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Last Day: Music City Brewers Fest
Day 31- 7/27
What a better way to end my internship then by attending NSL's marketing event at the Music City Brewers Fest. The event is for all local and franchised brewer vendors to come out and promote their beverages. I will have to say, if I was not working the event, I would have enjoyed myself! In the process, other vendors like NSL were there to promote their business, give out prizes and discounts to use in the future. I got to Nashville about 2pm. Check in was at 3pm and Jackson and I were in charge of getting the equipment to the event. Within the projects tab, under Music City Brewers Fest i have attached the 'Run of the Show' and photos to give a feel of what all we had to load up. We got to the event between 3 and 3:30. We were met there by the league coordinators and began unloading. Overall, the event was a hit! Most of the time patrons were playing beer pong (no beer in the pong cups), GIANT pong and Jinga. GIANT pong was a hit! It is played like a regular game of beer pong except you use trash cans and a beach volleyball. Each side just takes turns shooting into the other teams trash cans. Would you believe that the line to play GIANT pong was long? Almost as long as some of the food lines. During this time, we went around to talk to patrons about our league and give them discount cards for an upcoming league of their choice. It was great to give potential patrons the information needed to try a new experience. The Music City Brewers Fest was a blast! So was my days with Nashville Sports Leagues. Something that I will never forget and will certainly take a lot of valuable information from. I look forward to adapting it to new experiences in my life!
Last Day in Office
Day 30- 7/26
Today I learned earlier in the day that it would be interns and league coordinators running the Music City Brewers Fest tent tomorrow. That made me a little nervous but I was confident in myself and the individuals that were accompanying me. Before leaving the office for the event, I made it my goal to thoroughly go through all the equipment that was in the 'Run of the Show' emailed to me from Adrian. Before I started, I worked through my last set of paperwork. It is almost bitter sweet to think of it that way. However, I have learned so much throughout my time here: Patience, the ability to run the administrative side of a sports league while focusing on customer quality. Really making sure to meet the companies missions and values is another huge factor. Communication. Communication. Communication can not be stressed enough. The lack of communication can be a huge factor in running a business smoothly. That is probably the biggest part of my internship that I will take with me. The team I currently work with does not always have the best communication. We tend to leave key factors out when relying information.Â
Throughout the rest of the day I worked on entering scores and completing a few playoff schedules. Once I was done I reviewed the equipment for the Brewers Fest. We are taking a bunch of yard games and door prizes that will help promote Nashville Sports Leagues. Tomorrow should be a blast. The end of the day was so calm and relaxing that we went to get ice cream and just relaxed on the patio furniture. I'll say it again, BITTERSWEET!
Devil's Advocate
Day 29- 7/25
It is becoming real that I am almost complete with my internship. Close but not there yet. Today is the other intern, Jayden's last day so we will be going to Hattie B's Hot Chicken. The office staff wants to celebrate our last day in office so they are taking us out to lunch. I don't know if I could have asked for a better internship especially when my belly is a top priority.Â
After lunch, I worked on getting paperwork and the sales board complete. I was assigned a tough schedule that needed to be completed before the day ended. I was tasked to complete a volleyball 6v6 playoff schedule for Wednesday nights. It was similar to a schedule that I completed on Monday so I tried to use a short cut to get the job done. The volleyball playoff schedule was for about 20 teams. Usually schedule with that many teams are checked by Philip before posting them to the website. He seemed to be okay with the schedule at first. I created 3 separate brackets, division A had the top 6 teams, division B had the next 7 teams and division C had the bottom 6 teams. Times were placed to match the pre-determined playing times. To me it was some of my best work yet. Philip challenged me to look at the schedule and tell him why the number 7 and 8 seeds didn't make the dividion A bracket. My answer was that I just made the schedule according to what I thought would be the most competitive matches. Philip was playing Devil's Advocate because that is what he hears from other teams all the time. The division A bracket is the only bracket that can win the championship. The other brackets just play for the experience. I could see where he was coming from, especially since the number 7 and 8 seed teams both had wining records. The 9 seed and below either broke even or had a losing record. I changed the division A and B bracket. Scheduling for a league that focuses on experience is definitely tough. I guess because the owner may see something different then I do. That is probably solely based off of experience in these type of situations as well. I am definitely taking away a different perspective about scheduling brackets.
