My Summer Internship with TBT/TST.

This past summer, I had the absolute pleasure of being a Data Analytics and Events Intern for The Tournament (TBT/TST). If you don't know what The Tournament is, I strongly suggest looking it up. Sitting in my room last year as a sophomore and seeing all my peers getting involved and advancing in their careers, it struck me that I was not participating in any extracurricular activities. I thought, "This is my year to change that," so I got to work, diligently learning technical skills and actively seeking more opportunities. In doing so, I found myself being asked to be a part of projects and feeling qualified to apply for internships. So, that's exactly what I did – applying to many and scouring job boards and LinkedIn posts.

However, I soon noticed a discouraging trend – not hearing back from most applications or receiving rejections. It was disheartening, but it was also a valuable learning curve. I realized that coldly applying to these internships without knowing anybody or anything about the companies was not the best approach. So, I went back to the drawing board and sought advice from advisors and everyone I had ever networked with.

During this process, I came across the name Jared LaVigueur , a great guy whom I had worked with during my freshman year. He had recently graduated from Syracuse and was now working as the Coordinator of Analytics at The Tournament. They were offering a Data Analytics and Events internship that had received positive reviews from Syracuse alumni and current students who had participated in the past. I applied, and within a week, I received an interview invitation. I paced my room, rehearsed interview questions, and prepared what I was going to say. I was very nervous until the interview itself, but when Jared and Hunter Bell joined the Zoom meeting, I suddenly felt comfortable. We had a lengthy and engaging conversation, discussing a wide range of topics. At the end of the interview, they informed me that they wanted to hire me, and we would be getting started soon. I couldn't wait; I was over the moon!

I completed the necessary paperwork and had the opportunity to meet all my coworkers, many of whom were fellow Syracuse students. This was a primarily remote internship with a hybrid component, so we had numerous online meetings to outline our responsibilities.

Throughout the internship, I had the privilege of overseeing all ticket and merchandise analytics. I utilized various software and technical skills that I had learned in school and taught myself, it was incredibly rewarding. I also had the chance to learn from and be mentored by numerous professionals in the sports industry, learning new skills and making connections.

This summer marked the inaugural season of The Soccer Tournament, a one-million-dollar winner-take-all world cup-style soccer tournament featuring players ranging from celebrities to professionals. I had the opportunity to work remotely while watching and assisting with the tournament. During the event, myself and other interns managed the website and database that the entire tournament relied on. It was intense, nerve-wracking, but also incredibly fun to be involved in a major sporting event.

Once The Soccer Tournament concluded, we immediately shifted our focus to preparing for the 10th installment of The Basketball Tournament. We conducted extensive tracking, modeling, and visualizations to ensure a successful event. For this tournament, I was fortunate enough to be on-site at the Syracuse and Philly Regionals. This allowed me to meet and work with George Alexander , the VP of Events, and collaborate with fellow interns. Our responsibilities ranged from setting up the venues before the games to conducting statistics and analytics during the games and assisting with post-game cleanup. All the exciting games were streamed on ESPN for the first time ever and over 70,000 people came to watch the games (a 31% rise from last year) It was bittersweet to see the confetti fly in the air after the championship game because I knew we were close to the end but proud of all we did.

I am extremely grateful for the knowledge and experience I gained during this internship, as well as for all the people who were part of this incredible journey.