Game Day Ops
Sydney
Experience Information
Employer: Muskegon Lumberjacks
Job Title: Game day operations intern
Major: Sport Management
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: No
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The Muskegon Lumberjacks are Tier I junior hockey team in the USHL Eastern Conference that play out of Trinity Health Arena in downtown Muskegon. Front office wise, they are a smaller organization with only about 7 daily staff in office. In terms of their employees, they consider themselves a starter organization and encourage career growth both within and outside of the company. Hockey ops wise, they have a dedicated fan base who show out to every home game. It's easy for fans to want to be there with how much effort the employees put into making their night one to remember.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
As a game day ops intern, my job is pretty wide spread. We show up a few hours before puck drop to ensure everything is set up and prepared when doors open just an hour before game time. There are some roles that we get assigned per game: working the team store, following the mascot, helping photographers, shadowing Calvin (our game day ops manager), help with intermission games, and my personal favorite... Chuck-A-Puck! We let all the kids in the arena come out on the ice to help clean up all of the pucks that have been thrown and its so fun seeing them so excited to be out on the same ice that some of their favorite home town players skate on.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
One of the major things I learned through this experience is that planning and organization is key to success with such time constraints. When everyone can come in and know their role along with how to time their tasks, it makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Another specific piece of knowledge I've gained from this is that over-communication is always your best bet. There's a lot of moving parts behind the scenes of sporting events and making sure everyone is on the same page when something goes a little wrong can save you from things going worse.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this internship experience has been talking to, and getting to know all of the arena workers I see on game nights. From John and Bobby who are the ice crew to Jay who runs the raffle. There's something to learn from everyone so introducing yourself to people outside of your immediate role is beneficial in many ways.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience has influenced my future career goals in really focusing on working in hockey post graduation. I had always been interested in it but now I'm sure that that's what I want to be doing in the long run. Overall this experience just really excites me for what's to come post-graduation. It shows me that even though I want to end up working for a professional hockey team, working at smaller, lower level teams is still just as fun and fulfilling, if not more. You get to really connect with the community that shows up for their team and seeing familiar faces already is something really special.
Internship Format
In Person