Please Fill Your Name In Legibly
Day 28- 7/24
I came in today to a typical day of filling out the sales board then got paperwork ready to go out the door at the end of the day. There was an unusual amount of extra papers in the cubbies that needed to be sorted and sent out with paperwork. Most of it was incomplete waivers that do not have a name and only a signature. This seems to be a big issue with the league coordinators/referees. In some cases, there is not a league coordinator on site so the referee has to do all the extra paperwork on their own. I can understand if they can not get it all complete and referee a game. In other cases cases it seems to be individuals that are not paying attention or do not care to have the patrons fill the paperwork out correctly. It just puts the individuals in the office in a bind when we have to send the papers back to be corrected. Also makes more work for them because it was not completed correctly the first time.Â
Other items I focused on was scheduling rainouts, fixing playoff schedules and creating dialing for dollars sheets for basketball and soccer. I have built up some confidence in writing the playoff schedules. I understand what type of schedule the company wants. rescheduling last weeks rainout of the semifinals was short work. Dialing for dollars took a while, but I managed to complete the task with much time to spare.Â
I worked with Adrian again and reached out to the summer kickball captains to see who would be returning for the fall. It helps to shorten the dialing for dollars list to the individuals that have not responded back when we first reached out.
The Intern Schedule Challenge
Day 27- 7/22
Today we began the day huddling. The main point of conversation was how we would go about pushing fall leagues. The first week of fall leagues is August 13th. With it being my last week, I wanted to see to it that they would get as many teams registered for the fall league as possible.Â
Before Philip left to mark fields, he challenged Jayden and I to write 2 schedules. One for 6v6 Sunday volleyball and the other for 4v4 Sunday volleyball. The tricky part about it is that they both play on the same nights and on the same fields. League playoff schedules are usually complete in 2 weeks and he wanted us to complete 4v4 in one week. This was possible because there were only 6 teams registered in that league. We took the challenge head on. The first thing we focused on was making sure to give the teams a competitive and fun experience. I have learned from enough mistakes over the weeks how important experience is. So our focus was to get this one as close to perfect as possible. We racked our brains but we were able to produce a feasible schedule for both 6v6 and the 4v4. As well, we got the 4v4 league to be complete in one night. When you really take your time to understand the break down of the playoff scheduling it actually becomes quite enjoyable. Throughout the rest of the day, we discussed with Adrian the plans for this Saturday's Brewers Fest. We are setting up a table at the event to promote our league and our partnerships with Yazoo beer and Tito's vodka.
Working to fill Shelby's Position :)
Day 26- 7/19
Today was the end of the week. Most of the weekend paperwork has already been completed so I focused on Monday paperwork. Shelby let me enter in scores from the night before once I completed updating the sales board. There were more teams signed up for the fall league then there was yesterday!Â
I worked on updating a league schedule because one team quit the league. As well I completed a full schedule for the latest league in the summer, fag football Sundays. One of the requests by a team was to have a bye on 8/29. Little do they know, that is playoffs week. It will be hard to grant them that bye, so we are hoping that a rain out occurs so their request can be granted and they will not miss playoffs. I left a note on the scheduling site to inform fall staff of their situation closer to schedule request.Â
As I was working to set referees to the flag football league, I noticed that the games were not linked correctly. This stops officials from receiving the wrong games. This can knock the whole system off. Or so I have been told. At the end of the day,I finally go the courage to check voicemails and call a few customers back regarding questions. To my surprise I was unsuccessful in reaching anyone back!
Philip and Experience Part 2
Day 25 7/18
With the summer season coming closer to an end, the fall season has become more of a focus. We have started to really push signing players up for the fall season. We started the day with updating the fall sales board. We were already at 92 teams overall signed up! That was amazing to me how many loyal patrons look forward to continue play. That is about 20% of the sales goal for the season already met. I started to work on more playoff schedules. I worked on kickball Wednesday at Boy and Girls club with a 9 seed bracket. I tried to back track and find a schedule that has been used on previous seasons. I was pretty proud of the schedule that I created, as I paid attention to game times and made sure that the top seeds got their bye. Within NSL, the one seed typically gets the bye. This is because they have earned this position and do not have to fight too hard to make it to the championship. What I did not pay attention to is the fact that we want games to be a fun experience for everyone. I had the 9 seeded team playing in the bracket against the 1 seed. So who ever won the first round game would play the number 1 seed. Philip told me that this would not create a fun experience for the lower seeded team. Especially if we are looking at their total number of runs versus runs against. It was much for me to take in as I was not thinking about the stats when scheduling in the past.Â
Later throughout the day, I continued to try to help alleviate some of the paperwork off of Shelby's desk so she could focus on emails, putting scores on the website and messaging the league coordinators through slack for scores and photos of teams that haven't been posted. To finish off the day, I worked with Shelby on corporate pricing. She is applying the corporate credit to their accounts and getting their corporate photos together to be sent out to the fields.
