In the past year, I’ve gone through more changes in my life than I had in the previous five. Since last May alone, I got my dream job running the hockey division of a sports agency, graduated from law school, took and passed the Bar Exam, moved back to Chicago, opened up a law practice, started authoring this column, met some great people, and watched more hockey than most Americans do in their entire lives. My ride thus far has been nothing short of insane – spending most weekends in my car driving from one rink to the next, running on next to no sleep, and practically living off the revitalizing nectar of the coffee bean. To be honest, if I recapped everything that’s happened in my life since I started contributing to SAB, I’d be seriously testing your attention span as readers. So although I’ve always been willing to share details of my personal life and work outside the agency (i.e. my immigration legal work), I’m going to keep my highlight reel focused on the sports side of my life – in the end that’s what this column is all about. Alright, well get yo popcorn ready and here we go!

August 1, 2009. At this point, I have one client – Matt Szypura. I grew up playing club hockey with Matt and he had recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. While at UW, Matt had played four years of NCAA DIII Ice Hockey and was looking to take his game to the pro level. He knew I had gotten a job working with a large sports agency and asked if I could help. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started calling teams in the SPHL and CHL, but I knew getting him on a team wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Knowing most coaches aren’t going to know who Matt is, I start putting together a player resume for Matt. Basically all it contains is a profile picture, his career stats from Juniors and College, and a player biography – nothing too flashy but the final product is professional and gets coaches what they want without wasting their time.

September 26, 2009. After getting him into the Texas Brahmas (CHL) camp, Matt separates his shoulder. If I thought getting him a roster spot was tough now, how bad would it be now that he couldn’t skate for a few weeks?

October 28, 2009. Matt signs a Standard Player Contract (SPC) with the Chi-Town Shooters of the All-American Hockey League (AAHL). It’s not ultimately where we wanted him to be, but I knew we had to get Matt on the ice if he wanted a chance of playing at a higher level.

October 30, 2009. Matt plays in his firs professional game. Despite having a pretty good performance, Matt goes -1 and the Shooter lose to the Chicago Blaze 3-2.

November 7, 2009. While scouting at the Bauer International Invite here in Chicago, I have a great conversation with a coach of a team that has three players I’ve had my eye on. Sean (one of the kids I’m currently advising) is one of them, and the coach introduces us. We spent a few minutes talking but it was late and Sean’s team had an early game the next morning. I attended their game the next day and although they lost, I got a better opportunity to talk with some of the kids about who I am and what my company does.

December 13, 2009. My phone rings and it’s Matt – he’s getting called up to the Dayton Gems of the IHL. Finally, it seems as though his strong play on the ice is getting noticed.

December 27, 2009. While in Toronto for the annual Marlies Holiday Classic, I have a sit-down with Sean and Chris to discuss the future direction of Sean’s hockey career. Sean wants to play D1 college somewhere, so right off the bat we know there can’t be any agreements between myself and Sean’s family (remember those NCAA eligibility rules). I really like the way Sean plays and he seems like a great kid off the ice, so I let his family know that I’d be happy to help advise them through the recruiting process. Chris tells me that they like the dedication and drive that they’ve seen from me up to this point, and he gives me the green light to start distributing Sean’s statistics to U.S. college teams.

January 8-10, 2010. The International Silver Stick Finals are being played up in Port Huron, MI. Some of the rinks are over an hour away from one another, so I’ve been spending a lot of time in my car. I have some good meetings with a few parents and players about advising them, and by the end of the weekend it looks as though I’ve got a solid lead on a kid named Colin.

January 30-31, 2010. Shattuck St. Mary’s has sent their U16 team to the Chicago area to face off against both the Chicago Mission and Team Illinois. I get the chance to see some great games and players, and while I’d at one of the games, I meet Oren Koules – the then-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. His son plays for SSM and he was able to find the time to fly up for the weekend games. We talked a few times over the weekend and he seems like a really nice guy – hopefully we’ll be crossing paths professionally in the not-too-distant future.

February 11, 2010. After hearing that a potential 2010 NHL Draft pick is interested in signing with me, we go out to dinner with his host family to discuss business. It seems as though things are going very well and that we’re on the same page with how and where we think his game should continue to develop. At this point I know I need to remain very visible and hope that my hard work will pay off.

