Justin is a sophomore at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and is working as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates Bucs Sales Team.
CCA’s hearty menu of electives helped Justin, a college sophomore, identify his career passion early in high school, and that’s given him a jump-start with the Pittsburgh Pirates on a career in sports marketing.
Justin, who attended CCA for all 12 years, always wanted to be an engineer. He jumped at the chance to take two engineering classes his freshman year.
“I absolutely hated it,” he said, laughing.
Justin, who lives in Pittsburgh, chose a sports marketing elective at CCA the next year and “absolutely fell in love with it.”
“I didn’t even know that was an option for a field,” said Justin, who played baseball for a local high school while at CCA. “It talked about all the possibilities you could have in the sports world … and showed you what the demands were. CCA had great electives.”
After he tasted that excitement, Justin, 19, landed an internship during his senior year to help with marketing and coaching at baseball and softball training and skills camps.
“It was a great opportunity,” he said. “It was one of the best things I experienced through CCA.”
He’s majoring in sports, arts and entertainment management at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, with a focus on sports.
He job shadowed his first semester with the University of Pittsburgh athletic department in its ticket operations. That opportunity turned into a part-time job at the ticket office and then a full-time position this summer as an events supervisor.
Armed with a growing resume, Justin was selected to join the Pittsburgh Pirates Bucs Sales Team and receive sales training at PNC Park.
Justin said the job involves a lot of prospecting to get people to attend Point Park Night at the ballpark. As an incentive, the student who sells the most tickets will get an interview for an inside sales position with the Pirates.
As he pursues an internship with the Pirates in baseball operations, his ultimate goal is to be a general manager of a Major League Baseball team.
“I haven’t found anything I don’t like in the field,” he said. “I’m trying to get as much experience as I can all the way around.”
The early opportunity he had at CCA in identifying a career passion and following it has been invaluable.
“It offered me the flexibility to do whatever I wanted with my personal life and get my homework done at my own pace,” he said. “It was a great experience for me and my family in general. It speaks volumes that my brother and sister are still in it.”
His sister is a CCA freshman, and his brother just began seventh grade.