Challenging Myself
Day 24- 7/17
Today I wanted to challenge myself to be more involved in answering the phone to improve my direct customer service skills. I haven't answered the phones because of the fear of not knowing the answer off the back. I didn't want the phone conversations to be unprofessional by putting them on pause, but if you don't know an answer it is always better to find it before giving false information. Shelby reassured me that the best way to answer any question provided was to work through the steps of the problem presented. Most of the questions relate to how do patrons go about signing themselves or their teams up for league play. Being behind the scenes so long has not really allowed me to explore the extremities of the website.
I worked on more playoff schedules for a softball and kickball league. I worked on updating a few league brackets after least nights play. Once thing I do understand about scheduling playoff brackets, is that the last time slot should always be the championship game during the second week of playoffs. It actually helps to walk the rest of the night backwards if there isn't a bracket already in front of you.
Adrian asked me to put a sponsorship banner in the cubbies to go out to the fields. Certain partners wanted to update their banner that is displayed to the patrons.
Lastly, before the end of the day, Philip and Shelby discussed what to do when a team was caught playing with illegal players after the start of playoffs. Philip was on the side of disqualifying them while Shelby wanted to give the referees the benefit of the doubt and to educate them for future references. I understood both sides but I think that I was on the side of disqualification. Rules have been in place and have been explained or sent to team captains before league play. Certainly we get new patrons and others that never read the rules. My opinion was not associated within the conversation so I kept my opinion to myself!
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Philip and the Experience..
Day 23- 7/16
My days are winding down so is the summer season. I have progressed majorly in working the backside of the businesses website. You really have to slow your thought process and strategically think out scheduling and coordinating leagues. Today I worked on scheduling more playoff brackets. This was actually my first time to do this. Typically I would think we would use a conventional bracket like within major sport leagues. However, our focus is on creating a fun, social competitive experience so we use a more competitive bracket. Especially with each league set with various number of teams. Philip called to question how I went about making a couple of brackets. He was surprisingly pleased with the way I did the bracket. After completing the schedules, Shelby tasked me with checking which teams from the summer leagues have registered for the fall league. Once I figured it out I would start the filling process for marketing. It takes a little off of their plate. So they do not have to reach out to individuals that we know are currently signed up for the fall season. We had a little down time today. So during our lunch break we played a staff versus intern corn hole tournament. Sadly, we were put in our places repeatedly. I would have to say that losing those games of corn hole has been the worst part of my internship experience!
Huddle Time? I Am Ready This Time!
Day 22- 7/15
Monday is typically a 'huddle' day, but Philip and Nicole were both out of town. Shelby and I talked about needs for the next week. To start pushing fall leagues through Avochato and to get players signed up. Paperwork consisted of preparing playoff play. I was fully unaware, but team photos are given out mid season. There is a big printer in the back of the office and the marketing interns print team photos that are sent in by either the league coordinators or referees. As I look back on how much I have absorbed during my internship, I wished that it could progress longer than the little over 2 months that I have been here. i am constantly learning something new. I would like to work through another season to see what differences are experienced like, different patrons, or weather experiences, whether private leagues are formed for certain organizations.Â
Throughout the rest of the day, I worked on preparing the rest of the dialing for dollars sheet that I did not finish from Friday. Once I completed that, I was tasked to add all of the team captains to the spreadsheet. When marketing gets a hold of the spreadsheet they will message the captains and color code the spreadsheet based on the response of the captains. Red means they aren't returning, yellow means they are contemplating and green is a go!
Back from Vacation
Day 21- 7/12
Today was my first day back from vacation with my wife. We had a great time in D.C. but it was time to get back to reality. My first day back in office was fairly quiet. I came in early to get a jump start on my duties, just in case there would be extra duties for me to complete. There wasn't much to put on the sales board. Most of the summer leagues are over the half way with only a few left to begin. Kickball at Elmington Park begins this Sunday. One team was added over the weekend so I proceeded to make the change to sales board as needed.Â
Shelby taught me how to prepare the dialing for dollars spreadsheet. It is prepared once in the beginning of the season for marketing to promote past captains to return their teams. A truly interesting concept when you look into the depth of marketing.Â
Lastly, I had to reschedule a night from Sunday volleyball rainout. By far the most difficult schedule that I have done. Not knowing what I can stretch times to per field or what other days can be utilized to make up a game is tough. I called Philip via video chat to get an understanding of the situation. We ended up starting the games earlier on the new date.
