Sta ff photo by Kris ta Husa

MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to the Jewish News

Igir hen Brian Feldman
earned a baseball schol-
arship to the University
of Michigan, he hoped
his college baseball experience would
lead to a professional career.
He did receive a jump start at U-M
— it just wasn't the career he expect-
ed. Due to an arm injury on the field
and some educational experiences off
the field, Feldman is now managing
and advising players, rather than par-
ticipating.
In an additional twist, Feldman is
not even working with baseball play-
ers. Rather, at age 29, Feldman is the
youngest agent certified by the
National Hockey League Players
Association.
While studying sports management
at U-M, Feldman had a summer
internship with the NHL's Washington
Capitals. Feldman worked at the Caps'
training facility in Maryland, doing
everything from administrative work
to Zamboni driving. He also met
some young Ukrainian players who
were coaching at the facility's summer
hockey school.
They asked Feldman to help set up
their own hockey school. That con-
nection led to referrals to other
European hockey players, and
Feldman's player management career
was on its way.
"Everything has grown out of that,
kind of taken on a life of its own,"
Feldman says. "I got a lot of help from
my cousin, Richard Taubman, who's an
attorney in the law firm that I was clerk-
ing for at the time, and a lot of support
from my family and my parents. So I
was able to get the ball rolling, even
though I was only 23 at the time."
Six years later, Feldman represents a
dozen players, ranging from NHL
player Mark Smith of San Jose, minor
leaguers such as Marek Posmyk and
Konstantin Kalmikov, both with the
Detroit Vipers, as well as teenagers
who will be eligible for the NHL draft
in the next few years.

Athlete Manager

Just don't call Feldman an agent. "I
refer to myself as an athlete manager.
An agent is someone who steps into
another person's shoes and acts on
their behalf. But what we're trying to
do is put a program together that's
very interactive with the players, so
we're working together as a team.
"I try to get the athlete involved at

every stage of the process," says
Feldman. "We educate them on the
system they're going into, the various
contracts they're going to be signing,
the marketplace, plan their
careers with them, involve
them in the contract nego-
tiation process, be involved
with them in developing
their skills."
Kalmikov, one of the
Ukrainians Feldman met in
Maryland, was Feldman's
first client. Kalmikov says
Feldman "seemed like a
smart guy who knows what
he's doing, and I trusted
him."
Feldman also helped the young
Ukrainian make the transition to North
American life by arranging for him to
stay with Feldman's family when
Kalmikov played for the Flint Generals.
Feldman's youth didn't bother
Kalmikov. "I was young and starting
out, too, so we were both on the same
page," Kalmikov says.
Although Feldman doesn't have a
client over age 22, he still has a long-
term plan for each athlete.
Adding to the friendly feeling is that
Feldman works from his home in
Ferndale.
Posmyk's first impression was that
Feldman was "a nice guy and a guy
who really wants to work with
younger guys. I thought that (it was)
like a friendship with him."
Kalmikov, who referred Posmyk to
Feldman, told his teammate, "Most
agents have a big base of clients. They
can take care of the superstar players
but they don't take care of players in
the minor leagues as well.
"I just said that Brian's the guy that

helps me right now and he takes care
of me very well. He calls almost every
day to find out if everything is fine.
He does his job well." Posmyk appre-
ciates that Feldman "tells
me what's really going on
(behind the scenes). I
hope he's going to do a
lot for me this summer
because I'm going to sign
a new contract."
When he seeks new
clients, Feldman keeps his
eye out for Jewish
prospects. "We have a lot
of Jewish participants in
our [summer hockey]
camp, because of our locations, and it's
really nice to see," Feldman says. "But I
don't see too many when I'm doing my
scouting of the top junior teams or col-
lege teams or international teams."

Brian
Feldm an's
philos ophy
doesn' t fit the
sports agent
mold.

Coaching, Too

Feldman never played ice hockey, but
"he understands the game," Kalmikov
says. "He watches me play all the time
and he points out what I'm doing
right or wrong."
Feldman "played a lot of street
hockey and floor hockey growing up,"
he says. "I really like the sport ...
When I was in college, a lot of my
good friends were players on the
Michigan hockey team.
"Hockey players are very down-to-
earth, humble and hard-working.
They're not flamboyant, and the reason
is that they know their next shift could
be their last one, because the gladiatorial
nature of the game forces you to have
that type of personality. You won't see
too many guys hot-dogging on the ice
because they could get a stick up in the

Adam's Apple the next shift."
Because of his background, Feldman
would like to represent baseball pitchers.
But, "you have to really specialize
because you have to really know what's
going on in the marketplace. And it's so
hard to network and recruit players —
you only have so much time to do that."
Feldman's time has been particularly
limited. In addition to his business,
he's been simultaneously working on a
master's degree in sports administra-
tion and a law degree, both at Wayne
State University in Detroit. He'll earn
his law degree this spring and his mas-
ter's in the fall.
He's also the co-owner of Wizard
Askerov's Unique Hockey School,
coached by another one of his
Ukrainian players. Sessions are held in
Farmington Hills, Troy, Royal Oak
and Mt. Clemens each summer.
To top it off, Feldman serves as
Detroit Country Day's varsity pitching
coach each spring, which allows him
to keep his hand in baseball.
• Feldman's work ethic doesn't surprise
Country Day baseball coach Frank
Orlando, who also coached Feldman at
Country Day. "Brian's always been moti-
vated," Orlando says. 'As a player he was
a tremendous pitcher and he always had
a real strong competitive spirit."
"Every year," Feldman says, I think
this is going to be my last year (at
Country Day in Beverly Hills). But
every year I keep coming back, even
though my time is becoming more
scarce. But I enjoy it so much, and
as a former player there I have a lot
of loyalty- to the school and the
coach."
Feldman has also thought about
joining a large law firm, rather than
running his own business. "But it
would have to be something that's
really, really, really attractive to force
me to leave being on my own," he
says. "I like being my own boss, set-
ting my own schedule, doing things
my way and taking my own road. It
was even tough adding a partner (Sean
Berube), because I have somebody else
to worry about."
Feldman will have more free time
after completing his education this
year, but he's not likely to slow down.
His long-term goals are to expand his
player-management business and
establish a,permanent hockey school
in Michigan. He wants to make hock-
ey "a melting pot where the players are
categorized by their position," not by
their country of origin, and to pursue
his "main interest, which is the devel-
opment of athletes and young people
in general."

❑

4/20
2001

93

