would create a new generation of students who wanted to work in sports. Now knowing the Post, all things didn’t necessarily have to be true to be a good story. There already was one high school with a sports theme, The High School For Sports Management in Brooklyn, and it seemed strange that the New York City Board of Education, which had frowned on commercialization in schools, would take on ESPN as a partner.
So I called the school number and spoke to the principal who had just started, Dr. Josh Solomon. No it was not true it was not an ESPN school and it was not the first, but it was a school that would use sports as a theme for all classes and it was going to be tried to see if it could be a success, like so many other targeted schools for other careers…graphic design, automotive, fashion, engineering…could be. It would be called BOSS, The Business of Sports School. There would be challenges; any student in the City could apply and those who would be admitted would be doing so by lottery. There was no aptitude test, no pre-screening, students just needed to show an interest. The school would be mainstreamed amongst several other high schools in the same large building, there would be no sports teams at first, and students had to take regular classes, albeit ones using sports themes. There wouldn’t be baseball 101, or even sports management per se. ESPN School it was not.
Still it presented an interesting challenge, and many notable names involved in sport business signed on. Less than a year later the first class came into the school and the BOSS school was up and running. Over time, many heavy hitters in sports business asked about helping out in the school, often times with lofty goals and ambitions on getting involved. Each time they were cautioned by board members and faculty that this wasn’t college or even prep school…these kids were products of the city from varied backgrounds and home situations…they might not aspire to be a GM, their interest and level of success might be working concessions or groundskeeper or even as a coach or physical therapist. Some may aspire to work with a team or a league, but they would be the exceptions rather than the rule.
The first interactions dulled the expectations of some who wanted to help, and tight schedules drove away others, but those who stayed saw a maturation process, one of success as time went by. Students got perks like field trips, they learned about every level of business, they were exposed to teams and leagues and brands they would never have encountered before. And they loved it, as did their teachers. Like the advisors, some students fell away, some transferred but many persevered, and in a few short weeks the first ever BOSS Graduation class will walk through the doors, many of whom will go on to college and as a whole with a higher overall average than the NYC norm. It is not prep school or private school, but it is a sign that sport doing good can do well as an education platform.
Since its launch BOSS has gotten countless inquiries from other cities. There has been talk of charter schools and similar programs more or less intense elsewhere. There have been rumors of shadow “sports” programs at diploma factories as well, but thankfully none have yet to come about.
What has happened is that the BOSS School and its advisors have survived their challenges and have grown together in a setting that is unique but full of ambition. The advisors learn from the students and the student’s lobe the help, all with Dr. Solomon at the helm. In a time where we question the value of sports in higher education, the BOSS school, at the high school level, has absorbed its challenges and questions and used sports business, not athletics, as a vehicle for success.
BOSS is a winning education program in more ways than one, even without a traditional team to call its own. It has built success as a startup with limited funds and challenging surroundings that would have made even the most seasoned sports marketer flinch if if this was an expansion team. More importantly it has won at building and educating students and a win in the classroom is a win for us all.
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