I entered this internship three months ago hoping to learn new skills and develop as a student and a professional. I am now grateful to state that the Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC) has exceeded my hopes and allowed me to expand my knowledge in various operational areas.  

Hi, my name is Adam Green, and I am going into the fourth year of my Sport Management degree at Brock University. During the Summer 2023 term, I served as the Marketing, Communications, and Event Coordinator (Intern) for the CSC. It is difficult to narrow down what I learned during this experience as the CSC provides such a wide range of developmental opportunities. For the time being, I can outline my development in the three main pillars of the internship. 

To start, my marketing skills have improved significantly throughout my experience at the CSC. I took on the role of maintaining and enhancing the visual brand of the Centre through the creation of designs for its social media. I was able to effectively promote the services that the CSC provides as well as expand its reach through creative visuals and strategic copywriting. I am especially proud of launching the CSC’s official Instagram account. This was such a valuable experience managing an entire launch and execution of a professional organization’s social media platform. These are the types of experiences that are hard to come by in an internship, making the CSC so unique in its developmental opportunities.  

Additionally, being an Intern at the CSC has helped me to refine my communication skills. Through daily interactions with my team, in-person meetings with our members and industry professionals, and networking at events in the community, I was able to consistently practice my oral communication. One of my favourite experiences at the CSC was leading our Smart Start activation booth. During this activation, I was able to practice my oral communication when pitching the value of the Centre to incoming Brock students. Developing my written communication skills was also a learning objective of mine interning for the CSC. Thankfully, I was able to craft emails, social media captions, reports, blog posts, and more during my time with the Centre which did wonders in improving my professional written language. 

The Centre for Sport Capacity also supported my progress in event management. I had the opportunity to build the CSC’s Safe Sport hybrid forum from the ground up. I gained experience in event research, goal setting, target audience analysis, budget creation, risk assessments, engagement strategies, and overall event planning. On top of this, managing the planning of an event allowed me to reach out and make a variety of connections. I was responsible for initiating discussions with expert consultants, speakers, professors, and AV employees, whose insight will all play a role in the success of this event. The CSC Safe Sport forum is happening on November 17th at Brock University, I am excited to see it come to fruition. 

Overall, the knowledge and experience I have gained at the Centre for Sport Capacity will last me a lifetime. I would like to thank Dr. Julie Stevens, the Director of the CSC, and Grace Nelson, the Coordinator of the CSC for all their support in my learning experience. Throughout my internship this summer, I have helped the Centre grow as it has helped me grow, and I will always be grateful for this.