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Fayetteville HorizonSemiProfessional Football Team
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Analysis
Summer 2013
Table of Contents
Fayetteville HorizonInternship Analysis
CommunityFayetteville, NC 1
MarketingFayetteville Horizon 3The Horizon Brand 3Why Create the Brand? 3Promotion and Publicity 3
Social Media 3Fundraisers and Community Service 3
Organizational StructureOrganizational Structure 7Policy Making Decisions 7Communication 7Organizational Chart 8
Personnel PoliciesPersonnel Policies 10
Fiscal PoliciesCar Wash Fundraisers 12Ticket & Concession Sales 12Player Dues 12Cash Control 12Budget and Purchasing Policies 12Organizational Expenses 12
Facilities and AreasFacilities Operated 14
Gameday Procedure 14
Major ProjectsCar Wash Fundraisers 16Community Service Events 16Player Meet & Greets 17
Personnel EvaluationMy Experience 19Job Description 19Agency Information 20Special Project 20Discussion Board Posts 22Evaluations
MidTerm 27Project 29Final 30
Fayetteville Horizon SemiProfessionalFootball
PRT 475
Fayetteville, NC
Arthur Freeman
Summer 2013
Fayetteville Horizon Summer InternshipSummer 2013
Community
Geographic, SocioDemographic, & Leisure Characteristics
Fayetteville, NCFayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County within the state of North Carolina. The city
ranks as the sixth largest municipality in North Carolina with a population of 374,157 and is the largestin Southeastern North Carolina. There are several suburban areas surrounding Fayetteville includingSpring Lake, Fort Bragg, Raeford, Hope Mills, Pope Air Force Base, Stedman, and Eastover. The cityhas a total area of 60.0 square miles with 58.8 square miles of land and 1.2 square miles of water.
There were 200,564 people, 48,414 households, with 31,662 families living within the city as ofthe 2010 census. The city is broken down as 42.74% White, 49.76% African American, 5.67%Hispanic, 2.19% Asian American, 1.1% Native American, 0.22% Pacific Islander, 2.53% anotherrace, and 2.78% two or more races. Of the 48,414 households, 31.8% had children under the age of18. The population had 25.4% under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44,19.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 or older.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,287, and the median income for a familywas $41,210. Males had a median income of $30,493 versus $23,477 for females. The per capitaincome for the city was $19,141. 14.8% of the population and 11.7% of families were below thepoverty line. 21.4% of those under the age of 18 and 14.4% of those 65 and older were living belowthe poverty line.
The city has several leisure and sport related options included a variety of semiprofessional andminor league teams in addition to the Horizon. These teams include the Fayetteville Fireantz HockeyTeam of the SPHL, the Cape Fear Heroes of the AIFA Indoor Football League, and the FayettevilleSwampdogs Baseball Team of the Coastal Plain League. Another popular leisure attraction is the CapeFear River Trail; a part of the East Coast greenway that connects from Maine to Key West, Florida.There are also various golf courses, tennis courts, public swimming pools, parks, and athletic tracks forcitizens to use.
Marketing Plan
& Methods of Promotion and Publicity
Fayetteville HorizonThe Fayetteville Horizon are coowned by Raymond Bradley and Vincent Burruss. Mr. Bradley
also serves as the team’s head coach. Jacqueline Bradley serves as the administrative assistant and theteam has a host of assistant coaches.
The Horizon BrandThe Horizon follow the mission statement of the GDFL (Gridiron Development Football
League) which is to provide “the community with high quality sports entertainment and to provideathletes the opportunity to participate in pro development sports.” The team strives to provide a familyfriendly atmosphere and a professional quality product on the field to the fans of Fayetteville and thesurrounding areas.
Why Create the Brand?The aim of crafting the Horizon brand is to create brand loyalty and a creditable reputation
within the community. The hope is that a fan or family will come to a Horizon game or event and enjoythemselves to the point that they would return and spread the word about their experiences to othersthrough word of mouth or by sharing the team’s social media pages.