February 12-14, 2010. Another weekend trip – this time to catch Matt’s game in Dayton and an ECHL game up in Toledo, OH. Not as much scouting for me as usual, but getting to see my buddy who coaches for the Toledo Walleye could be good for Matt and/or other future clients and their careers.

February 21, 2010. I receive the call I’ve been waiting for. It’s Brian’s host mother, Nicole, and after a week and a half of making phone calls and sending out emails to OHL and NHL clubs, Brian’s family is impressed with what they’ve seen from me and want me to represent their son. I already know that Brian is comfortable with me representing him, and in getting his parents on board, it looks like I just cleared the last major hurdle in getting him signed.

February 26, 2010. It’s been a busy couple weeks, but my company is extremely happy with the way the Hockey Division is coming together. While I’m in Indianapolis with three of my co-workers, the founder of our company lets me know that they’re promoting me…not a bad start to the weekend.

March 1, 2010. Brian officially signs with our firm. I should note that I’m still using a fake name, but I may be revealing his true identity soon – I just have to run it by Brian himself and get his permission.

March 5-7, 2010. This past weekend was yet another busy but productive one. After actually finding some time to spend socially Friday night, I drove up to Detroit where I’d be staying for the night. Unfortunately I was only able to get a couple hours of sleep and then it was up again early on Saturday – the qualifying rounds of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Championships were being played in Guelph, Ontario and I still had a three-hour drive ahead of me.

I arrived at the rink around 11am and they were just dropping the puck in the first game. Sean’s team skated away with an easy victory and after losing a game the day before, it seemed as though they’d be back on track to advance through the qualifiers. It was around 2pm EST, though, when I received an upsetting call from Nicole – she wanted to give me a heads up that an agent from another firm had been calling Brian and his family everyday. I knew that this guy had been calling last week, so just this past Wednesday I left him a voicemail letting him know that Brian had signed with us and asking him to stop contacting Brian and/or his family. Apparently he wasn’t getting the message (both literally and figuratively). I tracked down his cell number, but not surprisingly he didn’t answer that either. We’ll have to see how this develops over the next few days but needless to say I’m not happy about the situation.

With six months in the bag, who knows what’s in store for the next 26 weeks? Hopefully by the time I’m typing up my year in review, I’ll have Brian heading towards a successful NHL career with some of my other advisees not too far behind. If my work to this point as taught me anything, though, it’s that in this business, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.

Before I leave you for the week, I want to take a second to once again thank you all for your support over this time we’ve spent together. With my busy schedule and long weekends, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down at my computer for a few hours to type this up. However, your thoughtful and encouraging posts, emails, and phone calls truly drive me to get this column to you week in and week out. While I certainly have gained a lot from this whole experience, “Rookie Duties” is really for you and I’m just happy to help in any way that I can. Please keep your comments and questions coming and I’ll continue to do my best to address them each week.

These next few days will be spent once again burning up the phone lines trying to get some leads on NHL scouts and their schedules. I’ve got some solid leads already but there’s still a handful of clubs that have been difficult to get a hold of. This upcoming weekend, at least one scout that I spoke with will be coming down to see Brian skate and we should have a few more in line for the next weekend as well. I hope you all have a great productive week ahead of you and until next Monday…it’s time to hit the showers.

The success John Calipari has been able to attain in his first year in Lexington is impressive. No one can argue with this. He has been able to exceed expectations where expectations are rarely exceeded, and has stepped up to the pressure of being the most talked about person in the Bluegrass state. The problem with Calipari is his recruiting. Problem? How can the #1 recruiting class in the country be a problem?

College basketball is unique from the NBA because talent is not the only thing that brings championships. Of course, it is a major factor, but less so than in the NBA. College basketball is about cohesiveness and teamwork. Without these integral aspects, all the talent in the world will still not allow a team to succeed in the long run. The collegiate game is true fundamental basketball. Passing, dribbling, movement, screens, defense, all the less glamorous aspects of the game, are what separates teams. To solidify this point, let us examine one of the most successful college basketball teams of the past two decades: Duke. The Mike Krzyzewski led Blue Devils have won three national championships and countless ACC titles executing the less glamorous aspects of the game better than anyone else. Sure, they have had their talented players, but much less so then some other teams of the past twenty years. Dukies often flounder in the NBA because they simply don’t have the raw skills to keep up. This is proof that it is something deeper than pure talent that drives collegiate basketball.