I Am the Administration Team
Day 20- 7/3
Today was packed with a ton of office work to keep me busy. First, I was the only person on the administration side of the company in office today. I was praying that I would't get bombarded with phone calls and patrons entering the office with questions that I didn't have the answer too. Luckily, it was the day before the fourth of July so it was quiet and gave me ample time to complete my duties . I came in and the first thing I wanted to do was relieve the paperwork on Shelby's desk. I decided to label and file everything away. While working on getting organized, my slack app went off. I forgot that Shelby scheduled me the task to complete Friday, Sunday and Monday paperwork for the following week. As I was completing paperwork, I noticed that the Sunday 6v6 schedule was never complete. Earlier in the week, Philip told me to not complete that schedule at the moment in the fear that another team may register, then I would have to rewrite the schedule. I have learned from this mistake a few times throughout my internship so I was proud that I waited to complete this task. With there being 27 teams, the schedule was a swiss schedule. I spent the rest of the day completing reschedule requests by patrons and rain out schedules. Rain outs make it very difficult to reschedule games, especially the later into the season. We start to run out days, time slots and referee availability. It becomes quite tough at times. Within NSL policy it states that a league is allowed two reschedules. If it calls for more then that then NSL has the right to not reschedule. When you think about it form a patron stand point it sucks that you spent all that money just to have less games then you paid to play. From a business aspect, there is only so much that can be done when you are renting spaces and advertising new leagues to begin weeks later. With the day dwindling down and most of our work complete, the guys that were in office with me all decided to go out and get lunch together. It is always nice to mingle with coworkers. It really helps to relieve stress and take your mind off work for a bit.
Each League Operates Differently
Day 19-7/2
Today was an odd day, because everyone was out of the office besides Adrian, myself and two other interns. The day before, Shelby had us complete paperwork for the week so we were pretty much caught up. There weren't many schedules to complete. The schedules that are assigned to me through Asana and have due dates on them. I typically stick to the due date and not complete the schedules early. In the past and it certainly wasn't the right move. I was unaware that registration was still open, which leaves us with room for more teams to register. I may have said this before, but it is really important to understand how each day flows. How each league operates separately. I think working behind the scenes, I treat it more as a 'job task that must be completed'. I am not comprehending the moving parts within each league. Today for instance, I was tasked to plan week 6 swiss schedule for 6v6 volleyball. The catch is that there were two locations to divide the teams on plus I needed to place a reschedule that night as well. I went about my process and viewed the normal times for the games and prepare to make the necessary changes. I asked Philip for the suggestion on the task, and he told me that I was not considering that there were games after 6v6 league. He was right, 4v4 league start their games immediately after the 6s. One thing that I am challenging myself to do is go through each league and write out their locations times and leagues. I want to write it all out in front of me so that I can see what occurs each day. Seeing a photo of the layout of the business will help me tremendously.
On My Own..
Day 18- 7/1
This week, Shelby is out of the office. She is enjoying a much-needed break in Florida. Which meant I needed to pick up some of her work. I did not think that she would want it come back to a desk full of paperwork. Especially since I felt that, I was capable of checking in waivers and making sure players were checked in for play the night before. She has shown me before how to enter scores and enter referee pay but I do not feel confident enough to do so myself yet. Luckily, Nicole, was in the office today and checked in on Shelby's desk to make sure all was taken care of. I do not have access to emails or I would check them for her as well. Shelby worked a little bit on the beach as IÂ started to receive schedules to reschedule or create. Most of the day was spent on rescheduling and scheduling leagues that are starting within the next week. I went to start six versus six-soccer league schedule, but Philip wanted me to halt because of their not being enough teams yet. In my mind, I thought twenty-five teams signed up seemed like plenty to me. I went back through the back end to check the past spring league to see how many teams have recently played. Last season thirty teams were signed up. I understood why Philip wanted me to wait before creating the schedule. Because of the potential to sell out the league.