Promotion and Publicity
Social MediaIn order to reach out to the local community the Horizon have used a wide variety of marketing
techniques. At the center of this marketing plan is the use of social media. The players and fans of theHorizon come from very different ways of life but social media is a common link between them. In orderto reach these players and fans there are Horizon official team pages for Facebook, Twitter, andInstagram. These pages are used to provide updated information regarding practices, gameday scores,and any information regarding the team included fundraisers and appearances. Photos of each of thesepages are at the end of this section.
These websites have been chosen as the primary method of marketing and promotion due toseveral factors. The first being cost; these pages are all free as opposed to television or radiocommercials which can be very expensive. A second factor being accessibility. The currentdemographic that the Horizon are reaching out to are residents of Fayetteville and the surrounding areasthat are aged 1340. These people are the ones that are deemed most likely to come out and see thegames in person. Social Media continues to grow within this demographic and having the team be righton that person’s timeline or Twitter feed it allows the team to quickly and effectively put out informationwhile simultaneously advertising.
Fundraisers and Community ServiceIn keeping with the mission of community the Horizon make a point to complete at least one
community service event a month. These events can range from having a group of players come speakin front of elementary and middle school students to holding a football fundamentals day camp in orderto introduce football to the kids of the community while promoting safe football techniques. Theseevents allow the team to give back to those that support it.
In order to cover the costs of field rentals, travel costs, and league dues the Horizon have heldfundraisers occasionally. These fundraisers also ensure that the team doesn’t have to raise prices fortickets or player dues. These fundraisers are often local car washes done by the players and coaches.The car washes have served as an effective way to raise funds as well as increase the team’s presencewithin the community. The local businesses that host the event also benefit from the additional exposurethrough the team’s multiple social media pages.
Organizational Structure
Policy making decisions & their relationship to staff
Organizational StructureThe Fayetteville Horizon are led by CoOwners Raymond Bradley and Vincent Burruss. As the
CoOwners all staff members and players report to either Mr. Bradley or Mr. Burruss. Theadministrative responsibilities are held by Jacqueline Bradley, whose official title is AdministrativeAssistant. Mr. Bradley’s responsibilities also extend to the field as the Head Coach with all coachesreporting to him directly. Johnny McNair serves as the Assistant Head Coach and second in commandto the team.
The coaching staff is divided into Offensive and Defensive responsibilities. The offensive coachset is led by Offensive Coordinator Reginald Dobbins with Leslie Thorne serving as the assistantOffensive Coordinator. The defensive coach set is led by Harold Smith Sr, the Defensive Coordinator.Serving under him are Harold Smith Jr, the linebackers coach, and Anthony Emanuel, the defensive linecoach.
As the intern I reported directly to Mr. Bradley regarding any changes or updates being madeto the team’s various social media outlets. Throughout my time assisting with practices however I hadthe opportunity to interact with each of the various position coaches and learn their individualresponsibilities.
Policy Making Procedural Decisions
When it comes to making major decisions regarding the team Mr. Bradley and Mr. Burrussbelieve in allowing all sides a voice regarding the issue before making a decision. This policy extendsfrom personnel decisions to questions regarding fundraising. The only decisions that were left solely upto Mr. Bradley and Mr. Burruss were those regarding travel arrangements for the team. They woulddecide what time and the location for the team to meet in order to board the team bus, outside of this allother issues were open to the other coaches to provide their own thoughts or opinions.
CommunicationConstant communication was kept between Mr. Bradley and I. We would speak before and
after each practice; these meetings would take place at the practice field and would either go over theplan for that day or discuss upcoming events for the team. We would also meet several times throughoutthe week to discuss various projects and ideas for the social media sites. One additional weekly meetingwould be required in order to break down film from the previous week’s game with all the coachespresent and compile the game statistics so that I could upload them to the team website as soon aspossible. On game days I would meet with Mr. Bradley several hours before the game to go over thelogistics of the event and to discuss any tasks that were required of me for that particular event.
