There's all thus buzz about STEM careers but I love sports especially basketball, how do those things go together?

Hello Deuce,

I love sports as well. STEM is directly related to sports in a number of ways. As it relates to science, we always need doctors who practice sports medicine, because injuries are numerous in sports. When we think about Technology, athletes and sports organizations are always looking for ways that technology can help improve training enhancements that lead to increased athletic performance. Finally, when you think about sports, what does it all boil down to? It is all about numbers and statistics. So you could be an Analyst for any sports organization or ESPN. Great question and best wishes!

As a response to Lee Doyle above:

As an engineer who works on stadiums. I'm not sure this is necessarily the best route to take if you want to combine sports and engineering. The extent of our involvement in actual sport is pretty limited to taking cool pictures of us on the field/court. We do have to think about sports a lot, especially in Telecom/AV/Lighting, but in terms of hands on involvement, not much. There might be something on the production side of things, like you're alluding to, but those aren't really STeM fields. HOWEVER, there are definitely engineers designing sports equipment and safety gear. You've got chemical and MatSci guys designing new fabrics (like Under Armor) and you've got biomedical and mechanical engineers designing all sorts of safety gear, and also designing the factories that make that safety gear. Industrial Engineers you'll find pretty much at all levels of equipment manufacturing and shipping.

As a response to you, Deuce M:

If you want direct involvement in sports, the best STeM route to take is going to be in Medicine. People often forget that STeM isn't just engineering, but includes healthcare professionals. You'd have to go to Med School and be a full-fledged MD (easier said than done), but Sports Medicine is a distinct specialty. Sports teams directly employ entire armies of trainers, therapists, and doctors to keep their athletes in shape. If medicine isn't your thing, then as Lee recommended, the design and manufacturing of sports equipment. Getting a job on the sports facility side of things is a bit more of a coin toss. Every stadium has a large facilities department, and companies like mine do a lot of design work in sports. There are firms that specialize in sports lighting and AV that you might land a job in, but like all things, there aren't that many people in our field that do that, so you need a little bit of luck to be applying around the same time they're looking for someone.

Engineering for one meshes incredibly well with a desire to work in the sports industry. For example, think about all the cameras that they use to cover the games. Engineers are behind developing and then deploying those cameras. Then you have the engineers who are behind the sound and video broadcasts of those games, ensuring reliable feeds. Finally there are engineers behind the design of the equipment they use on the field for games and practice, like helmets, shoulder pads, tackle sleds, etc.