Walter Recher

Tel: (914) 872-4036 C: (845) 264-2997
walter@diamondsportscareers.com

Walter is a founding partner in Diamond Sports. He is the lead responsible for business strategy and market development,  partnerships, and education and training, as a member of the senior management team.

Walter led the successful development, launch and management of new education and training programs, sports marketing and career events, and new business development for some of the most successful growth companies in American business history.  Walter has over 20 years experience in education, as an adjunct professor, curricula developer, distance learning and online programs, and internship placement.  Recher worked with Dave Torromeo in the launch of the Manhattanville College Masters Degree Program in Sport Business Management, serving as Director of Sports Internships, and as adjunct professor. Recher developed the first online class at Manhattanville, Technology and Sports in the Global Market, and Entrepreneurship in Sports. As Internship Director, he has managed relationships and placed interns with major teams and organizations, including MSG, the NY Yankees, USTA, and the NY Mets. Previously, Recher led the successful launch of the University of Phoenix Online Center for Professional Development in the New York Metro market, and has been a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and ASTD.

Mr. Recher introduced new online and traditional classes at Fordham University, Marist College, Manhattanville College and State University of New York Online, and developed new courses and programs, including Entrepreneurship in Sports, and Emerging Technologies. Recher founded SmallBall Marketing to develop sports entrepreneurship, and has been involved in the organization and management of numerous sports marketing events, including  the Diamond Sports Perfect Pitch with the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Big Apple Coaches Convention featuring Don Mattingly, career seminars at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center and Bobby Valentine’s Sports Academy, the Manhattanville College Career Fair, and the inaugural Army vs. Marist baseball event at Dutchess Stadium.

Mr. Recher developed a new media marketing firm in partnership with the National Center for Missing Children, sponsoring  events with the PGA/Buick Classic and Citibank Tournament of Champions. During his career at MCI, Recher developed partner marketing alliances with Intel and Microsoft in the launch of the MCI Distance Learning Program as Director Advanced Services Marketing, and managed the GE Global Services team. Mr. Recher earned his MBA at Fordham University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from State University of New York, College at Oswego.

David Torromeo

Tel: (914) 872-4036 C: 203 858-9230
dave@diamondsportscareers.com

Dave Torromeo is a founding partner in Diamond Sports. As the lead responsible for developing and managing relationships with professional and college sports teams, leagues, organizations and associations, Dave assumes a key role in the development of events and training program curricula and strategic partnerships. Torromeo has served as Executive Director of the Manhattanville Sport Business Management program since its inception in 2006, Manhattanville has become the largest accredited program in the NY Metro area and arguably most successful graduate sports program in the region.

Torromeo has developed new and innovative programs for over 25 years, most recently at Manhattanville. He has been responsible for developing curriculum, hiring adjunct faculty, and establishing an advisory board with senior sports executives. Torromeo developed the NY Metro area’s first Sports Career Fair at Manhattanville College in 2007, featuring 27 major industry exhibitors, senior level speakers from the NFL, and over 400 attendees from northeast. Torromeo also formed the Sports Analytic Institute and the Center of Ethics in Sport at Manhattanville (CESAM).

Torromeo has developed a distinguished career in sports, professional development, and collegiate athletics. As Vice President, Operations of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, he developed relationships with the NFL, and a nationally renowned Board of Directors across the U.S. Dave was responsible for scholarships and grants and managed a $10 million endowment and spearheaded the new Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN. As an entrepreneurial senior executive, Torromeo has developed a number of successful new sports programs and events, and provides unique insight into sports and corporate business programs, strategic management, and media relations. Torromeo played a lead role in awarding Jackie Robinson the Gold Medal Award, the highest honor that the Foundation bestows, on the 50th Anniversary of the Foundation and Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in baseball. Dave assisted in the formation of the Foundation’s PLAY IT SMART program; an educational program that works to turn inner city football teams into learning teams.

Before joining the NFF, Torromeo served as a Sports Information Director (SID) and Assistant Athletics Director for Communications, Marketing, Promotions and Fund Raising for over 10 years including six at Iona College. He has earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s Degree from Iona Colleges. He resides in New Canaan, CT with his wife Laurie and two children (Stephanie and Jarrett) and serves as the Chairman of the Board of the New Canaan Day Care Center.

Art Berke

Tel: 914.872.4029 Mobile: 201.388.5419
art@diamondsportscareers.com

Art Berke has worked at the highest level of the sports industry, and has held  executive  positions with Major League Baseball, ABC Television, Sports Illustrated and most recently the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center.

Immediately before joining Diamond Sports Berke was the Chief Operating Officer at the Museum & Learning Center for three years. His responsibilities there focused on the daily operation of the non-profit’s activities, including the oversight of an expansion/renovation.

For nearly 20 years, Berke was the Director and ultimately Vice President of Communications for the Sports Illustrated franchise, responsible for all public relations, publicity and charity activities.  Berke’s duties at Sports Illustrated were wide-ranging.  He had communications oversight for SI, SI.com and SI Kids, serving as the franchise’s chief spokesman. He also was in charge of the day-to-day publicity and the promotional strategy behind the popular Swimsuit and Sportsman of the Year issues, played key roles in the magazine’s 35^th, 40^th and 50^th anniversary celebrations and represented the SI franchise in a variety of charitable and community activities. In addition to his communications duties, Berke was the Senior Production Executive for three SI-branded network primetime specials–20^th Century Sports Awards (CBS), Sportsman of the Year 2000 (CBS) and Night of Champions (NBC)–as well as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year Show 2002 (Fox), an afternoon telecast. He also was SI’s Executive in Charge of Television for four TV specials that served as the companion to SI’s annual Swimsuit issue.

