Internship Series
Internship Lessons From Abroad
October 20, 2016
By: Amanda MacKenzie, Administrator with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
During my last year at Brock University, I had the chance to complete my internship through an exclusive program called the Queen Elizabeth Scholar (QES). The QES program sends students to commonwealth countries that support sport-for-development programs.
Roles and responsibilities
I was sent to Swaziland to work with the Swaziland Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (SOCGA), where I interned there from September to December 2015. My main responsibility was to plan and facilitate their Leaders In Training (LIT) program, which uses sport to teach life skills with an emphasis on HIV and AIDS protection. I planned the program schedule, obtained quotations for materials, outlined the budget, updated the course material, created presentations, and served as a mentor for the participants. After completing the LIT program, I helped create the Sport Values 4 Life (SV4L) program, where LIT graduates learned the importance of coaching and bringing those skills to their communities.
My second role at SOCGA was completing the outline for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games funding. I conducted all of the research necessary to show SOCGA how much funding they could apply for and how to properly apply. I then looked at the resources they had and noted where there needed to be an increase in their funding. My work was presented to the Board, after my manager Muriel edited it, and was sent to the Commonwealth Games Federation for approval.
Sport Business Insights
One of the insights I acquired during my internship was that many NSOs and non-profit organizations are often understaffed and overworked. These people put in extra time and effort, but may not be receiving the same benefits and monetary reward as those in pro sport organizations. I have nothing but respect for the work my coworkers do year round.
This leads to my next point of learning the importance of grassroots sports. Sport has the ability to make a difference in peopleâs lives and change it for the better. There are many people in this world who are less fortunate than others, however the hour they get to play they are able to forget about their problems and just play. Even more so, you can teach a group of children a game about how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS.
Challenges
This biggest challenge for me while there was adjusting to the culture. While living in Swaziland I had to learn their culture and learn how they accomplish their work in order for me to be successful during my internship. It did take about a month before I fully understood how to create the documents needed for the SOCGA office. I overcame this obstacle by just continually asking questions and listening to what they would say when describing a project that needed to be completed.
My Advice to You
My advice may sound biased but I highly recommend completing an internship abroad. I was nervous about going to Swaziland because I was concerned that I shouldâve just stayed in Canada to complete my internship needed for my degree. But I took the chance (such a clichĂ©), and those four months there exceeded my personal expectations.
My second bit of advice for you is to be prepared for the long hours of work ahead. I learned this while working for SOCGA as they were understaffed. I had to work 28 days in a row before I had my first day off, and the working hours were not your traditional 9â5. We would sometimes still be at the office at 7 p.m. trying to complete the tasks that needed to be done that day.
So Why SOCGA?
I would recommend doing an internship abroad or the QES program to any Brock student because this experience was extremely rewarding. I would say one of the best parts of the organization is that they welcome you in like family, which is extremely helpful since you are halfway across the world. Besides making you feel welcome, they give you full trust to complete important tasks. By completing these tasks you develop so many useful skills for any business environment. Being abroad opened up opportunities that you are not likely to have while at home. I was able to work with Olympians, interact with some of the most well-known people in the sporting world on the continent, and make a difference in peopleâs lives. You learn a lot about yourself when youâre away there.
But if you do pick SOCGA, just be careful of the spiders. They do bite!
We would like to thank Amanda and wish her the best of luck at this yearâs Scotties Tournament of Hearts! To learn more about the Queen Elizabeth Scholar program at Brock University or her insights into the sport industry, you can connect with Amanda on LinkedIn.