Keeping this open line of communication allowed me to stay close to the decision makingprocess that goes into a situation. I was able to be included in conversations that only other coacheswere allowed in. This unlimited access was refreshing as there were no conversations off limits for me tohear and learn from.
Personal Policies
Associate Practices and Procedures
Personal PracticesEach coach/ team associate is responsible for being present and on time for each practice and
on the day of an event or game. Coaches schedule meetings to discuss upcoming games throughout theweek as they see necessary. They are also responsible for making sure the players within theirdepartment are fully aware of the game plan or any changes for the upcoming opponent.
For players looking to join the team they must first sign a contract that lasts until the end of thecurrent season. Players are required to put down a $150 deposit before they can receive a jersey andare allowed to participate in practices. The remaining $250 is required before a player can participate inan official game. Players are also required to report to the site of a game two hours before kickoff.There isn’t a required number of practices that a player must attend before participating in a game butthey are encouraged to be at as many as they can possibly attend. There is an occasionally team meetingthat requires mandatory attendance from all players and coaches with no exception.
Fiscal Policies
Purchasing Procedures & Sources of Funding
Fiscal PoliciesCar Wash Fundraisers
If at any point during one of these fundraisers someone was handed money as payment theywere required to immediately give it to Mr. Bradley who was responsible for storing and tallying theamount earned at the end of the day. He would report the total earned to those present at the end of theevent.
Ticket & Concession SalesThe funds that were collected from these two events would be placed in a respective lockbox.
The person working at that station would be responsible for ensuring all money was secured in thelockbox by the end of the night and that the boxes were returned to Mr. or Mrs. Bradley.
Player DuesPlayers are required to pay a $150 deposit in order to practice with the team and pay the
remaining $250 before they can officially play in a game. All player due money was reported directly toMr. Bradley who kept a player invoice sheet that had the amount of money every player owed, if any.
Mr. Bradley would then provide the player paying a receipt of their payment for their personal records.If a player does not pay the required dues by the fifth game of the season they are dropped from theteam’s roster and their jersey is available for any other players to claim as their own.
Cash ControlAll cash must be kept locked away in a security box until it is deposited in the bank by Mr.
Bradley. There are at least two copies to the keys needed to open any given security box. One is givento the person responsible for that particular box on that day and the other is kept with either Mr. orMrs. Bradley at all times.
Budget & Purchasing ProceduresAny purchases must be first approved by either Mr. Bradley or Mr. Burruss. They are also
responsible for setting the budget for the year and making sure that the appropriate funds are availablefor events as needed. Any cash or credit cards can only be obtained and approved by either Mr.Bradley or Mr. Burruss and any purchases must include a receipt showing the item purchased and anyappropriate change that is owed.
Organizational Expenses include:UniformsField RentalsRefereesBus RentalSideline Equipment
Facilities and Areas
Maintenance Plans & Practices
Facilities OperatedFor the first four weeks of my internship the team would practice in the outfield of a baseball
field located at Seabrook Park, 708 Langdon St, Fayetteville, NC. This field was very basic andrequired no maintenance by the organization. It was, however, a temporary field as their usual practicefields were being resodded. After those four weeks the team began practicing at the fields of Reid RossHigh School located at 3200 Ramsey St, Fayetteville, NC. For coaching meetings or for filmbreakdowns the coaches and I would meet at Mr. Bradley’s home or at a rec center located atSeabrook Park.
The fields located at Reid Ross were maintained by Cumberland County and required noadditional work from the organization. The team was forced to use a variety of fields to host homegames due to weather and county restrictions making their traditional field at Reid Ross unusable. Thiswas a significant issue as one game was forced to be forfeited due to a last minute field cancellation themorning of a game. Unfortunately for the team, there are no other suitable facilities within the countyavailable for use that aren’t run by the Cumberland County Department of Parks and Recreation. I
would put the need to find a more permanent field as one of the top issues that need to be addressed bythe organization before their next season.