With the still fresh NBA by-law in place stating that a player must be at least one full year removed from high school before he enters the NBA draft, the best recruits in today’s game are the ones who five years ago would have made the jump straight to the NBA. These recruits aren’t going to college to get an education or to further develop their skills, they are going to college because they have no other choice (except go overseas, of course.) With this said, their plan is to satisfy the year requirement and enter the NBA. As a result, the coach who acquires the top recruits only benefits from a single year of productivity before the players say bye bye. This constant shifting in atmosphere in both the locker room and on the court doesn’t allow the cohesiveness and bond to develop amongst the team, and furthermore, will not lead to championships. While Calipari is spending his time and efforts recruiting players who are giving him and the school a single year of service, other coaches are getting kids who, although not as talented, will most likely be delivering four years to their respective schools. This gives the lesser recruits a chance to develop (both on and off the court), bond with the coaches, mesh with the other players, and engrain themselves into the threads of everyday university life.

Of course, this will not change the environment of collegiate recruiting. Calipari will be gunning for the best of the best next year and the year after that and so on. But, just maybe, if he focused more of his attention on garnering devoted players who don’t plan on bailing as soon as possible, he would be cutting down the nets in April instead of watching someone with a less talented squad do the same.

The baseball calendar requires agents to be registered with the MLBPA. However, unless there have been very recent changes, the MLBPA does not require agents to be registered until their client is on the 40-man roster.

The MLBPA has not made any changes; an agent still must have a client on a team’s 40-man roster in order to become MLBPA certified.  So Jason sent a message to Lisa Danner, Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance at UCF, asking for clarification.  Here response is very valuable for any agent that is interested in recruiting UCF baseball players.

Since the MLBPA will not allow agents to register before they represent an athlete that is a member on a 40 man roster, you will not be required to be a member of the MLBPA and submit the applicable documentation, if you do not currently represent any athletes that meet that criteria. Please indicate such in a letter attached to your UCF Registration so that we may place it on file with your registration information.

This levels the playing field.  If UCF and other universities required all agents to be certified before recruiting any of their baseball players, it would prohibit agents from recruiting baseball players at the collegiate level, leaving high schoolers as the only pool of players for non-certified agents to advise leading up to the draft.

Football

• The St. Louis experiment is failing while the Cowboys investment in their big boys is working well [Under the Cap: Top Ten Guards and Centers].
• A look at just how competitive recruiting college football players is for agencies of various sizes [The race to sign college prospects].

Baseball

• Could they have found a worse picture of Hendry? [Unloading Milton Bradley without paying steep price won't be easy for Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry]
• NY Yankees GM taking a hard-line approach to impending contract discussions with Matsui and Damon [Yanks’ Cashman Won’t Be Swayed].
• Clocked as high as 98.75 mph, but he is 30-years-old (due to Japan’s rules regarding free agency) [Hard-throwing reliever aims to leave Japan].
• Arn Tellem gets in on the blogging action [Hideki Matsui: An Ageless Talent].
• A lot more young players about to get cut? [The Changing Landscape of Salary Arbitration-Eligible Players and Free Agents in Baseball]

Sports Agent

• Some great advice for agents who might not be as involved as they need to be [The Proverbial, I Don’t Know].

Sports Business

• “Take the opportunity to meet as many people as you can.” [Sports leaders explain the key to success]
• A sign that lacrosse is growing in the U.S.? [MLL, NLL lacrosse star John Glynn signs with agent Matthew Norfolk]

Baseball

• Even if they don’t make it in baseball, they may make some good money off of the rights fees [Story Of Indian Pitchers Bought By Sony].
• All because of a misunderstanding [Sports Law Blog's Joe Rosen Signs Red Sox Reliever Hideki Okajima as Client].
• That Vernon Wells contract… [Bad Contract Swap Meet].
• A great read for players, parents, scouts, and advisors [Showcases Have Turned Baseball Into A Year-Round Sport].

