Internship

Posted by Jon Jones on May 19th, 2021

Internship

Introduction

Internship is the last stage of the study at the university or college, where a student shows his/her skills and knowledge on his/her subject and the ability to fulfill professional tasks. As a rule, internship is viewed as a free of charge work which is considered to be a practice rather than a work. However, a student can get some fees for doing such a job. Internship in a sports sphere includes such occupations as sports teacher, sports coach, sports specialist, event manager, etc. During the internship students can be volunteers in different sports organizations for kids and women. Such work gives one a possibility to develop more skills in sports profession. Many sports organizations provide places for interns, who want to get more experience in work with children or older athletes. One of such organizations, where I passed my internship is The Police Athletic League (PAL). It is situated in New York and the main idea of this league is to help youth to develop their individual potential. This is a non-profitable organization that exists thanks to public and private donations. It is a designated charity of the Police Department of New York City. It needs a lot of volunteers to conduct their work with youth.

PAL is available for all children of New York City. PAL cooperates with the New York Police to inspire and insure young students and children to develop their skills in sports area. To reach this aim, the organization creates places for games and sport activities where coaches work with children and help to improve their sports skills. The existence of such an organization became possible thanks to the close relations between law enforcement officials and civilian leaders. It was established in 1914 by two police officers with a big heart for people. The two officers ran two separate programs; Play Streets and Junior Police Clubs. Later, two programs were combined and created the basis of the present day Police Athletic League of New York City. The work is run by policemen and volunteers who help children and youth.

Unfortunately, today NY children are exposed to may risk factors in challenging neighborhoods. Such children need special care and support thus, their participation in PAL events inspire them and help them to develop as an equal member of the society. The main programs include Head Start, Junior Police, Summer Youth Employment, etc. Children are also offered such activities as Pal Smarts, Arts and Fit. Math and spelling competitions are taken within the league. Thus, the league helps students to improve their knowledge of some school subjects. Different sports games as stickball, basketball, board games, and dancing are among the variety of summer activities which are held on streets, parks and playgrounds. Children are often invited to participate in craft and art projects. Such activities are free of charge.

Summer Day Camps help children to improve their knowledge on different subjects to avoid loss of academic knowledge during summer holidays. At Summer Camps kids can practice literature, art, sports and even community service. Another type of activity is Seasonal Sports. This activity includes different sports events during a year. Children need to learn how to work in teams while improving their physical skills. Here they can get some valuable experience from professional young people. PAL also holds Juvenile Crime Prevention measures. They hold lectures among children and students in the evenings and tell how to prevent abuse, crime and bullying which can lead to suicides among young people. Such meetings and lectures are held in troubled neighborhoods. The league also runs two development programs; the first one offers youth employment during the summer and second one offers training and employment in-school. Both of these programs help students to improve their leadership skills and gain valuable experience working as volunteers at summer job or in the internship. PAL also provides Services for Children from 3 to 5 years old, including early education through dances and music lessons. They even provide kids with meals free of charge. Thanks to this program, children from disadvantaged families have a chance to get the same education as other children.

PAL also cooperates with the NYPD in order to investigate which neighborhoods need some help from the side of PAL. The PAL programs help to guarantee kids, who live in troubled neighborhoods to develop safely. Police officers visit the meetings of PAL and take an active part in different activities. Such clubs help children to be good citizens of the state. The programs of PAL are evaluated and this information is used to analyze the effectiveness and risks of such activities. This evaluation shows members of PAL how they influence kids and which results have been gained thanks to their volunteer activities. Such initiatives as PA League play a very important role in the life of people with low incomes.

Previous Sports Jobs

My work experience was often combined with volunteer practices. My occupations include such positions as a teacher, a basketball specialist, event manager and a basketball coach in women’s team. First of all, I have worked as 5th and 6th grade teacher in Salve Regina Catholic Academy. I taught children of the secondary school how to develop their personal skills, to reach the success, to be leaders, to work in teams and to be a successful member of the society. The first experience of being a coach was in October- march, 2012-2013 in The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, NY. I worked as a coach in JV Girls Basketball League. My responsibilities included teaching kids how to perform off and on the court. My capability as a coach was improved due to my volunteer work in Positive Direction Royals. I also worked as a volunteer during the Rose Classic Basketball Tournament in spring 2014 and 2015. I made clocks and books. Then I worked in Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, NY. My position was Women's Basketball Assistant Coach. It was in October-November, 2015-2016.

