An Experiential Learning Opportunity for Sport Management Students: Manager Interview and Facility Inspection

The purpose of this work is to describe an experiential learning opportunity that sport management educators could integrate into one of their courses to enhance their students’ understanding of facility and risk management concepts. This project best fits into a course that focuses on facility and/or risk management. It consists of three components. First, students visit a sport-activity-focused facility and interview the facility manager. The interview focuses on policies and procedures related to facility, personnel, and risk management. Second, students complete an inspection of the facility to detect hazards that could compromise the safety of employees, user groups, and/or spectators. Third, they compose a critical assessment/reflection of what they learned. The benefit of providing this learning opportunity is that it allows students to witness the application (or lack thereof) of concepts and “best practices” learned in the course. Furthermore, it gives them an opportunity to start developing a “critical eye” that would be needed when assuming the role of managing a multipurpose facility.