Football

• Keep your mouth shut and your tweeting at bay [The Cost of Larry Johnson’s Gay Slur on Twitter: $213,000].
• The UFL vs. CFL portion is a good read [Sports Agent Corner: UFL vs CFL, “Runners”, and the Stay-or-Go Debate].

Also, one last note.  Buffalo Wild Wings is hosting a cool contest.  Register to win a roster spot to play in an exclusive football game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, this spring.  You can register at any Buffalo Wild Wings location through November 8 (no purchase is required). The winners will be selected November 18 and will receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodation for the February 13 game, among other prizes. The winners will be split into two teams and given celebrity coaches (ESPN’s Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg) and captains (Jerome “The Bus” Bettis and Marshall Faulk).

They also want me to share a coupon with you, which is good until November 1 (yeah, not much time to use it).  You can print this page (there is a button to do that on the top of this post), to use the coupon.

Over the past week, I have received many calls and messages from friends, colleagues, family, and clients, asking me who Jay Hairston (on the left, wearing the cap) is and why he was sending them “friend requests” on Facebook.  Originally, I thought it was just a coincidence that I was the only “mutual friend” on these peoples friend lists.  After the fifth call/message, I started to get curious.

On Monday evening, I decided to finally do something about it.  I did a search for “Jay Hairston” on Facebook and was greeted with a profile picture displaying Athletes Premier International’s logo.  I also noticed that we had over 150 friends in common, yet Jay never friended me on Facebook.  Did we just know a lot of the same people and had never met?  Again, his friends included former roommates, fraternity brothers, and family of mine (who have less than 50 friends total on Facebook).  Most concerning was that this guy I had never met nor heard of was sending friend requests to all of my clients.

Since I was not friends with Jay Hairston, I could not read his profile.  I went to API’s website, and found that his name was completely omitted.  This is where I started to get really concerned.  I sent a few tweets to API’s twitter account, asking for an explanation.  The only response I received was Jay Hairston changing his Facebook privacy settings to restrict me from finding him in a Facebook search results page.

I had one of my friends who had accepted Jay’s friendship request pull up his profile, and that friend let me know that Jay lists himself as the Vice President of Player Relations and Recruiting.  At this point, I knew something very shady was going on.  What business does a rival agency have in reaching out to my entire network?  There is nothing illegal about making friend requests to people you have never met, but it sure does make you and your company look very shady.

This is an interesting and silly tactic for a brand new agency.  Athletes Premier International has one baseball client, and it is a big one: Aroldis Chapman.  First of all, I have given the agency no reason to solicit my friends, family, or clients.  Second of all, the company has received good press thus far in its shopping of Chapman to various MLB teams, does it need to now resort to dirty tactics to grow further?  Third, why is Jay Hairston not listed on the company’s website?  And of all employees, I have most concern about a VP of Player Relations and Recruiting contacting my clients.

I reached out to Jay and he was nice enough to respond in a timely manner.  Additionally, he was pleasant in his responses, but I think I was more upset that he was lying to my face than anything else.  I would have been happier if he was blatantly honest and told me to go screw myself.  Here is what he said to me in our conversation thread.  Let me know if you think he is being genuine.

Mr Heitner.  By no means am I attempting to do anything shady as you put it.  I am simply networking!  I do appologize if I offended you in anyway.  This was not my intentions.

My response:

You are telling me the truth that you friended former roommates and fraternity brothers of mine in an effort to network?  What value do they bring to the table?

What networking did you hope to do by friending my clients that I have listed on my agency’s website?

I am not out to hurt your company or anyone elses company.  I am more than happy with representing the clients I currently have and using those gentlemen to provide solid referrals.  I truly hope that you have no cruel intentions.  I believe that most men are honest, and I will take you at your word, even though your actions (including preventing me from pulling your name up on a search) should lead me to believe otherwise.

I have documented everything thus far and encourage you to stay away from my friends and clients.  You guys just picked up a superstar; I firmly believe that continuing to “network” with my friends and clients will not be worth your while.

I accept your apology and hope that we can put this entire matter behind us.