Gameday ProcedureThe day of a game the players and I would do a walk over the field to make sure it was flat,
even, and devoid of any holes. If any had been found then a bag of dirt would be used to fill in the holeas needed. The sidelines were also checked to ensure that their paint was straight. The final facilitycheck was to make sure the stadium clock was operating and functional as well as the stadium lights.Tents, benches, and coolers were set along the team sideline as well as various tools, equipment, andathletic tape that the players might need at any time throughout the game.
Major Programs
A Description & Analysis
Car Wash FundraisersThe car wash fundraiser was one that was used several times throughout the summer as it would
not serve as a way to gain funding for the team but double as increased exposure for the team to thelocal community. The day would often have at least a dozen players and coaches meet at a popularlocation within the community. Popular restaurants such as Golden Corral or Hooters were commonlyused. These locations not only hosted a large number of people on any given day but they were alsolocation along major roads within the city of Fayetteville allowing for the most exposure to not onlythose going into the business but also those driving by.
These events would last from early in the morning, approximately 10 AM, until about 5 in the
afternoon. The players in attendance would show up with their gameday jerseys on and often woreclothes that would match the team colors of orange and white. I felt this idea was a great touch becausepeople are often attracted to the simple presence of a large player and wearing the jersey caused a lotof people to take a second look at the event going on. Another smart touch was the days that these carwashes were held on; thursdays and fridays. All of the team’s games occurred on Saturdays so byhaving these events in the days leading up to the weekend it planted the idea in those that attended. Thecity is known for often having a limited number of weekend activities so by presenting the Horizon assomething new and different that the whole family could attend was very successful.
In all these events were often very successful in terms of both finances and raising localawareness. The team was also able to build public relations with local businesses which often led toadditional marketing. These businesses were receiving additional business thanks to the car washeshappening in their parking lot so the arrangement was a winwin for all parties involved. In terms offinances the events would easily raise several hundred dollars and being able to have multiple carwashes on the same day only increased the funds and exposure that could be obtained.
Community Service EventsThe community service events were a way to spread awareness about the team and to promote
the Horizon brand as a safe and family friendly way to spend a saturday. These events were mostlyspeaking engagements with various groups within the community. The most common would haveplayers go to a local middle or elementary school and talk to the students about the importance of aneducation and how critical it was that they continue their studies. The children would then go home andtell their parents about the guest speakers they had and that positive image would be associated with theorganization and would hopefully lead to them attending a game. Reaching this target population servedas a crafty way to get both kids and parents to attend games.
Following the same formula of the car wash fundraiser, players would go to these eventswearing their gameday jerseys which helped raise their profile to those listening and would help them bemore engaging with their listeners.
Player Meet & GreetsPlayer meet and greets would occur before or after a home game. The event would allow fans
to come down to the field and interact with the players, ask questions, and get a question or autograph.The events were able to serve as another way to get the fans involved with the team and as a way toimprove the fan experience of attending a game.
Personal Evaluation
My Experiences & Job Description
Personal EvaluationMy experience working with the Fayetteville Horizon was an eye opening experience. It served
as the first internship I’d ever been accepted for and completed so while I don’t have anotherexperience to compare it with I still had many feelings and experiences following the completion of the
ten weeks. Overall, I would consider my time with the organization to be a positive one. I learned manythings regarding the day to day tasks that come with running an organization which can be quite differentfrom trying to run a football team.
When I reflect on the positive experiences of my time with the organization I find that they’reoften associated with the coaches and players associated with the team. These individuals all did theirbest to help me and ensure that my time with the team was a successful one. Many of the highlights forme came from personal discussions that came before or after practice about things outside of footballand running a team. The team motto is that they’re a family and the people involved really embody thatmindset. I also enjoyed the weekly tasks that I was responsible for. They were mostly interacting withthe football team which is something I would definitely enjoy doing as a career.
