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mini传媒 students tackle career options as interns for the Crusaders

26 August 2021

Students at the University of mini传媒 are getting valuable, real-life experience working for one of the country鈥檚 leading rugby teams, the Crusaders.

HOW TO APPLY

This year,听eight interns have been working for the franchise as part of the University of mini传媒 and Crusaders Internship Programme.

Most of the students are in their final year of a听Bachelor of Sport Coaching听degree 鈥 the only one of its kind in New Zealand 鈥 and听two are studying towards postgraduate degrees in听Sport Science.

The student interns have taken on different projects for the Crusaders, such as performance analysis, strength and conditioning training, event management and communications and media work.

They鈥檝e worked for the team for more than 120 hours this year on top of their regular studies, including helping out at every Crusaders home game.

Cameron Clement, 21, who is in his final year of a Bachelor of Sport Coaching majoring in Sport Leadership and Management with a minor in Marketing, has been working on digital content creation, analytics and event management for the Crusaders as part of the internship programme. 鈥淚 think the biggest thing for me was that I don鈥檛 feel like an intern, I feel like I can add value to the organisation which is really awesome.鈥

He started in February this year and has been given opportunities to live score games on social media and upload content to the Crusaders website. He prepares reports about the Crusaders鈥 digital platforms and presents them to the senior management team, allowing the organisation to review how successful posts have been, and detect social trends.

鈥淎ny hands-on experience is definitely extremely valuable,鈥 he says. 鈥淭his experience has helped me narrow down what I want to do as a career. I鈥檝e worked with different software and gained people skills, working with different stakeholders and things like that.

鈥淕etting an opportunity to work for a globally known organisation, which I鈥檝e always been a big fan of, is pretty amazing. My advice to other students who want to be involved is to just be yourself, I know the Crusaders pick their interns based on who you are as a person.鈥

UC Sport Coaching Lecturer Piet van Hasselt听says the internships provide students with meaningful industry experience.

鈥淥ur students learn in an area that鈥檚 relevant to their interests and where they can gain the most valuable experience.听 It helps them put into practice what they鈥檝e learned in an academic sense.

鈥淭he students really make the most of their opportunities. They also learn about dealing with people and navigating working relationships and how to communicate effectively and it gives them some really constructive feedback.鈥

Crusaders Chief Executive Colin Mansbridge听says the organisation is fortunate to have the support of UC undergraduate and postgraduate students through the intern programme.

鈥淭he enthusiasm and fresh perspectives they bring every year are a real asset to the Crusaders and we鈥檙e pleased to be able to give them an opportunity to learn in our environment.鈥

Crusaders听Events and Commercial Partnerships Manager Grace Jones says she has been impressed by the interns鈥 willingness to go 鈥渁bove and beyond鈥 during the programme.

鈥淲e hope the experiences our 2021 interns have had will see them go on to achieve great things and inspire the next group of UC students to step up and take their opportunity in years to come.鈥

The University of mini传媒 also has interns working with other local sports organisations such as the mini传媒 Tactix, mini传媒 Rams, Sport mini传媒, Mainland Football, mini传媒 Cricket, University of mini传媒 clubs and high schools.

鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky to have so many great sports organisations that can help us,鈥 van Hasselt says.


More information
Visit our media enquiries page to contact UC Media.
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