By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Students will soon have a new program to select from when continuing their education at Jefferson State Community College. The school is introducing a sports marketing program in February 2016, directed by notable sport and event marketing professional, Pete McAskile.

Modeled after McAskile’s sports marketing program at Canada’s George Brown College, the one-year postgraduate program introduces students to marketing and teaches them to integrate the culture of sports into business, McAskile explained.

“It’s hard hitting, it’s intense, but every day, you’re talking about the real world,” McAskile said. “When we go through the class, every day it’s real people, real businesses and what’s in it for them.”

McAskile brings 40 years of sports industry experience to Jeff State and the new program. A native of Canada, he was introduced to the area when he relocated the pro-hockey Toronto Toros to Birmingham in 1976. McAskile managed the Birmingham Bulls for five years before returning to Canada to work at an advertising agency.

McAskile’s Canadian sports marketing company, Second Dimension Sports International, has served clients such as Gatorade, 3M and Petro Canada.

The Jeff State program will draw from McAskile’s knowledge and experience in the industry to give students a solid foundation for a career in sports marketing.

“It’s all about passion, (and) how do you take passion and integrate it into marketing,” McAskile said.

Students will spend the first semester in the classroom, learning the basics of the field and hearing from acclaimed sport and event marketing professionals and business leaders.

During the second semester, students will apply and hone their skills through a co-op internship and prepare to enter the marketing industry.

Students will not only receive a strong foundation of knowledge and skill, they will also gain important contacts in the sport and event marketing industry, McAskile said.

The program’s advisory board consists of numerous highly accomplished marketing professionals from companies such as Crimson Tide Sports, Gillette, the NHL Network and more.

Jeff State’s sports marketing program will kick off in February 2016 and will be offered exclusively at the Shelby-Hoover campus, Jeff State Director of College and Community Relations David Bobo said.

Interviews are required for acceptance to the program.

For more information, visit Pmsportsmarketingpro.com.