43 Official Educational Journal of NASSM www.SMEJ-Journal.com ARTICLE Development and Organization of a Student-Operated Sport Management Cocurricular Club: Partners in Sports Robin Hardin and James Bemiller University of Tennessee Joshua Pate James Madison University Experiential learning is a critical component to a college education in the area of sport management as students must enter the workforce with hands-on industry experience. One experiential learning tool is a cocurricular club that offers volunteer work experience for sport management majors. The University of Tennessee’s Partners in Sports is an example of a sport management cocurricular club that prepares students for working in the sport industry through volunteer experiences. The purpose of this study was to provide a governance and organizational framework of a student-operated sport management cocurricular club and explore how it fts into the Foster Five-Step Experiential Learning Model (Foster & Dollar, 2010). This study examines the governance, student involvement, leadership, opportunities, fnancials, and yearly activities of Partners in Sports and offers practical applications for each area. The exploration revealed that a cocurricular club fts on the Volunteer Exploration step of the Foster Five-Step Experiential Learning Model as it introduces students to the sport industry by offering experiential learning opportunities. Providing a cocurricular club allows sport management programs to maximize initial industry exposure to students. Experiential learning is a critical component to a college education in the area of sport management where hands- on experience is diffcult to initially obtain yet required for beginning a career. Foster and Dollar (2010) stated that experiential learning is when an individual is “work- ing or volunteering for an organization in order to gain on-the-job experience in their preferred feld of work before graduation from an academic program” (p. 10). Experiential learning is a process whereby knowledge is created through a transformational experience while on the job (Kolb, 1984). From this perspective, learning takes place as an individual experiences a behavior as opposed to reading about it in a textbook or listening to a professor’s lecture. Therefore, actual hands-on experience complements classroom assignments, and may serve as a greater education tool in some areas of sport manage- ment. Experiential learning has shown to be effective in the areas of sport marketing (Miller, Meaney, & Podlog, 2012; Pauline & Pauline 2008), event management (Canberg, 2009; Charlton, 2007), and sport sales (Irwin, Southall, & Sutton, 2007; McKelvey & Southall, 2008; Pierce, Petersen, & Meadows, 2011). Foster and Dollar (2010) identifed applicable terms for experiential learning, in sequential order from the lowest level of involvement to the highest: volunteerism (no reward provided for work), practicum or apprentice- ship (practicing work for academic credit), cooperative education (on-site job training combined with classroom experience), service learning (combining community service with academic study), and graduate assistantship (part-time work for academic credit or job experience). College students are exposed to these levels of involve- ment through opportunities that count for credits toward a degree, and universities consider those opportunities part of the educational experience (Kelley, Beitel, & DeSensi, 1994; Parilla & Hesser, 1998; Young & Baker, 2004). The Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) recognizes the need for these learning experi- ences and includes internships and linkages to the sport industry as part of the accreditation process (Commis- sion on Sport Management Accreditation, 2010). These requirements for graduation are benefcial because stu- dents receive practical, hands-on experience rather than entering the workforce with only a degree in hand and a thin resume. The importance of converting of theoreti- cal classroom knowledge to practical application in the work environment certainly enhances the professional Hardin and Bemiller are with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Recre- ation, and Sport Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Pate is with the Dept. of Hospitality, Sport, and Recreation Management, James Madison University, VA.