NSL Player Appreciation Party
Day 17- 6/29
Player Appreciation Party-Spring LeagueÂ
After each season, leagues are invited to player appreciation party thrown by NSL. Players are invited to a free event to celebrate the past season. The best part about the party was that you did not have to lay in a league to be invited. In a marketing mind frame, NSL required that patrons attending the party check in with a RSVP QR code. Each RSVP that was sent in to us has a contact number and a name. All I could think was that it is a genius move to build new relationships with the patrons. NSL partners with many different companies to pull this type of party off. City Tap is the name of the bar where the party took place. With a 10 story rooftop view, it was a perfect place to throw a party. Company sponsors, Tito's Vodka and Yazoo Beer, offered a couple of free drinks to all that attended the party so you can imagine that was a hit. There were sit down and yard games set up for play such as Uno, Connect Four, pong and cornhole. Top Golf is another partner with NSL. Top Golf brought their own yard game while promoting their company. Just a note on the partnerships; I am comprehending how partnerships work while hands on within my internship. By providing each other something beneficial, both organizations are able to gain by working together. Top Golf allows NSL to host their corn hole league once a week. In return, TopGolf  has a sponsor tent at all of NSL events. Allowing them to reach their market consumers.Â
Overall, the party was a success. i was in charge of giving each patron a drinking wristband that allowed them three drinks for free. The marketing team were giving away free tickets to the Gold Cup game here in Nashville, July third. I thought that was awesome and another well built relationship with Bridgestone Arena, one of the largest arenas in Nashville.
Props to the Marketing Team
Day 16- 6/28
With it being the middle of the summer, many leagues are in the middle of their games while others are just now beginning. One thing that has proceeded to remain the same are the rainouts. I am actually surprised that we do not receive more phone calls and emails about what to do during rain outs. Those props go out to our marketing team. They use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to patrons about cancellations. Leagues that have been cancelled on this day are volleyball, softball and kickball. Most of the leagues were in there first or second week so they were not hard to reschedule it is just very time consuming. I want to make sure that I am creating the schedules correctly before releasing them to the patrons.Â
At the end of the day, I worked with Adrian to prepare for the Player Appreciation Party. He sent me a link to a Google Doc that displayed all everything the company would bring to the party. We gathered tables, a bag with a table skirt with NSL logo on it, ping pong balls, blue solo cups, raffle tickets and other marketing items.
Patience is A Virtue
Day 15- 6/26
Today was a better day. I need to learn to take my time and to trust what i have been taught so far. Especially, related to scheduling. Scheduling has definitely become the toughest task that I have dealt with since starting my internship. I am thankful because it is a new experience but I am struggling to fully commit myself to the idea of giving up on the scheduling. I know that I am not a quitter so I buckle down and turn a light to the new day. I still ask questions from time to time but I like make sure to formulate thoughtful and specific questions about my dilemma before asking. Overall, I though this day was a breakthrough with rescheduling because my mentor and Philip were pleased with the results I presented. Their biggest thing is as long as there isn't a problem with time, team comments, and referees are scheduled then everything will be fine. It was a sigh of relief to do well related to critical elements within these leagues. I know many patrons do not check their schedules daily, some not at all. Though they may not check it all the time, there are those players who need to see the schedule weekly to adjust to their work schedule. it is my job to make sure they have the most accurate information possible to make their experience with the NSL a great one.
Just When I Thought I Got the Hang of it..
Day 14- 6/24
Today, I have been plagued with many mishaps! Scheduling comes in so many different factors that I could not even imagine. Our leagues were hit more rain outs and rescheduling. This time, games have been rescheduled in the middle of play. I try to do use some critical thinking skills in figuring out how to reschedule these games but not to interfere with other scheduled games. Another kicker, was that these games had less than half the normal time remaining. Because I have never dealt with this before, I warranted Shelby and Philips help. First mistake, was to make sure that I always put the schedule in edit mode when working on them. If I don't, then any patron viewing the schedule may see changes that I am making. I was taught that if games were 15 minutes or less for a makeup, then try to schedule the teams that have to make up the game before their make ups. That will give them one full game and fifteen minutes of their make up game. I worked on about two more schedule because of the rain outs then I was stopped by Philip. he told me that I did not need to add games when rescheduling games instead I needed to edit them. Try to add the least amount of games possible. The reasoning is that the games are linked to the ref site. If I add games, then they go the ref site unlinked and without a referee. Each set of games on a field or court are linked together and tied to a referee. It was another quick lesson I had to learn.