The weekly tasks served as the best and worst experiences of the internship for me. While I didlike what I was doing the tasks could get tedious after several weeks. I also felt that there was more thatI could contribute to the team in the form of game planning and working with the team. Although I wasallowed to be in the room for most of the team’s discussions I wasn’t allowed much input. Whileworking on my special project with marketing and team promotions I was very limited with whatavenues I could pursue due to financial and personnel constraints within the team. My original intent wasto branch out and use more traditional media such as radio and local sponsors in addition to the use ofsocial media. These limitations would be the two major suggestions I could see as improvements for theinternship. Other than these issues I truly enjoyed my time with the team and will definitely keep in touchwith them beyond this past summer and look forward to seeing them in the future.
Job DescriptionThroughout my time working with the Fayetteville Horizon I was tasked with a variety of
activities that would vary from week to week this was in addition to the set of responsibilities that Iwould consistently be required to do.
The first major task of the week would be for me to meet with Mr. Bradley and break downfilm from the previous week’s game. I would review the footage and help critique various playersperformance while reviewing and making notes on the team’s game plan going into the game. I wouldthen review the film an additional time in order to track and talley the stats from the game. These statswould be used to back check the statistics I had taken during the game along the sideline. After totallingthe stats from the game, I would go to the team’s website and upload the team’s statistics to the leaguewebsite.
The next weekly task would be to attend practices. These would often happen twice a week ontuesday and thursday evenings. I would often arrive early and meet with the coaches and havediscussions on a wide variety of topics that could range from football to my own academics. Oncepractice began I would assist coaches in setting up any necessary equipment and add any of my owninput regarding player personal. I would also work as a ball boy and help any players with anyequipment needs. Following practice I would make sure all the equipment used had been recovered andgiven to one of the coaches. The coaches often would stay after practice so I would listen to their
conversations regarding the team and any upcoming events or changes that were necessary.Any community service events would often happen on a wednesday due to the days assigned to
practices and I would make a point to attend as many of these events as possible. These could rangefrom speaking before elementary school students to various activities within the community.
Saturdays would be the day of games so I would arrive several hours before kickoff to meetwith Mr. Bradley and setup various booths and equipment as necessary. These booths would includeticketing and concessions. Pregame responsibilities would include making sure all players had thenecessary equipment and proper team equipment, such as kickoff tees and game balls, nearby. Oncethe game started I would be in charge of taking player statistics and would walk the sideline tallyingthem to the best of my ability.
Agency Contact InformationCoOwner/ Head Coach Raymond BradleyPhone: (910) 8180415Location: 3200 Ramsey St, Fayetteville, NC, 28390
Special ProjectFor my special project I was placed in charge of the team’s marketing and promotions. My
job was to try and raise as much local awareness about the team as possible. Given the size of theorganization and it’s level of competition I was limited in what means of media I would be able to useand thus chose to focus on using social media as the primary form of marketing.
I began by taking hold of the teams existing Facebook page. The team had already gotten asubstantial amount of followers in comparison to some of the other teams within the GridironDevelopment Football League and my goal was to continue that growth. In addition to the Facebookpage, I created a Instagram and Twitter page for the team.
These three websites would serve as the focal point of the marketing campaign. The use ofTwitter allowed me to quickly update followers with game scores and big plays as they happened on thesideline. This was especially useful when the team was on the road and fans previously wouldn’t be ableto get any updates until halftime or once the game was over. The Facebook page would be keptupdated with statuses regarding team practices, travel times, fundraisers, or community events. The mainsource used however was the team’s Instagram page. I would take pictures of the team before, during,or after games and upload them to the site; some of these photos are attached at the end of this section.In addition to these photos updates regarding the location and times of games as well as final scoreswere uploaded. These photos were very popular and served as an effective way to reach out to fans ofthe team.
Over the course of the season I was responsible for maintaining and updating these websites.Additional responsibilities included handling any fan interactions that occurred through the sites. Theseinteractions were often short message exchanges or emails providing details regarding the team’srecord, upcoming game information, or ticket and merchandise questions. Handling these questions was
critical because the social media websites served as the primary way for fans of the team to gain anynew information.
