Head of Safety and Security at Overtime, Scott Ashworth, speaks to Security Journal Americas about why he takes so much pride in his sports security role.

Could you describe your role and what you do?

Currently, I am the Head of Safety and Security for Overtime Elite, as well as helping the umbrella Overtime company run sports security for its other leagues.

I ensure the safety and security of OT7 which is Overtime’s football league, OTX, a new boxing league, as well as any events that we host inside of our arena in Atlanta.

In our downtown location, we have an arena, school and practice facility and about a quarter mile away are our residences, where the players stay in dormitories.

The sports security team and I are responsible for ensuring the 24/7 safety of those players while they’re at the arena and the dormitories.

We therefore have many sports security staff that are constantly working and communicating to protect all the athletes, employees and then of course – on event days – fans.

Another layer that was added to our security was when we agreed a deal with Amazon Prime to stream our games live, bringing another layer to our security because anything that disrupts the production could cost lots of money and reflect poorly on the organization.

It’s like a Swiss Army Knife of security – protecting the players, assets, ensuring travel safety and also safeguarding business continuity.

We’ve set up a very robust crisis management plan and put them into place, setting people up into teams that can respond to and mitigate certain situations that could happen to the business and be damaging to the brand.

What has your journey in security been like?

My start in security began in law enforcement. Security and law enforcement are very much intertwined because the goal is the same: it’s the protection of people, property and assets.

While law enforcement is not always the best paid route, it can be something to take pride in. When I was going through business school, I had a moment where I asked myself: why can’t I figure out what I want to do without getting frustrated?

Then one day, I looked in the mirror and I said: why don’t you become a cop do what you wanted to do when you were five years old?

So, I went and did just that, finding my place and somewhere that my talents could shine.

I started with the Forest Park Police Department in Atlanta, Georgia. Forest Park has historically had a very high crime rate, so was therefore a place where I could get lots of experience.

I ended up spending about ten years in law enforcement – my last my last venture was as lieutenant running investigations into homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies and other crimes of that nature.

It then came to a point where I wanted to transition from law enforcement to either law enforcement at a federal level or to the private sector.

I applied to the FBI as well as a range of corporate security jobs. I got to the point where the FBI were asking me to pick my class at Quantico.

At the same time, I got a job offer from AMB Sports and Entertainment, to run security for Atlanta United FC, Atlanta’s new soccer franchise playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

I evaluated both options, but I loved the idea of protecting my hometown team, so I chose sports security. That was in 2017, the inaugural season of Atlanta United.

After only a few years, we had other teams coming to us and asking us how they could put the sports security protocols we developed into place.

We modelled our program very similarly to the National Football League (NFL) because Atlanta United is the brother organization of the Atlanta Falcons.

It got to a point where the program was running by itself, almost on autopilot; it was great. The foundation was there, so anybody that took over would be able to succeed in the role. That’s when I started looking for new opportunities.

My current job at Overtime came up and they needed somebody that knew the sports security world and was able to navigate the difficulty of protecting not only events, but human beings, especially highly recognizable people.

In two years, we’ve built a sports security program that started off with just me and we are now at about 200 contractors throughout the US. Something very small has turned into something phenomenal.

How has your experience in law enforcement helped to shape your roles in security?

I would say the one most important thing that law enforcement taught me that has influenced my sports security career is my expectation when it comes to dealing with emergencies. A normal person might call 911 five times in their life.

Their ability to handle emergencies is small, whereas law enforcement officers encounter difficult scenarios every single day and don’t get tunnel vision.

Another key competence that I have brought over from law enforcement to sports security is my ability to investigate. This has helped with investigations of theft, threats to players and venues and also internal investigations where we’ll work closely with HR departments or with our IT department on any cyber-related incident.

Leadership in law enforcement is also at a totally different level, because you’re leading individuals into situations that could be life or death; it puts things into perspective.

Although there isn’t the same level of risk now, I’m able to deal with it a little bit more calmly – those same principles still apply.

What is it that you enjoy most about sports security?

I grew up loving sports. I played baseball and basketball – and I was decent at both. I also grew up loving my local teams.

There’s a certain sense of camaraderie from supporting these teams and there is also passion of the people from the city that love and buy into their team. Even though it’s entertainment, it still adds an intrinsic value to people’s lives.

While the talent of the players on the field and the coaches really drives the success of a team, the organization around those players enables them to get into the zone while training and playing. If they do not have concerns about their security, they can perform optimally.

Our goal is to therefore to keep on top of sports security to make sure the players don’t worry about the outside world. As a fan, I want to see them do well.

You run a non-profit, educational blog The Sentry Post. Can you tell me about this and why it’s important to you?

The reason I started The Sentry Post is that when I wanted to make a transition into law enforcement, there weren’t a lot of informative resources.

It’s a very treacherous path, because the differences between the corporate world and public sector are quite different.

While not impossible to navigate, if people don’t have the right guidance, they may decide that they’re not doing the right thing and go back.

What I wanted to do with The Sentry Post is explore my experiences and the struggles I encountered moving to sports security, as well as the strategies I put in place to succeed.

When I moved from law enforcement to sports security, I had amazing mentors that were ready to give me time and patience, but others might not have this to hand.

I wanted to pay it forwards, to help other people. This transition is not easy, but it’s completely doable. You have the skills, you just need to be reassured sometimes that you’re on the right path.

There’s no monetary gain from it and it’s a lot of time and effort, but the reward I get is hearing people’s success stories where they took something from my experiences.

What message would you like the security industry to hear?

There’s a passion that I have for security and specifically sports security that is very similar to the passion I had in law enforcement. The reason that I’ve become such a fulfilled ambassador for the industry is because I really believe that we do something that’s different than just being a cog in a corporate machine.

We do our best to ensure that people stay safe and there is no greater calling. If we don’t pay attention, people could get hurt. We’re doing something that’s more than a job – it is a responsibility and a duty so that’s why I pour everything into my job and The Sentry Post.

When I was going through business school, nobody told me that these passionate avenues existed.

My job now is to take the biggest bullhorn yell at the top of my lungs and say that security is a great pathway into the corporate world and there needs to be more people joining this industry.

This article was originally published in the July edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.