More Rainouts
Day 13- 6/21
Today, I walked in and my phone has been blowing up form notifications. The night before rained out most of our leagues and I was on duty to reschedule them. Luckily, i just had this talk with Philip about what to do for rain outs and what was the most important aspect about rescheduling. Within the policy of the league, we can only reschedule rain outs twice. After that it is subject to not be made up because of the crucial timing for each league and season. Rain outs for each league is handles differently as well. If it for a normal schedule, the typical thing to do is to move the rain out game to the end of the regular season. There is a few things to consider when this occurs. First, how much time is left in between that seasons league and the next. Luckily, this was the first rain out for this league and there is about a months gap in between seasons. Second, do you need to move the refs with the game or do they have a block on that day. The best way I figure this out is looking to see if they are already set for the new tentative date or is someone else. If it is someone new at the tentative date, then I remove the rain out refs. If it is the same then I uncheck the box that asks to remove referee. Within a swiss schedule, games are only created at a two week basis, so that rain outs typically become the second of the new two week schedule. Each schedule can be easy to fix, there are just many of steps.
Rescheduling: What Does A Rainout Affect?
Day 12- 6/19
Today I came in a little early to get ahead of the game. I know it is not a race to complete paperwork but I knew that schedules would tie up most of my day and I was determined to make the best of it. Before beginning, I went to check the volleyball box outside the office and checked the first aid kit. I knew it had been some time since I've checked it. i wanted to make sure they weren't sort on any medical supplies. A few bandages and gauze pads were used so I restocked them. I have made it a goal of mine to get out to the various fields and just figure out where everything is. Being in the office all day can wear on you a bit. It is good to see where the action takes place.Â
Trying to adapt well to scheduling a new snag of course reared its head. I have worked with a reschedule once before and it was not anything of difficulty as Philip has walked me through the steps before. I attempted to fix the issue and asked Philip for advice. Before answering me, he questioned me to think of what all would be affected by the rainout. I struggled to answer because, he at times speaks very intellectually and sadly I am nervous about giving the wrong answer. My obvious answer was that the teams wouldn't be able to make the game. The real answer was the staff. I need to make sure to have enough referee that can cover the games. That is one of the most important aspects when rescheduling staff. On the back end, there is a box to check or unchecked when rescheduling games. he wanted me to know that it was important to think critically about the staff availability
Paperwork Overload/ Mailchimp
Day 11- 6/17
Usually when the weekend hits I am excited to relax but also looking forward to Monday because of how well I ended the week. On Monday, it doesn't necessarily always feel that way but I stay positive, review my notes if need and continue on. Off the bat, my Asana task was filled with either releasing schedules out to the teams of start to work on a schedule. At this point, most of paperwork has been playoff paperwork because spring leagues are wrapping up. Playoff paperwork consists of printing rosters for each time, preparing lineup cards, scorecards, printing a playoff bracket, getting gift cards together, print a t shirt sheet, t shirts and a championship banner. gift cards and t shirt numbers are based on the top two teams currently in each league. Making sure that each team is up to date on any outstanding fees, gift cards are the average amount of players on the number one and two seeded team. T shirt sizes are collected when players register online. That information is compiled with the rest of the registered team and is readily available to us. After, it felt like forever completing paperwork for each league, I turned my focus on assigning referees for a few league as well as schedule games. Philip warranted that I start setting referees with games after I was done writing league schedules. I remember him saying that referees need to be scheduled in advance but I certainly have not got to the point Where i am able to do it all in one sitting.
New Task: Corporate Options
Day 10- 6/13
My daily routine is starting to become familiar to me the more that I do it. I am able to retain much of the info that I have been taught. Such as writing out schedules. It is a process but I am getting the hang of which schedule to use. Swiss schedule are used for leagues that have twelve teams or more. The other schedules were created by Philip and put on an excel file. Not sure if he made them manually or looked them up online. They have been working. I've learned that we file created ref schedule and league schedules are put on Dropbox so that everyone has access to them if ever needed.Â
My mentor, Shelby, taught me about the organization's corporate option. To grow the relationship with surrounding businesses, NSL offers a flat rate to corporations that allows them to have an unlimited rosters. Within the office, we keep up with these numbers on a Google Drive accountant, that I am sure is monitored by the accountant, so we can credit their teams. I am uncertain how much the credit is but it is working. There are corporate teams plastered all through the various leagues offered. The most popular league seems to be volleyball and soccer.