Prior to joining SI, Berke served as Director of Sports and Prime Time Sales Development for the ABC Television Network; was the primary publicist for such ABC Sports series as “Wide World of Sports,” “Monday Night Football,” and Howard Cosell’s “SportsBeat”; and was Associate Director of Information in the office of Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, where he was also the editor of the Official World Series Program in 1978 and 1979.  He has authored five books on sports and was the editor-in-chief of an award-winning sports encyclopedia for children.

A graduate of Indiana University, Berke has been an adjunct professor in Sports Communications at NYU and Manhattanville College and is on the Advisory Board for the Manhattanville graduate program in Sports Business Management. He also opines about his beloved Chicago White Sox on artofthepalehose.mlblogs.com.

Bobby Valentine Appears at Diamond Sports Career Seminar

Diamond Sports offered a sports career seminar for students at the Bobby Valentine’s Sports Academy in Stamford, CT on March 20th. Panelists shared tips and techniques on developing and planning to enter the field, led by ESPN Analyst, former Manager and Entrepreneur Bobby Valentine, who  shared his thoughts and insight into his unique career  during the Diamond Sports “PreGame Show” Seminar. Bobby was joined by Rod Mergardt, National PR Director for CBS MaxPreps, and Shane Beardsley, PR and Communications Director with the Bridgeport SoundTigers. Students came from all over the NY Metro area to listen to the speakers, who also engaged with the audience in a Q and A, which focused on developing internships, positioning their personal brand, engaging with mentors who could help ”polish their assets” and put themselves in a position to win.

At the seminar you can expect Bobby to share some of his insights on forward thinking that have made him so successful over the years. All attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions to the panel and the best two questions will be awarded with a free lunch to Bobby Valentine’s Restaurant. For more information on registration please click here.

The first seminar is being presented by one of the top agents in the sports field, Bobby Barad, who will talk about his 20 years of experience being a sports agent. Well before the time of Jerry Maguire, the sports agent field was one of the most popular avenues of the sports business world. Bobby will be speaking about sports industry trends and developments as well as sharing some stories about representing some of the top players in all of sports including former AL rookie of the year Evan Longoria and World Champion second basement Robinson Cano. He will also stick around after for questions from the audience.

The next seminar is less area specific and will be more focused on the dramatically changing face of sports business as a whole. The landscape is shifting drastically with advanced technology and streaming media applications taking a much more active role in everyday business. Diamond Sports has embraced this change and will be showing live demonstrations of their own virtual studio and how it can be adapted to different businesses. This can also be a valuable tool for aspiring students as well as coaches and athletic directors.

For more information and how to register for these events please the upcoming events page of the Diamond Sports website.  For more information on the potential benefits of programs and some tips on how to extract the most from them please see my earlier blog post entitled “The value of seminars for students“.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The sports business industry is as difficult an industry to find an occupation as you will find in today’s day and age because of the popularity of sports and the increase in colleges which offer the education required to excel in this field. This is why I can’t stress the importance of attending these seminars and workshops while in high school as well as college. Really any students at that level who are interested in sports would both enjoy and benefit from attending. Below is a list of specific reasons high school and college students interested in the sports business world should attend such events.

1. Its all about networking – At the end of these events the attendees are given the opportunity to stay after, exchange business cards with, or pick the brains of the presenters. These are the people that down the road could be interviewing you or be an integral part in finding you employment in the industry. Meet these people, stay in touch with them. This will be a great way to separate you from the other thousands of applicants companies such as ESPN or the New York Yankees receive.
2. Learn the industry – Listen and ask questions. You can bet whomever the speaker is has a wealth of knowledge based on their years of experience doing what they do. Learn from their mistakes, and jot down what worked for them on their path to success. Who knows these could be lessons that could prove important to you in any type of industry.
3. Future Trends - Even if you do not plan on entering the work force for five or more years you can still get a leg up on the competition. These speakers have a way of seeing industry trends and having an idea of what is going to be important next. For instance, if you learned about social networking three years ago and mastered it on your own then you would have had an easier time finding a job this past year than those who were trying to catch up.
4. Strength in Numbers – Come with your friends, your teammates or just your family. A lot of the speakers in one way or another reference team work and speak about how important it is to success. Use these events as a building block for your own team or your own family to work better as a unit with the same common goal.
5. Bolster your Interview – I can speak from experience on this one that certain quotes I hear from these events I memorize and bring them up when I go on interviews. This shows the person who is interviewing you that you really did your research and you are interested enough in this industry to take time out of your busy day and sit and listen to a legend like Bobby Valentine speak. It also shows that you are eager to learn new things, which may seem like a small trait  but not to a person looking to hire.

These are only a few of the many benefits high school and college students can get out of attending Diamond Sports events. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming seminars, reviews of past seminars and more information useful to those looking for an occupation in the sports business industry.