Our team at NHsportspage wants to congratulate the Great Bay Community College graduating class of 2018. Great Bay is a proud sponsor of our coverage of high school sports and the college choice for many students in the seacoast and surrounding areas.

 Great Bay sponsored over 40 high school games on NHsportspage this year as well as the 2018 seacoast basketball tournament.

 Classes begin again on May 29th and you can find more information about the school by clicking on any of our Great Bat banner ads or visiting their website Great Bay Community College

 We also wanted to highlight the story of Great Bay baseball player Trevor Salema, who is a member of the school's sports management program.

Collaboration between Seacoast United and GBCC Enables Student Trevor Salema, the Chance to turn Baseball Passion into Career Track

PORTSMOUTH - Good things began happening for Trevor Salema when he enrolled at Great Bay Community College. First, the school added a sports management track in its business curriculum, enabling Salema to pursue a career that combines his interest in business with his interest in sports. At the same time, the school added baseball to its sports offerings, which allows Salema to play baseball at the college level while earning credits toward his degree. Salema, an 18-year-old from Kittery, will graduate next spring with an associate degree in Business Administration. He is among the first students enrolled in Great Bay’s new 21-credit sports management elective, which began in fall 2017.

The curriculum includes courses in facilities management, sports and recreation tourism, sports law, sports in society and an internship component. As part of his studies, Salema is interning this semester with Seacoast United, which operates sports clubs and facilities across the region.  He plans to turn this experience into an internship where he will not only gain experience but also college credit while  learning the ins and outs of running multi-sport indoor and outdoor facilities. At GBCC, students who take the 3-credit Business Internship course have the opportunity to pair up the work experience with coursework.

“Great Bay has worked out really well for me,” Salema said. “I looked at a few other schools and chose Great Bay because it was much more affordable and it had what I wanted. I like the atmosphere and I like what they offer. I feel comfortable there.”

Great Bay also means Salema can keep playing ball. Baseball is his passion and playing for the college team instills pride and accomplishment, he said. “We have a real tight-knit group of kids on the team. We’re all really close. They’re good kids and good people. It’s fun to be around all of them. It’s like we are one big family now,” said Salema, a pitcher.

His Seacoast United internship both completes and extends his sporting circle. Salema’s early baseball experiences occurred with Seacoast United teams. As he looks toward a career in sports management, Seacoast United represents the kind of work he might pursue.

His associate degree will prepare him to begin his career right away or allow him to transfer to a four-year school.

As part of his internship, he is learning how large indoor sports facilities work, gaining understanding of the complexities of managing multiple leagues in multiple sports, and digesting the many layers of a business operation that caters to different levels of competitors and clients.

James Peterson, sales and marketing director for Seacoast United, said the internship program is good for Great Bay and good for Seacoast. “We offer a multitude of opportunities in sports finance, sports marketing, sport facilities management and large sporting events and tournaments,” he said. “Any student who is interested in those fields, we want to be a platform for them and their career.”

Salema embodies that student, Peterson said. “Trevor has played for our baseball program since its inception, he is playing on the Great Bay inaugural team, which we helped form, and he’s doing an internship with us. He checks all the boxes.”

Seacoast United is personal for Salema. He’s lived with cystic fibrosis for many years, and Seacoast hosted events for Salema’s nonprofit, Team Trevor, which raises money for research. “I feel very lucky,” he said. “Great Bay has been great, and I think I’m going to learn a lot and get some important experience with my internship.”

Pictured: Trevor Salema, GBCC student, at Seacoast United’s annual golf tournament. The Business Administration major is able to pursue a career that combines his interest in business and sports. He currently interning at Seacoast United and will pursue the college’s new sports management