Swiss Schedules
Day 9- 6/12
This week has been more hands on with writing league schedules and paperwork in general. I have been tasked with writing weekly swiss schedules and even full schedules for various leagues. It was a little more difficult today because of the unusual requests from the patrons. Like 'can't play after 9pm' 'can't play before 7:30 on these certain weeks'. I was able to accommodate them but it took some time to figure it out. My mentor has been a great open ear when I need to figure things out. As well as very helpful. I am pleased to have people around that are patient and are willing to work with me until I get it right. I also worked on entering injury reports for the first time.It is very interesting to me that there is a website for all of our business needs. Although, I am struggling to learn how to put a swiss schedule into the back page of the website. I am going to work with Jayden to see if we can learn from each other instead of leaning to Shelby or Philip.
Huddle? What's a Huddle?
Day 8- 6/10
On this Monday morning, I walked in eager to begin the day. Jayden, the other college intern, is int he office as well so we usually are able to lean on each others help. I started the day off with paperwork making sure to not forget any loose ends. I have to utilize Asana more often, as summer leagues are beginning and players need to be informed about schedule releases. Close to eleven a 'huddle' was called though Slack. Of course, I was completely lost and did not know what that meant. A 'huddle' is when the team gets together, by standing up away from your desk, and discuss expectations for the week. Whether that is upcoming events, trying to hit the goal numbers for league play, how to market to the specific needs and any other important info. I sat quietly and listened attentively. I used paper and pencil to write down anything that I thought I could help with. Mostly, working with marketing to reach out to patrons through abandoned carts. To round out the day, I worked hard on scheduling. The thing that I know about myself is that, I tend to make things harder then what they are. There are many steps to scheduling so it could just be that it is all new to me as well.
Settling In..
Day 7- 6/7
Day seven started and it was setting in that this would be my life in the future. I am enjoying challenging myself to work hard in a completely new environment. I am feeling the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what I am going to expect going in today. I started with the sales board and worked through paperwork. One thing I need to be careful of is making sure to check the cubbies each morning when I walk in. Because paperwork is done for the next day it typically throws me off to look at the next day instead of today! I learned how to check in players through the back end. The league coordinators are supposed to do the check in on site during league play, but sometimes it doesn't make it there. I felt it was still information and practice to for me. I started working with Philip on schedules once that was complete. I was beginning to see my daily routine forming a bit more. The more I am being introduced to new concepts helps me comprehend. One thing I do find hesitant about myself is answering the phone. Mostly, it is in the fear of not answering correctly or not being able to give the customer the right answer instead of putting them on hold to ask. I am sure the more that I adapt, the better my confidence will be.
Referee Schedules
Day 6- 6/5
Little did I know that I was not prepared for the amount of information that was taught to me on this day. Phillip, the CEOÂ of NSL, wanted to work with me to show me how to prepare referee schedules. I learned that it is important to prepare referee schedules ahead of the league schedules. Without an official there aren't any games to be played. First, I have to create a default schedule for each specific league. This done through the back end under scheduling tab. We then download the CSV template that will be used follow the steps I was taught. The one thing that I struggled with was which ref I was supposed to assign for each sport. Phillip has a photogenic memory so he wanted us to ask him for the referee and let him know for which league. I was able to go hands on for just a bit but to work on simple schedules and learn how to save the files. Right after lunch we discussed the difference between a normal schedule and a swiss schedule. We hand write all of the schedules. Philip shared a master schedule document with me that has seven game schedules for leagues with teams of four all the way up to eleven teams. If a league has 12 teams or more then it is considered a swiss schedule. The idea behind a swiss schedule is that teams versus their competition. Within the admyn page, we can check teams past wining percentages and use that to set schedules. If they have never played in that league before then their win percentage is zero. Swiss schedules are used to keep teams satisfied with the experience instead of blowing team out teams.
Spreading the Love
Day 5- 6/3
With almost a week into my internship, I was continuing the same process as before. Getting my self used to the daily grind of working at NSL. At field day, I was introduced to another sports administration intern that was coming in the office today. I was tasked with helping Jayden get acclimated with the daily duties. I took this as a time for me to show what I have retained since day one. Although I retained much of the information over the week, there were things that I wasn't absolutley certain on and had to ask for clarification. For an example, under each league on the physical sales board we write out the amount of teams signed up and the number of free agents that we have left to create a team for. i was unaware that the numbers on the bottom of each league stood for the number of teams registered. Afterwards I helped Jayden learn paperwork and explained to him the difference between weekly paperwork and playoff paperwork. We also worked together on learning the admyn page (back side of the website). Even though I did not learn anything new this day, it really helped me to improve on my daily skills. It helped me become more independent through my daily duties.