His last response was very nice, but I believe that it was entirely mocking the situation at hand.

Mr Heitner, as for friending former roommates and fraternity brothers of yours, yes it is random!  I am NOT in the practice of stealing or attempting to steal anyones clients!  Its not who I am as a person or who API is as a company.  I am simply trying to get our name out there!  That is all!  In my expierience the more people that know who you are and what it is you do. The better off a business will be.  As you know, people do talk.  So whether that’s the gas attendant at your local gas station or an athlete at a university.  You never know who will be the link to that next big client!  Once again I do appologize for the simple misunderstanding!

You are simply trying to get your company’s name out to my friends, family, and clients?  Create a blog, send out tweets, contact athletes that are not already represented, but solicit my friends list on Facebook?  I doubt my step-father is going to be the link to your next big client.  There is no misunderstanding about what transpired.

And as for Jay Hairston’s Facebook status as of yesterday, it read: “we must be doing something right…”  I agree, if that something is “getting your name out there” in an unethical manner.

Baseball

• Some interesting ideas include: increase scholarships, bring back the one-time transfer rule, make a switch to wooden bats, and push the MLB Draft to after the CWS [College baseball still needs major changes].
• Big ATL agents (France – football and Abbott – baseball) will be in attendance [First Ever Brian McCann Celebrity Softball Game Set for 11/13].
• Quite a line from Boras: “If stem-cell research were around, you’d want to tap into that gene pool.” [Scott Boras is making pitch for Johnny Damon's free agency this winter]
• The Arizona Fall League has produced a lot of very successful Major League players [Scout's Diary: AFL Still A Great Secret].

Football

• Surprised that Antonio Gates is not in the top 10 paid TEs? [Under the Cap: Top Ten Tight Ends]
• I also hate the uniforms, but glad to see that NFL execs are taking a peek at the talent [Don't discount the UFL].
• Josh Morgan seems to be taking the news pretty well [Report: Crabtree likely to start for 49ers].

Sports Agents

• Former sports agent, Alonzo “Lon” Monk, was up to some shady business [Ex-Blagojevich aide pleads guilty to corruption].

1.    Scouting services:

Some services are free and some you have to pay for.  In basketball, one of my favorite services is DraftExpress.com.  A site developed by a fellow Gator grad, Jonathan Givony, DraftExpress provides up to date scouting reports on a variety of talented basketball players and hits up almost every showcase on the planet.  In baseball, my pick is Perfect Game Crosschecker (pgcrosschecker.com).  They provide thorough rankings of future draft classes, break it down state-by-state, hit up the major showcases, and provide detailed information for top prospects.  Want to know a prospect’s parents names?  They have you covered.  BaseballAmerica’s Prospect Plus program is also strong, but it stops covering players once they graduate from high school.  In football, I am a fan of the old NFLDraftScout.com.  Since it was acquired by CBS Sports, I have been looking for a suitable alternative.  While it is not strictly a scouting service, I enjoy Neil Stratton’s InsideTheLeague.com, which highlights player movement, which agencies are going after which players, and provides draft expectancy for the next class of players, by school.

Read the other 7 items here.

The recent string of lawsuits arising over NCAA player licensing has raised significant questions about the nature of what it means to be a college athlete, and furthermore, what it means to be an amateur athlete. The pending decisions have the potential to reshape the landscape of college sports and the definition of the word amateur. In order to fully understand the nature of what it means to be “amateur,” a dive into the origins of the word is most appropriate. Amateur comes from the French amateur meaning “lover of” and the latin amator meaning “lover.” Essentially, amateurism is participating for the love of the game rather than for compensation, mainly monetary. In America, all college athletes are amateur athletes. They aren’t allowed to receive monetary compensation for playing their respective sport.

Universities, though, have found loopholes in order to entice star athletes to choose their program in the form of scholarships. The NCAA considers these scholarships payment for the athlete to attend classes rather than to play sports, which is why they are allowed. Although college athletes are still considered amateur, they still receive a significant amount of non-monetary perks. Student-athletes receive equipment, clothes, tutors, academic advisors, trainers, etc. on top of all school related costs (tuition, books, housing). While these athletes are not getting paid directly, they are still benefitting handsomely from their ability to play a sport. That being said, the NCAA has very stringent rules concerning the relationships coaches are allowed to have with players in terms of providing them with anything of value. This carries over into recruiting as well.