Another occupation was in Madison Square Garden, NY Liberty & Westchester Knicks. I worked in Game day Staff and was a manager of different events. My duties included the organization of different educational and sports events, competitions, etc. My work in Madison Square Garden started in May, 2016 and has continued till nowadays. My responsibilities include: grabbing rebounds, setting up the arena for the game, washing towels in between and after the game. I have also participated in the work of Police Athletic League from June till August, 2017. I worked there as a basketball specialist. It was only a summer period but I got a valuable experience from that work. I was shown how to treat children from the low class and help them to develop their internal potential. We organized different outdoors activities and competitions for kids. Basketball was one of the favorite games of those children. I worked in a Summer Camp, but I would like to continue my volunteering in this league as I believe that it is important to help children even though such work is not paid.

Internship Experience

I have also gained an internship experience working in sports organizations such as Women's Sports Foundation. I worked there as an intern in autumn of 2014. My duties included planning and coordination of annual salute events. These events were organized to reveal women’s talents and skills in sports. I was also responsible for marketing and promoting of event and creating-flyers and pamphlets. I was a basketball coach of some kids in the local neighborhood. I worked from 11 am to 4 pm in Queens,NY. I was responsible for registering of participant in Summer Camp, organizing sports clinics and sports leagues at Park of the Americas. I interacted with youth and observed workers. In addition, I organized fitness activities and engaged with various stakeholders such as assemblyman and other community leaders.

My internship was an exciting experience for me and I was not tired of my duties and responsibilities. What is more important, my internship was closely related to my career specialization. My high school has assisted me to find a place for the internship. I came to this work with recommendations to the director from my educational establishment. I realized that that job was necessary for me as it helped me to get ready for a future work while improving my skills. Though the position was temporary because of the rules of the internship, I was ready to work hard because it was in my interests to gain experience. During my internship I worked with children, organized different events thus, I had an opportunity to understand if it was my future career or I needed to try my skills in another sphere. Theoretical part of education cannot show all advantages and disadvantages of one's future work meanwhile practice can do it.

Though in such spheres as medicine, sports and law interns are paid for their work, I worked without any stipend. Sometimes, students opt to choose virtual internship, when one can work remote and not to be present at working place. Such work is conducted with the help of phones, emails, Skype or other means of web communication. Thus, interns have a possibility to work by their own. When considering such an option I came to realize that only internship in the working atmosphere could help me to improve my skills and gain a better understanding of my future job. After completion of my internship, it was clear that the work with children, organizing activities for them and managing sports events was interesting for me and I had no regrets that I chose that type of the internship even though I worked as a volunteer. Many people do not understand volunteering as they consider it to be the waste of time because at such a position an intern does not get any wages. I do not agree with such point of view as I believe, students have to participate in such activities in order to help sports to survive in the modern world.

Analyzing my internship, I can say that it was very useful for me because it gave me good work experience. I worked with children, organized different sports events and helped in holding them. My previous working positions are closely connected with my duties while being an intern. During my working practice I was responsible for teaching students as I worked as a basketball specialist and a basketball coach in women’s team. In both cases: at school and in Summer Camp I taught children how to develop their personal skills in order to reach the success. In PAL, I also worked in Summer Camp as a basketball specialist. That work provided me with a valuable work experience. I was shown how to work with children from the low class so as to help them to develop their internal potential. My work experience in Madison Square Garden, NY Liberty & Westchester Knicks included the organization of different educational and sports events. During my internship, I also worked as a manager of Annual Salute events to recognize women in sports. It was interesting as I worked in The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, NY. I worked as a coach in JV Girls Basketball League. I taught girls how play on the court. I also worked in Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, and was Women's Basketball Assistant Coach. It was similar experience as during my internship.

