After many years of successfully providing after school education programming for youth ages 6-13, the Josh Gibson Foundation (JGF) has extended the agency’s efforts to the high school level.  The Business of Sports Academy (BOSA) curriculum, developed and funded by JGF, is an exciting new opportunity for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors to view many options in sports – beyond the playing field - as a potential career track for their future. This innovative three-year curriculum includes Sports Media, Sports Business, Sports Marketing, Sports Sales/Event Management, and Sports Law.
 

Sean Gibson, Executive Director of JGF, said, “The decision to develop the BOSA curriculum is especially significant for the Josh Gibson Foundation.  Josh Gibson enrolled in school when the family moved to Pittsburgh in the early 1920s, then he attended Allegheny and Conroy pre-vocational school as he prepared to become an electrician, though his exceptional baseball skills took him a different direction.”  Josh Gibson, regarded as the best overall player in Negro League history, led the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords to several Negro League World Series titles.

Gibson continued, “At JGF, we view our commitment to the BOSA curriculum as an important opportunity to give back and support the community that was home to Josh Gibson and to preserve his legacy as an inspiration to our youth.”

The BOSA curriculum includes classroom instruction, guest speakers with careers in sports management and media, field trips to media and sports venues, hands-on workshops and internships with area professional/college teams and media outlets. Gibson also commented, “The Josh Gibson Foundation will take the lead in arranging for an array of speakers, site visits and relevant sports internships to bring a world of opportunity to students in this region.” By presenting the potential for a career in the world of sports beyond direct team activity, JGF hopes to encourage students to remain in school by providing a curriculum which they find engaging.  From 2012-2016, the BOSA curriculum was offered to high school students in the Pittsburgh Public School District with approximately 65 students participating each year. The response from students and teachers over four years was very positive and enthusiastic, and confirms our belief that BOSA can encourage students to explore a college education and career options they may not have considered.
 

The Josh Gibson Foundation has been developing financial resources, primarily from private foundation grants, to support the BOSA program and provide the curriculum, speakers, internships and other incentives to the students at no cost to them. We are currently meeting with school districts in western Pennsylvania to introduce them to the BOSA curriculum for potential implementation in the 2017-2018 school year. We are also working to provide the opportunity for students to earn college credits when they complete the BOSA curriculum.  To our knowledge, there is no program of this scope in this region.
 

For more information about the BOSA curriculum, please contact Sean Gibson at jgfoundation@gmail.com.

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