What we Do:
The Social Sports functions as a client-driven athlete management & representation company.
We take an athlete-centric approach to management and representation by empowering & educating our athletes through virtually every facet of our working relationship. Through a combination of internal & external resources, we strive to be a catalyst in our athletes’ growth & maturation as athletes, brand stewards, businesspeople & also as humans. The Social Sports is built on the idea that an athlete that truly understands the different components of their athletic & commercial endeavors is an unstoppable force in this new digital-first age of sports & entertainment.
Meet Our Team:
Gene is a former NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer player at Hofstra University, James Madison University (JMU) and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). While competing as a collegiate student-athlete, he earned a B.S. in Kinesiology from JMU. Splitting time between collegiate student-athlete and athletic department graduate assistant, he earned a M.Ed. in Sport Leadership and an MBA from VCU. His previous professional experiences include Athletic Fundraising & Donor Relations at the NCAA Division I level for High Point University, Social Media & Digital Content Manager in the USL Championship for San Diego Loyal SC, freelance photographer & content producer as well as Business Management & Media Consulting for athletes competing in Major League Soccer.
CJ is currently a professional soccer player for Nashville SC of Major League Soccer. The Manassas, VA native received numerous conference, regional, and national accolades while competing for James Madison University (JMU) and was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft to Sporting Kansas City. 11 seasons, 309 MLS appearances, 83 goals & 30 assists later, Sapong has become a staple in the league and won MLS Rookie of the Year (2011), Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (2012) & MLS Cup 2013 during his stints with Sporting KC, Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire & Nashville SC. He is the founder of Sacred Seeds, a non-profit organization that creates programming and resources to expose underprivileged communities to the power of self-sustaining agriculture and the importance of nutrition to the body’s essential functions. Sapong also currently serves as an executive board member for the Black Players for Change (BPC), a coalition of MLS players of color galvanized to bring attention and impact to grassroots communities and help lower barriers to entry in the game of soccer. In addition to his work in the non-profit world and his desire to help the next generation of professional athletes, CJ is a serial entrepreneur with investments in multiple startup technology companies and an affinity for decentralized finance.
Our Mission:
The Social Sports is a community and network of individuals determined to create a net positive impact in helping athletes improve multiple aspects of their current lifestyle and set them up for a smoother transition into life after college and/or professional sports by placing them in the driver’s seat of their careers & empowering them to be informed and engaged throughout the multiple processes and facets that surround their athletic experience, both on and off the field. The Social Sports was built BY athletes, FOR athletes.