Support
This summer, I had the opportunity to work in the New England Collegiate Baseball League as an Operations Intern for the Keene Swampbats. This internship lasted 2 months as we arrived at the end of May and left at the beginning of August.
I was very excited for this opportunity as I began my journey in a career in sports. The summer consisted of many different tasks around the organization. As an operations intern, our responsibility was to make sure the daily tasks of the Swampbats organization were done properly and efficiently. Throughout the summer, we worked 22 home games and periodically had tasks in and around the community. The internship was a full time commitment as we spent almost 40 hours a week at the ballpark. For a typical game day we would show up to the park around 3 hours before gametime in order to set up the night's events. Each night, we had a sponsor and various companies around the Keene area that would have tents set up in the pavilion. Our jobs as operations interns were to make sure these sponsors were taken care of and their nights went as smoothly as possible. Once all sponsors had arrived and were taken care of, it was our responsibility to coordinate with our national anthem singer and our ceremonial first pitch throwers for that specific night. Once the game started, we were focused on fan engagement and providing an atmosphere inclusive to people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. Anywhere from fun on field activities to t-shirt toss, we did our best to make sure our SwampBat fans had the best experience possible at Alumni Field.
This internship really opened my eyes to all the different aspects of what it takes to run a sports organization and I really enjoyed my time as a Swampbats intern. I was involved in planning and executing promotional campaigns for the Swampbats, coordinating fan engagement, and incorporating different marketing initiatives to help elevate the SwampBat brand. Working closely with the President and board members of the team, I gained valuable experience on what it takes to run a successful team and organization. It was very beneficial to gain valuable skills in audience targeting and brand management throughout the summer. The opportunity to see our ideas come to life and positively impact the Swampbat fan experience was extremely rewarding and solidified my desire to pursue a career in sports marketing. I look forward to continuing my professional journey, wherever that may be, and will never forget my summer spent with the Keene SwampBats.