Opening up collegiate athletes to direct or indirect compensation would jeopardize, if not completely destroy, the integrity of the NCAA. It would ruin the last pure (sort of) arena of sports in the United States.

For argument’s sake, lets say the class action lawsuit brought by former Nebraska QB Sam Keller is decided in favor of the players. This sets a precedent that every time an image of any collegiate athlete (in any sport) is used for marketing, sales, or promotion, that respective player must be compensated. Even contemplating this scares me. Where do you start? Where do you stop? Would it be necessary to pay the third string center who appears in the background of a promotional video for two seconds? There is no cap on who could possibly get paid, and if a cap was implemented the uncompensated parties would probably bring further suits. Furthermore, how would it effect recruiting and player/coach relationships? Now that the players are not amateur athletes, would the coaches be able to lure them to their universities with monetary compensation packages? The bottom line is allowing players to receive monetary compensation for playing the game would blur the lines between amateur and professional sports to the point where the two couldn’t be distinguished.

For the first time since I was 5 years old, I’m not enrolled in school for this Fall. I thought that by getting a job before graduation, I’d be avoiding the anxiety that comes with not knowing where my life is headed. For most people that start the “real world” in a standard 9-5 desk job that might be the case – you still have a supervisor handing you assignments, the only difference is that this person now signs your paycheck instead of your grade report. But where you’re your own boss, things become a little more difficult. Besides the fact that I don’t have any prescribed deadlines to meet, my current profession won’t be adding any funds to my checking account anytime soon.  At my firm, we don’t charge any commissions up front – instead we bill our clients at the end of the playing season. So even if I were to sign an athlete to a contract for this upcoming season, which isn’t likely to happen, I wouldn’t see any income until the Spring of 2010. I should note that while our Hockey Division does currently have a client, who I’ll discuss in more detail below, my partners and I decided to waive our commission for the upcoming playing season mainly because the low average salary at the particular playing level would provide negligible income to the firm. While this obviously won’t be standard practice with the firm, my partners and I also recognized the fact that my first client will actually provide me with some additional value in the form of experience.

Although my good fortune in securing my position certainly makes the financial sacrifice worth it, the reality is that with loan payments beginning in December I’m going to need to find income somewhere. My partners understand the situation and have allowed me to work outside of my normal duties in order to generate some cash to pay the bills. Luckily, I have a law J.D. to fall back on and my plan is to work independently as an immigration attorney until the hockey division starts generating some real revenue. However, with my results for the Ohio Bar Exam not being released until October 30, my law degree is basically useless for now. Thus, until I receive my license to practice law, I’ll be working nights at two separate hockey training facilities in the Chicagoland area while I spend my days putting the hockey division together. Wondering what my hockey division playbook looks like? Well here you go…

As I mentioned in my first entry, while participating in international tournaments in high school, I befriended numerous players from the Moscow area. I’ve kept in contact with them throughout the years and several of them are currently playing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) – Russia’s “equivalent” to our NHL. Although the salaries might not be as high, and while the stability of the league still remains in question, the average KHL player still earns around $600,000 – tax free. My original strategy was to travel to Moscow immediately following the Bar Exam to begin recruiting clients throughout Russia. This way I could establish a respectable client base from my friends that are already playing professionally and build from there. Similar to my stateside operations, however, I’ve run into a few speed bumps across seas.

Years of the NHL “stealing” talent from the Russian clubs that have spent thousands of dollars developing it, needless to say, has not improved the less than favorable impression that Russian hockey officials already had of Americans – especially American sports agents. Up until 2005, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL were both parties to an international transfer agreement. Under the pact, if the NHL wanted the rights to a player currently under contract with a foreign club, the NHL team could draft the player and then buyout the existing contract by providing a one-time, set compensation amount of $200,000 USD. When the previous agreement expired, most of the participating countries signed onto the new, similar contract – however Russia has refused to participate. With players like Ovechkin, Malkin, and Semin making millions for their current NHL teams, the Russians want the compensation amount to be negotiated between the individual Russian and NHL clubs on a player-by-player basis.  The NHL, however, feels as though this would only create a situation where the NHL clubs might never meet exorbitant demands made by the Russian teams. Last summer a truce was reached where the NHL and KHL agreed to refrain from targeting players in each other’s leagues that were still under contract with their respective clubs. However, the tension between the leagues certainly remains intact.

