My Internship Year
Ok, so in June 2014 I was lucky enough to
be accepted as a Strength and Conditioning intern (technically a volunteer but
intern sounds better) for Harlequins Rugby for 2014/15 season. I was absolutely
over the moon when I found out, because I had originally applied for this
position in 2011, straight out of university, but didn’t get it.
When I didn’t get it first time round it
was tough, I thought I had everything one would need to be suitable for this
role. But after visiting the club shortly after, and even more so looking back
3 years down the line, I had absolutely no clue about Strength and Conditioning
as an industry, no experience worthy of noting, and was duly told this.
So I was sent away with simple messages:
1.
Get some experience coaching
S&C
2.
Start off down the UKSCA or
CSCS/NSCA path
3.
Build a knowledge base through
your own trial and error
So that’s what I did. I worked with the
University of Worcester Men’s Rugby team, Men’s American Football team, Malvern
College rugby, worked privately out of City Gym Worcester and Hill Performance
Centre, started training for strength rather than the regular bodybuilder type
training, and I researched the UKSCA.
Now I am fully UKSCA Accredited, have a
year of experience in Elite Level Rugby Union, started my own business, am a
personal trainer in London, and am off to New Zealand in June to be the
Assistant S&C Coach for Northland in the ITM Cup.
So the internship – is it worth it?
I hear this all the time, and I read about
it all the time online with people out of uni saying “I couldn’t get a job, but
I’ve got a degree, should I do an internship even though I don’t get paid…”
My response would be “Yes.” Simple. This
internship has been absolutely invaluable to me, it’s hard to really explain it
but I’ll try.
What I’ve learnt throughout this process
hasn’t necessarily been new information; I already had an understanding of
physiology etc due to university, but it has been eye opening in terms of
application and starting to realize the complications that arise in elite level
sport.
Even now, one year on working within this
structure, I feel like it would be a big step to head up an S&C Program
because of how much of this information was new. How to piece together the
programming for weights, speed, conditioning, recovery etc. Then the inclusion
of rugby, how to cater for injuries, different fixture dates and how to adjust
the training week.
So many small things you don’t even think
about when you’re new, but that hit you and you suddenly realize how in depth
it can all be.
A lot of people then go off talking about
the role of an intern; will I just be there to do all the crappy jobs that the
coaches don’t want, will I ever work with the first team, will the players like
me, what happens if they don’t?
Now, I have heard some horror stories of
“internships” where people basically just did all the bitch duties. Cleaning,
setting up and clearing away etc.
Don’t get me wrong; we’ve had our fair
share of those duties this year too. But with the bad comes the good.
This internship has been incredible for
hands on experience, and that’s largely down to the fact that all bar one of
the S&C team at Quins have previously been an intern at the same club. They
know how it works, and know how it feels to be in that position.
On day one – our first job was to clear out
a massive container of crap. This was to be expected. I should note that day
one was 3 days before pre-season started.
On day two (day one of pre-season) – we
were given athletes to coach. Just like that, straight in to the club, still
learning names, and we’re in charge of a group of professional athletes.
A few weeks later, the England squad
members came back from New Zealand and were training – they were given to us to
coach. The highest profile players in the club, and the interns were in charge
of them straight off. That is responsibility right there.
Things continued in that way all year. We
had crappy roles to do like protein shakes, setting up therapy every damn day,
clearing up therapy every damn day, cleaning and filling ice baths, running
water on for rugby etc.
But as I already said, it was balanced out
with good stuff. Coaching groups of players in the gym, running warm ups for
speed and rugby, getting involved on Premiership and European match days, being
mic’d up running water for the A-League getting coaches messages out to the
players, working at stadiums like Franklin’s Gardens, The Stoop, The Rec, The
Aviva Stadium, and the Holy Grail that is Twickenham.
With the players you have to get an
understanding of the situation; these guys see new interns come in year on
year, like a conveyor belt of over eager rugby and gym nauses trying to make
their way in a new industry. One piece of advice I was told beforehand was –
know your place. Don’t go in trying to tell them some new magic formula,
because you don’t have it. And even if you did, why should they believe you?
You’re an intern. They have a head S&C for a reason.
Some players accept you in straight away,
some it takes time to earn their trust and respect. That’s just the way it’s
going to be – so if you can’t handle that, then don’t do an internship. You’ll
disappear half way through the year and your reference won’t come through next
time you try to claim you worked at that club.
Another piece of advice I was given – make
the most of it. Sounds simple doesn’t it, but being in a setting like this is
something not a lot of people have the chance to do. So if you do one, ask
questions, learn as much as you can to make you more employable at the end of
your time. Network – use your contacts to make more, get in touch with people
at other clubs, from other sports etc and ask if you can spend time with them.
You’re more likely to get accepted this chance by already being in a good
position, so reach out to people and get as much information and experience
under your belt as you can.
It can sometimes be a little frustrating,
especially when you are working a large amount of hours with no income, but the
reward is worth it. For me the best way around these situations was to think
about the amount of people who I beat to the role, those people who weren’t
fortunate enough to land this opportunity, and to really recognize the
fantastic structure I was a part of.
Internship or degree? Personally I would
say do both. Neither of them individually will give you the total package, but
together they could. So I would say do your degree, potentially try to find
somewhere to work in your summers off that makes your CV look better by the time
you leave, build up some qualifications and experience whilst you’re there, and
then try to slot in to an internship wherever possible.
The degree will give you the knowledge, and
the internship will piece together how to apply that in the most appropriate
ways. You will arrive with gaps in your knowledge and your application, whether
you think you do or not – you will, but you’ll leave a much more complete
coach.
Another reason I think internships are a
good option is because it allows you to see if it is really something you want
to pursue. Some people may think they want to work in a team atmosphere, but
when it comes down to it their coaching style may be more suitable for
one-to-one work. This is one reason I tried so hard to get onto this internship,
because I wanted to be sure that this was the career I wanted to pursue, and it
has definitely confirmed that to me.
One other piece of advice I would give
though, especially if you are a student reading this, is to make the most of
your time! Try to fill your spare time with activities that will make you a
better potential employee, this way you will be more likely to find something
immediately out of uni. I had some coaching experience during university, but
it took me another 2 years until I had enough relevant work experience under my
belt to be considered for the position. So get some coaching qualifications,
and more importantly – work your ass off to get experience doing the job you
want to do.
I think that’s about all I have to say, I
think I’ve covered everything I normally hear spoken about online or frequently
get asked. To summarize, internships are definitely worth doing, be prepared to
work hard – its not all about the glory of being involved but you have to show
you are willing to do the hard yards to reap the rewards, your application
knowledge will increase dramatically and you’ll start to think of things in a
new way, and you will find out 100% if this is the career choice for you.
Thank you for reading, and if you have any
questions regarding internships or anything else feel free to contact me.
Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.
