Written By Emma Abramson
Working in the sports world and experiencing a professional event from behind the scenes has always been a dream of mine. Throughout my life I have played the role of the athlete and the spectator, but have never been inside the ropes to see the amount of time, planning, decision making, and creativity required to put on a successful sporting event. This past summer I was able to put those curiosities into action as a tournament operations intern for the LPGA in preparation of the FM Global Championship at TPC Boston, Norton, MA.
Throughout high school I gained experience working in the journalism side of sports as a Sports Illustrated Kids Reporter. I have had the opportunity to attend professional events such as the Duke vs. UNC rivalry basketball game and 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club to interview athletes/coaches/fans. While I enjoyed the reporting aspect, this past summer I wanted to explore a different side of the sports industry and to learn about what work actually goes into planning a professional game.
Last year as a freshman at Williams College, studying Economics and Psychology as a member of the women’s golf team, I took a Sports Business and Analytics course. The class dove into what makes a successful sporting event through prioritizing the fan experience, how to generate maximum revenue, and examples of how various sub departments work independently and cohesively to make an event run smoothly. There were weekly guest speakers, and one week was the Commissioner of the LPGA, Mollie Marcoux Samaan (Williams parent). After Mollie spoke to my class about her responsibilities and missions of the LPGA, I reached out to her about how I could explore my desire in working for the LPGA as it combined my love for golf and potential career aspirations. After several exchanges, she put me in contact with FM Global Championship tournament director Patrick Healy, and from there I worked with Patrick on what my summer internship would look like.
My internship began the first week of June and lasted until the end of the tournament (September 1st). I worked in a team of seven which included the five heads of the tournament and one other intern. For the first two months I worked mainly remote aiding in the preparation of the event which included finding restaurants and venues to partner with, assisting in the media press release of the event at Fenway Park, and listening in on the weekly team zoom calls. It was great to experience the daily and weekly meetings to watch how they were conducted with delegating responsibilities to the various department heads (ticketing, transportations, volunteers, sponsorships, etc). As a college golfer trying to keep up my game this summer, being able to work remotely allowed for a well balanced schedule of work and playing in amateur events.
For the last couple weeks of the internship I was onsite at the tournament venue, TPC Boston, working in the main office (at MassGolf headquarters) and assisting with tournament operations including helping with physically setting up the tournament, coordinating the 500+ volunteers, and helping it run smoothly. I worked closely with tournament services manager Bailey Grant, who showed me the characteristics needed to lead effectively and to get the job done. Each day of tournament week looked unique as I helped any department that needed assistance. For instance, I could be helping with putting together the tournament starter cards, leading registration, coordinating the volunteers, helping with the pairings party at Fenway Park, or making sure all the sponsors logos were presented around the course. I learned to work efficiently as once I finished one task there was always another one on the cue.
Before beginning this internship I knew I wanted to work in the sports industry whether that was in the communications or business department. After completing the internship I can confirm that the sports world (potentially golf) is the field I would want to go into. Having a golf background certainly helps as I can relate to the players and can understand what they would like to see when it comes to putting a tournament together. I also learned that no matter what field I go into I know I want to work in a team dynamic. I enjoyed getting to know my coworkers this summer through the team meetings, 5am meetings at the golf course, and late nights leaving the office. Working in the same office space as everyone made it easy to all work together and ask questions to those around me. It is fun to all have different responsibilities but to be able to talk projects through with one another work towards a common goal of putting on a smooth and successful tournament.
As I continue with sophomore year I am excited to continue to explore my career aspirations through taking a variety of courses, writing the weekly golf team write ups, managing the social media for the women’s golf team, and immersing myself on campus. Thank you to Williams College Alumni Sponsored Internship Program, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, Tournament Director Patrick Healy, and Tournament Services Manager Bailey Grant, for providing me with this amazing opportunity!