As a result of this ongoing battle between the NHL and KHL, and also due to the close ties between the KHL officials and the Russian government itself, an American sports agent wanting to recruit talent in Moscow and negotiate contracts with KHL clubs needs to be very careful of who he deals with. Unlike in the United States, the Russian government itself is responsible for regulating sports within its borders, including the accreditation of agents. Since I would also need the Russian government’s permission to simply enter the country, broadcasting myself as an American agent coming to Russia might not be the best idea. Thus, throughout the immigration process, I’ve tried to be very careful and stress the fact that I intend to work with Russian teams – not simply ship their best athletes off to North American clubs. Once I finally receive my visa from the Russian Federation, I’ll be able to plan the first of my semi-annual trips to Moscow to recruit clients and negotiate their contracts with either a Russian or North American club. However, my caution throughout this process has slowed the immigration process and pushed back my original timeline a bit, so I’ll have to adjust accordingly. While I initially wanted to hold off on my work in the United States until I return from Russia with a more impressive client roster and the credibility that follows it, I don’t want to waste any time. So until I get my visa, it’s time to start developing the hockey division on the home front.

As of August 1, our firm has one official hockey client named Matt (in order to preserve client confidentiality, throughout this column I’ll simply refer to clients by their first name only). Matt is another Chicago native who I grew up playing club hockey with. After spending two years playing junior hockey in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and four seasons competing at the NCAA DIII level, Matt wants to continue his career, and my job is to find him a spot on a minor pro team somewhere in the United States.

While I was studying for the Bar, Matt was doing all of his own promotion. He had contacted numerous teams in the International Hockey League (IHL), the Central Hockey League (CHL), the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), and others. After I sat for the Bar, Matt forwarded me all of his correspondence, and I basically ran with it. Many of the teams at these levels have both open free agent camps followed by a main camp, which is invite only. Seeing as fees for the free agent camps average around $200 per camp, my job is to try to get Matt an invite to a main camp without attending the open tryout. So far this has been fairly difficult. Since Matt hasn’t proved himself at the pro level yet, GMs are much more inclined to have him pay the fees in order to get his look. If I can’t get Matt directly into a main camp, I have to work with Matt to decide which camps of those available are worth it. His chances of making a team as well as the overall camp experience are the top two factors we consider in our evaluation.

One thing I’ve learned so far is that while there are some really good guys running these teams, just like almost every other walk of life there are still people who refuse to return calls and emails. Maybe it’s just because some teams are already set, but you’d think that when an agent calls you’d want to get back to him. I mean, who knows what players the agent might be representing down the road. Unfortunately, many clubs I’ve tried to contact simply don’t understand this concept.

But like I said, not all of the front office officials I’ve dealt with are like this. In contrast, two coaches in particular have been more than willing to sit on the phone with me and discuss Matt’s abilities. For example, while one CHL coach explained that he was looking for a defenseman that could really move the puck and direct a power play (Matt is more of a stay-at-home defenseman), he still acknowledged that things happen and maybe he’d be calling me about Matt down the road. I explained that we expect Matt to sign with a CHL team for this season and that he’d probably get a good look at him in the near future. I also made a point to let him know that if he ever needed anything, he should feel free to give me a call. While I might not have gotten Matt on the team now, it’s a good step letting them know who Matt is. And not only that – I now have another coach who understands I’m a good guy who’s easy to deal with. Maybe next time I come calling on his club, the coach is in a better position to help. It all comes down to establishing solid relationships with people that can help you succeed.

When I was working at IMG, I recall being told that networking is about adding value to another. You don’t make meaningful contacts by asking for favors, you show that by knowing you it benefits them. I’ve tried to keep that idea close to heart whenever dealing with a person who could potentially help me in my career and I think it’s something important that you should keep in mind no matter what industry you find yourself working in.