Baseball
Joe Bonahoom, Director of Baseball
Joe is an attorney and serves as the SMWW Director of Baseball. Joe has been practicing law since 1986 when he graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a B.S. in Business Administration and a J.D. Degree in Law. He is an active member of the Sports Lawyer's Association. Joe has counseled with and negotiated for clients in all facets of business set up, planning and operations, contractual matters and negotiations, financial transactions, tax, investment and retirement planning. Joe's law practice led him to the representation of several professional athletes for legal, business, contractual and financial matters and ultimately into the athlete agent business.
"Agents need to be competent and qualified to provide advice, direction and counsel to athletes. Agents must also be willing to take the time to deal with whatever issues are necessary in order to allow the athlete to focus his or her time and attention on excelling as an athlete. I am involved in sports agency and sports management because I have a passion to be involved with athletics and with athletes. My background helps me to identify and deal with issues at the highest level on behalf of athletes and as Director of Baseball this is something that I can pass on to other agent advisors as they support and service their athletes. Our job is to help the athletes succeed and to take the everyday pressures off of them so that they may concentrate solely on their profession. All athletes should expect this type of service from their agents."
Joe's experiences provide a great foundation and uniquely qualify him as a sports agent and Director of Baseball in that all the issues that athletes will face are those in which he has significant experience. Joe firmly believes that an agent's responsibility goes well beyond the signing of the contract and obtaining a commission, and that all athletes have a need for a competent agent who understands all of the legal, business, financial and other issues that an athlete will face throughout his or her career and into retirement. Through his background and experiences, Joe brings these aspects to SMWW not only for himself but also for other agent advisors affiliated with SMWW so that they may provide top-notch advice and service to athletes.
Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, Founder and CEO of SMWW and SMWW Agency
Dr. G. Lynn Lashbrook has been a certified agent with the NFL for 15 years and has represented over 25 NFL players. Dr. Lashbrook has also been working and teaching in Sports Management for over 30 years and has demonstrated a lifelong passion for helping students strategize and reach their career goals in the world of sports. Dr. Lashbrook has served at the collegiate level as an athletic academic advisor and athletic director. At the professional level he has been an NFL sports agent for the past ten years and created the first ever online sports management company with a mission to educate future sports agents.
Internationally, he has served as a lecturer or presenter in China, Russia, England, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Aruba. For the legal profession he provides an online CLE "Winning with Ethics" seminar through Legalspan.
As an Adjunct Professor at the United States Sports Academy he was named Professor of the Year in the Distant Learning Program in 2000. In 1985, Dr. Lashbrook served as President of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.
Currently, Dr. Lashbrook is President of Sports Management Worldwide and serves as an adjunct professor at Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University. He is also director of the online Masters Degree in Sports Management with the Nova Southeastern University. In addition to his busy schedule as an online educator, Dr. Lashbrook continues to work as an NFL registered sports agent.
Chris Menges, Agent Advisor
Chris Menges, is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, B.S. Economics, Smeal College of Business Adminsistration. He also holds accredidations in the financial services industry as a Financial Representative and in Sports Management, Sports Management WorldWide, Inc. Chris is highly regarded in the financial industry and has worked for Fortune 500 companies, and also has met with the US Federal Reserve Bank, and many regard him as an financial guru. He has handled hundreds of lucrative business deals. He also is the Director of Marketing and Sponsorships for a major PA corporation. He has outstanding connections to major corporate sponsors. Contact Chris Menges for your financial needs including small business and retirement planning. (Looking for an Agent)
While attending Penn State, he met many area scouts and coaches, that would enable him to have better connections in the sports world, after his semi-pro baseball career ended. Chris has teamed up his financial services business with Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, the founder of SMWW Sports Agency, and served as his apprentice before becoming an agent. Chris's goal is to provide the best services available in the industry, not only in contract negotiation, endorsments and the other sports agency services, but also to provide top investment, insurance, and financial planning advice to its clients. See Chris's SMWW page.