Children Are The Future

By David Smith
Staff Writer

(l-r) Tomeka Brooks, Li Thompson, and Brittany Nicholes.

Li Thompson is a winner! She is a product of DC Public Schools (H.D. Woodson High School) and went on to become a successful female in a male dominated industry. She became the first female and first African American professional stadium manager in the country (she worked for RFK Stadium in the District of Columbia). She has been responsible for organizing major local events like concerts at the stadium, the city title basketball games for high school basketball and affairs for DC United (the professional soccer team in Washington). She is one of the movers and shakers in Washington and has personal access to all of the local professional sports teams which includes the Washington Wizards, Mystics, Redskins, Capitals, DC United and the Baltimore Ravens. Many thought she was crazy when she quit her job to start her own company that works with high school students in the District of Columbia, but her company is growing so fast that cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Oakland want to purchase it and she doesn't seem so crazy after all.
Ms. Thompson is the founder and executive director of Progressive Sports and Entertainment Alliance, Inc. (PSEA). The purpose of this organization is to give high school age children the training and exposure to become managers of the sports and entertainment industry; to prepare tomorrow's sports entertainment leaders today. Its mission is to nurture students as they become well rounded citizens and encourage each to assume leadership positions in their school, community, as well as pursue a professional career in sports and entertainment management. "I envision that by exposing DC teenagers to all that the sports and entertainment world has to offer, one day Washington DC would become a hotbed for producing the top sports and entertainment management professionals in the world," Ms Thompson exclaimed.
Ms. Thompson, who was born and raised in northeast Washington, DC and graduated from the top of her class at Woodson, knows what DC kids are capable of achieving. She decided to invest her own money in starting this business and started it during the summer of 2005. Already her efforts are paying dividends and many of her program graduates have jobs in the sports industry. Ms. Thompson has interns working all over the country and even has one working as a sports writer for ESPN magazine and one working as a scout for the Baltimore Ravens. She is currently working with Howard University to provide scholarship for her graduates who want to enter the sports management program there. "Professional sports are a very lucrative business but everyone can't be a million dollar professional athlete," Ms. Thompson said. "But you can make a very good living in the areas that relate to sports like sports journalism, sports marketing, field maintenance, events planning, and sports management."
The program is organized into a paid training session during the summer where students learn skills that range from athletic field maintenance to sports journalism and fall internships. In addition to classroom training, students go on numerous field trips that give them an up close and the behind the scenes look at the operations of a sporting event. Students get to go to all of the area professional team games, as well as team-building activities (lazar tag, Dave & Busters, Medieval Times, etc.). The summer program includes the following sequence:

Year 1
Event/Venues management
Media Relations
Athletic Field Maintenance
Game Statistics

Year 2
Merchandise/Retail Sales
Officiating
Marketing
Athletic Training

Year 3
Photography
Sports Information/Journalism
Webpage Development
Television Production

Year 4
Community/Public Relations
Staffing/Hiring
Desktop Publishing
Videography

Ms. Thompson is looking for students who are interested in seeking a career opportunity in the field of sports management. For further information about her program you can go online at www.pseausa.com. If you want to contact Ms Thompson about getting into the program you can email her at lthompson@pseausa.com or call her at 202-320-3738. You could also see Dr. Butler (room 184 in the morning, room B71 after lunch) for applications.

By Maurice Butler |  March 2, 2008; 11:12 AM ET
Next: Roosevelt's School of Communication Gives Students a Headstart in the Media Industry

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