Discussion Board PostsWeek 1
My internship is with the Fayetteville Horizon, a semiprofessional football team in Fayetteville, NC. Theteam has a staff of 58 employees/coaches and approximately 50 players signed to the team. So far I'vebeen tasked with many different roles within the organization. These range from observing and assistingpractices to helping car wash fundraisers. I'm enjoying the experience so far and have learned a lot whileshadowing Head Coach/Owner Raymond Bradley. During my first week as an intern, I was surprisedby how few people are actual employees with the organization. I think this is due to my understanding ofNFL/NCAA teams which have dozens of people on staff and while I wasn't expecting a staff anywherenear that size the small number was surprising. During my next 2 weeks, I anticipate my role expandingto game day operations and having a bigger role in practices beyond observing and setting up. I havereceived the following types of orientation so far through discussions with the various coaches and someof the players. All of the coaches have been extremely friendly and open to any questions or ideas that Ipropose.
Week 2
The biggest issue so far within my internship has been a lack of responsibility during the week. Therehaven’t been as many opportunities to get involved, outside of assisting in practices, as I would havehoped to have two weeks into my experience. I’m hoping to see an increase while traveling with theteam for my first road game this weekend.
So far my first two weeks have consisted of helping out with practices and assisting the coaches with theteam’s players while providing ideas to help game plan for the upcoming oppornet. I have alsoparticipated in a car wash fundraiser to help raise money to help cover referee costs and field rentalexpenses. I participated in my first game by arriving early to help set up the field as well as the ticketbooth and a food stand. I also got the chance to work the chain gang on the sideline and help thereferees. I’ve started looking at game film as well breaking down tendencies as well as updating theteam’s statistics. Below is a photo of the team just before the last game.
Week 3
The most valuable organizational policy that I’ve learned so far has how my supervisor delegates thevarious responsibilities within the team to his assistant coaches. At any given time there can be up to fivecoaches involved on a single play. While this can be confusing at times, it helps ensure that no oneperson is shouldering too much of the load. These differing perspectives can be especially helpful inensuring that an idea or plan is looked at from all angles.In relation to this setting I think communicationis extremely critical, if a single coach or player isn’t on the same page as everyone else then wholesystem can fall apart. I’ve also noticed players and coaches spending lots of time working just onrecognition and commendation within the team so that everyone sees and understands the same thing.
In relation to communication with other staff, I feel that many of them are willing to listen to your ideasand listen as long as you’re willing to reciprocate the same respect. There are however some playersthat are difficult to communicate with who seem to take the approach that they know everything or arealways right which can be a challenge. I’ve learned how to take a more associative approach asopposed to a leadership stance and defer to those with more experience than I when the situation arises.
Overall things are continuing to improve for myself within the organization. I’ve started working on theteam’s social media establishing both a Twitter and Instagram account to try and promote the team tonew fans. The rainy weather from last week has been a difficulty, forcing practices to be cancelled and aroad trip to Rock Hill, SC to be postponed due to field conditions.
Week 4
The past week has been an eventful one. The team has been preparing for it’s final road trip of theseason to Beaufort, South Carolina. This trip was a long one taking over three hours to reach thedestination each way. I was able to travel with the team and assist in their game day operations helpingto ensure the bus was fully packed with everyone’s equipment, ensuring the sidelines had the properdrinks and training equipment, as well as taking the game’s stats. This current week I will be breakingdown the film of the game and adjusting the final stats before uploading them to the team’s website.
For my special project I plan to improve the team’s social media status. I’ve already begun this bycreating a Twitter and Instagram account and have been updating each with news and photos of theteam both at home and on the road. My goal with this is to increase local awareness of the team andthus help improve fan attendance at games. Having the team’s website and Facebook accounts up todate are two additional factors that I plan to address in the upcoming weeks.