Field Day
Day 4- 6/1
Field Day is done once a year by Nashville Sports League. It is considered a traditional style of field day except teams compete against other teams to be crowned Field Day champions. We prepared and set up for 10 different field day activities: duck launch, relay races, keg races, Top Golf Dizzy Bat, skill drill, memory match, tilt a cup, human ring toss, soccer bowling and sponge transfer. Top Golf set up their own event as a marketing partnership with NSL. My wife volunteered to come out and help with set up before the festivities. Set up began around eight a.m. Set up included all the equipment for the nine activites we hosted plus flags, TVs for strandings, computers, tables, tents, water jugs and chairs. Other sponsors that came out to help support were a shaved ice business, cookie establishment and Nashville Soccer Club. Once set up was complete I was issued to run two events because we were short one staff member. I operated the relay race and skill drill side by side. I enjoyed myself as the players were really enjoying themselves and having a great time. My interaction with the patrons was on a positive note with many laughs. The event last about 5 hours. Once the event was over, we stayed for break down and loaded the trailer and vehicles back up. The players were to meet at a local bar for a sponsored drink and to hear the results from the event. The winning team was awarded gift cards and a championship banner!
The Learning Never Ends!
Day 3- 5/31
I was introduced to Mailchimp on my last day at the office but was not tasked to use the site until today. Through Mailchimp, I learned how to send schedule notifications to league players and captains. I started by checking the import number of the specific sport. Then make sure we have an updated list of the players email addresses. Once I have gone through through t each step to prepare an eamil to the specific league, I find the right template that corresponds with the right email. An email is sent to teams about schedules for the first week, the full schedule and end of the season notification. If we have a league that has twelve or more teams, then their league schedule is a swiss schedule. Swiss schedule are only created every two weeks and players are notified when they are complete. Once I have chosen the correct template for the email, I change the header and release the schedule. My mentor introduced me to Asana as well. This is where assignments are assigned to administration. Within Asana she tasks me to release schedules to teams. Later through my internship I will be tasked to schedule through Asana.
Trying to Get the Hang of Everything
Day 2-5/29
Day two at the internship and I was able to show what I had retained from the day before. Most of the daily duties, I perfomed on my own. The first thing I started on was the online sales board. Based off of memory, I was able to flow through the sales board. One thing that was tough during this task was that I did not understand the 'max' number of teams and free agents that each league requires. It was difficult because each league was different.Â
I began assembling paperwork for each league for the next day. My mentor gave me a printout on how to assemble paperwork for each of the seven weeks within the leagues. It easily made paperwork the favorite part of my duties. I was introduced to another website used by the company, Mailchimp. This is where NSL communicates news and information to the players in each league, either specifically or universal.
I also began to work on abandoned carts. Abandoned carts is where patrons have started registering with the NSL website but did not complete. We try to reach out to those patrons and get them to sign up through a promotional sell of ten dollars off their next league they sign up with. Sometimes we target certain patrons that have showed in interest in a league that we need to either finish filling up or get more involved because we don'have enough player signed up.
First Day of Internship
Day 1-5/28/2019
First day of my internship with Nashville Sports League. I was extremely excited about a new learning opportunity. From the interview it seemed that I would be working with generally nice individuals that wanted me to succeed. First, I was taught to how to find and open the sales board online. I was tasked with updating the physical sales board. I was not hooked up to their printer at this point, so Shelby printed a physical copy of the sales board for me to use. Next, I was taught how to prepare each league's paperwork to go out for the next day. From here, I learned about payment documents and when the appropriate times were to send them out to be collected by the league coordinators. I was introduced to the admyn page (backside of the company website) where most of the information was needed to complete my daily duties. I was later added to the apps that the company uses to communicate information, tasks and even answer phone calls from patrons.
Overall, my first day was good but challenging because of the overload of information that I had to get used too. Once I was able to go hands on, I began to gel. The apps NSL uses on their website to communicate with patrons, Avochato, was a huge tasked I tackled before heading out for the day. This communication app is used to field questions, also to reach out to curious or future players about attending a league. Aovochato was continuous and crazy because everyone in the office was communicating with patrons at this point in the day. It was something I was not used too!