My Goals after the Internship

In future I am going to be an athletic director (AD) or a general manager (GM) of a sports organization. First of all, I want to explain the duties of an athletic director. The responsibilities of AD include checking and analyzing sports programs at different educational institutions. Athletic directors are responsible for budgeting, promotion or organizing sports events for sports teams. However, they work not directly with athletes. They deal with hiring or firing coaches. Other responsibilities include legal and ethics compliance; fundraising. The most important duties of an AD are allocating money and finding sponsors for donation, scheduling games and ordering equipment. To fulfill such responsibilities, it is necessary to have perfect organizational skills and knowledge of human psychology. All of this I have gained during my internship as I had to communicate with children and adults. A great part of this job requires to follow all legal regulations and ethics standards. Athletes programs in colleges have to meet the requirements of NCAA conference regulations. For example, if an AD realizes that some students or coaches behave themselves not properly, he has to report about it to state or conference officials in order to investigate and solve the problem. To obtain such a position one has to have a bachelor’s degree. My internship as a voluntary assistant at the women’s basketball league gave me a hands-on experience and helped to build contacts in this field. At the same time, I understand that I have to improve my communicative skills, analytical thinking, and skills of problem solving and decision-making in order to be hired for such a responsible job.

At the same time, a profession of a general manager also attracts me as it is closely related to a position of an athletic director. I like to organize different sports events, to manage some sports organizations, to search for personnel. General Managers in sports sphere are responsible for hiring and firing the personnel. They are the greatest power in the personnel department. Their duties include hiring head coaches and administrative personnel, determining standards for scouting college prospects, following all regulations, set by the conference. To be a general manager it is necessary to have such personal qualities as self-discipline, responsibility and communicative skills among others. Working as an intern, I got these qualities as I was responsible for children and had to keep a good discipline in the women’s team. In order to be successful general manager, one should be passionate about the players and the sport. It is also necessary to be fearless and strong in making difficult decisions, and to be able to stay calm in difficult situations. General managers have to handle financial problems, determine compensation for players and money, needed for equipment. During my internship I was responsible for managing sports events and I leant how to cope with different situations, how to treat sportsmen. This experience will help me to fulfill the duties of GM well. GM can also manage business but they have to understand sports business, to be aware of business administration, etc.. Thus, to reach my goals I need to gain more experience in accounting and business administration. Very often ordinary coaches can reach success and become general managers so I can start working as a coach and then to get promoted to a higher positions. My work and internship experience involves the performance of such duties as management operations, coaching and promoting of sports teams. All these duties are valuable experience for my future career. My volunteering as a basketball coach of children in the local neighborhood showed me how to register participants, to organize sports clinics and sports leagues. I also organized fitness activities among adults. All these responsibilities are the part of the work of GM.

So, my internship prepared me to such a job and I am going to follow my goal and to succeed in my career. During my internship I communicated with the general managers of different sports organizations and understood that they began their career in low position managing local sports teams or taking part in sports clubs, but thanks to their persistence and responsibility they were promoted to general manager position. My internship has provided me with such experience. Nevertheless, to reach my aim, I want to get a degree in sports management which will help me to gain proper knowledge on strategies of sports management. My participation in the internship has a great meaning for my future career as I have practiced different duties and has reached success in their fulfillment.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is possible to say that the idea of the internship, even unpaid or paid partially, is valuable for students who are on their last year of study or just want to try their future job in the middle of their study to understand if this profession is suitable for them or if they need to change their career goals. The internship gives a possibility to obtain valuable experience and knowledge in the sphere of a future profession. It also gives one a possibility to try to fulfill different duties which are necessary to get a permanent working position after the end of the study. Different charity events, which are held in order to pay for the internship of students from poor families, have a great meaning for students who cannot pay for their study but want to develop their skills and to get success in their future career. As for my job experience and volunteering in PAL, it is possible to say that such places of work give students who are on their last year of study as great possibility to get valuable experience and skills in their professional spheres and to be well-prepared for future career. Their employers will not have to train them specifically as the students have already got all necessary knowledge and know how to work in a definite sport area. Such organizations as PAL, make a great contribution to the development and education of children from poor families. They help to reduce the level of juvenile delinquency among such teenagers, giving them special lectures in the evenings after lessons and supporting them in sports and other learning activities. Volunteers do a great job as they fulfill their work with love and passion.