Communication has been the biggest lesson from my PRT classes that has been helpful so far with thisinternship. Being able to reach out to others by phone, email, or social media has been a great skill topossess. Thankfully having a smart phone makes this task easier when I’m on the go or on a bustraveling and cannot reach a computer.
The photo below was taken at the road game (a 2820 victory) this past sunday in Beaufort, SC. Whileit is difficult to see I am on the back side of the players helping them loosen up while they go over thegame plan with Coach Bradley and Coach Dobbins (the two men wearing the orange polo shirts). Beingable to be down on the field before and during games has been a great experience and allowed me tosee the game from a perspective that you wouldn’t be able to appreciate as a player.
Week 5
My evaluation with Mr. Bradley was a good one. It was very enlightening and helped us set some goalsfor the rest of my time with the organization. I felt the discussion was fair as we discussed both thepositives and negatives of my experience so far and how to improve them towards the future.
One area of professional growth that I’m determined to work on is better communication between mysupervisors and I. Communication is a critical part of any business and it’s something I can get better at.
My first meaningful interaction with a client occurred over Instagram. The person lived in the area andwas trying to find out more information regarding the time and location of games. Being the reason thiscustomer discovered the team and became interested in seeing them play made the interaction veryrewarding. The second came while discussing tactics with Coach Smith. I had an idea for the upcoming
game and was proposing it to him. While he has been coaching for many years the fact that he waswilling to listen and take my ideas under consideration was very rewarding.
I enjoy interacting with the customers because they serve as the life to any organization. It’s important tomake sure they’re satisfied and their concerns met so that they continue to come back.
I enjoy working with the staff because they’re all very open to you. No matter who has an idea toimprove the team they don’t mind listening and considering the idea. This mindset is one that is verywelcoming to all that are involved no matter what their position is.
For my cognitive self care I’ve been constantly reminding myself that it’s ok to make a mistake as this isa huge learning experience and to absorb everything that I can. For my physical self care I’ve beenworking out and running to burn any extra energy and to help relieve stress. Emotionally I’ve beenpretty steady and haven’t needed any coping strategies.
Week 6
The first funny story I can think of would be during a recent team event; a scrimmage against anotherlocal team that played in a different league. During warmups this other team was talking a lot of trash toour players, which motivated them to perform at their best. At the end of the two hour scrimmage theopposing team hadn’t scored a single point and the taunts coming from our sideline weren’t rude butpretty funny and they made sure to comment on each player as the scrimmage progressed. While thesejokes wouldn’t be considered “clean” they were funny and the team all bonded over them.
The first programming skill I learned was how to use the table tablet in order to review game film whiletraveling to games. This proved to be a handy tool to have when you don’t have constant wifi or a tvand dvd player to watch videos on. The second programming skill I learned was how to edit and updatea website. I learned how to work on the team’s website and have been updating it with photos andgame statistics as well as linking it to the team’s social media sites.
Thankfully I haven’t had any intense deadlines yet while interning but the most pressure I have had hasbeen to always be at the right place and time whenever an event is taking place. I think it reflects poorlyon myself as an intern to not be there on time or early if necessary so I’ve constantly giving myselfenough time to drive to whatever place I need to be and setting several alarms on my phone to makesure I don’t forget to leave.
There hasn’t been any specific software required of most of my activities working with the team. Theorganization and it’s league site are run by Sport Ngin websites so I’m required to use their software toupdate any new information.
My preferences at work include being involved with the activities that are going on. I prefer to be at theheart of the action as opposed to being off on the side in a cubicle or on the sidelines.
Two of my professional strengths include good organizational management and a strong analyticalmindset. Both of these skills can assist me in a wide variety of situations and even help me with my
school work.
Week 7
I recently had an experience that combined both somthing that I did to help the organization andsomething helping a client. This past week there was a problem with the venue for game on saturday. Asa result, the location of the game was changed twice by thursday morning. I spent time throughout theweek answering emails and private messages from almost a dozen customers keeping them updated onthe changes to the venue and time of the game so they would be able to attend the game. Thisinteraction helped both the customers and the organization in that both were informed and able to fulfillthe needs of the other.
My own learning has benefited by seeing just how much dedication and time is required to be successfulin the sport industry. It truly is a field that you must be 100% committed to. In the future I will take thesememories and use them to further motivate myself to succeed in the field of sports.
A positive role model for me thus far has been assistant coach Harold Smith Sr. We’ve had manydiscussions over the past few weeks and he’s always stressed on me to be focused on the goals that Ihave and to not let anything get me sidetracked. He’s recounted many stories of people he’s met whowere on the track to be successful but got distracted and lost their way. He’s been a very positive forceboth in the organization and for me personally.
Week 8
A recent conflict occurred between the head coach Mr. Bradley and I. We had discussed a time andlocation to meet and exchange game film so that I could break it down as well as record the statisticsfrom that game. The conflict came when I arrived at what I thought was the location we were supposedto meet at and didn’t see anyone so I left after waiting thirty minutes. Later that afternoon I received aphone call from Mr. Bradley, who I could tell was slightly irritated that I hadn’t met with him. The mixupwas a result of miscommunication over which building we were supposed to meet at and had resulted inus both waiting in separate buildings that were just across a parking lot from each other. I explainedwhere I had thought we were supposed to meet and we both realized the mistake that we both hadmade in not being clear which building to meet at. I remembered back to when I was in SportAdministration where we discussed how miscommunication can easily occur if one or both parties don’tfully comprehend the message between the sender and receiver. This issue wasn’t one involving ethicsbut understanding.
There’s many traits that would help be successful at my agency but the main one that I would suggestwould be consistency. Always showing up on time for events and always be willing to do the work thatis required of you for that particular day. In general I think any intern must be open minded. They’recoming to an agency to learn and grow from the experience and I don’t think that’s possible if you comein and act like you know everything.
My special project is progressing. I’ve tried to find different ways to increase exposure for the team thathas led to mixed results. I wasn’t able to upload the photos from the last game unfortunately because my
phone froze and erased them from the memory card. The page is still growing however and I hope toreach my desired number of hits by the end of my ten weeks.
Week 9
One memorable customer was a gentleman who reached out to me through the team’s Instagram page.This man was emailing me on behalf of his grandfather who had been grown and raised in Fayetteville.In all this man’s life he had never heard of any kind of professional football team that actuallyrepresented the city of Fayetteville and he was very interested in coming to the next home game. Thisinteraction stuck out to me because I thought it was kind of touching how important an organization canbe to a community and how proud some people are knowing their city is being represented.
I’d have a very positive evaluation for Dr. Casper. He has consistently been a resource for informationor advice if I needed it. Knowing that he was just a quick email or phone call away was very reassuring.I’ll provide Dr. Casper honest feedback on my internship within my final report and portfolio in thesection dedicated to my personal evaluation.
Week 10
I enjoyed my internship experience. There were many learning opportunities and I was able to get agreater understanding for the business of sport and the responsibilities that go with running a sportorganization. Many of the positive aspects centered around working with players and staff who werevery helpful and willing to stop and help me. They were critical in making the experience a positive one.I felt I could have been given additional responsibilities so that would be a factor that could be improvedfor any future interns. This internship allowed me to get comfortable working with deadlines andresponsibilities in sports business which I had never previously done. These experiences absolutelyprovided the greatest personal growth for myself. I would recommend this organization to future PRTstudents in need of an internship and would tell that they would get an opportunity to have their ownresponsibilities but still have a stable support system behind them to help if the need arises.
Sport Administration severed as the helpful course when relating to this experience. I was able to lookback at previous material and identify different leadership, learning, and business styles. Another helpfulclass was PRT 375 Internship Orientation. If not for that class I wouldn’t have been as preparedmentally for the challenges of working for an organization or the responsibilities that come with the PRT376 class.
