Let’s call it what it is - unpaid internships are less than ideal. Especially if you work for a sport where a head coach is being paid $76 million not to coach. That is not the point of this article. We cannot control that situation - so lets focus on what we can control.
When you want to get into the field of S&C you will need to intern. This does not mean you need to work for free. Some internship programs actually will pay for interns. Now they are few and far between - but they do exist. Why do you need to intern? Well because chances are no one knows who you are. Yes, your family and friends love you and know you are special and will be the next great S&C coach. But no one else does. So you need to change that. That is why you need to intern.
Now, picking where to intern (I also like to call it volunteer coaching - but you decide) can be the hard part. You might live somewhere in the world where S&C is not popular and you would not get a great experience where you live. Or maybe you have interned in your local area and you need to expand your network of coaches (see what I did there?).
This was the situation for me. I completed my internship at Harvard University in December of 2011 (wow I am old). After my internship I stayed on for another semester. Why did I do this? Because the director, James Frazier, got me a summer internship at Iowa Football. This internship was where S&C coaches went to get jobs. So I wanted to be prepared for the summer of 2012.
Frazier and I talked about how to best prepare me for the Iowa internship. We both decided it would be best for me to come back and work with more responsibilities at Harvard. We even threw around the idea of interning at Harvard during the day, and interning at Mike Boyle’s during the afternoon/evening. But, after talking with Tim Mullen, the assistant director, it was decided for me to get as much responsibility as appropriate at Harvard so I could see what being a college S&C coach was like.
This was my start in working for free - yet having to pay bills like everyone else. I moved out of the home I was living in Rhode Island where I was working at my offensive line coach’s gym (this was my TRUE first start into S&C). I could not afford to pay rent at the house anymore since I would be working at Harvard full time (I was part time in fall semester 2011 while I was finishing grad school and working at the gym). So I moved back home with my dad and my step mom. Ah, humble pie, it tastes so good.
Once my ego healed, I was driving 75-90 minutes to Harvard from Cape Cod each day. This was 75-90 minutes each way. Traffic dictated how long the drive would take. How did I do this? Well I did not have any expenses besides gas and food. My housing was paid because I got to live at home with my father and step mom. He would help me with gas money as I did not have time to work. And then I would eat the food he had in the fridge.
Again humbling. But I did not have the time to work. I would leave the house around 3:45 or 4a to get to harvard around 5:15a for set up at 5:30am and would get home around 7:30-8pm. I would occasionally get to sleep at a friend’s house who lived near Harvard. This was only a 15-20 min drive to and from Harvard. This made for some AMAZING rest as I could get to his place at 6pm, eat and pass out before waking up at 5am.
So that is how I did the first part of the internship. Relying on family. This would be the same way I made the summer of 2012 internship at Iowa work. My father gave me $500 per month for May, June, and July. It was my job to make sure I could live.
I found a sublet on craigslist. It was around $330 per month. I would be living with 2 random people, but who cared. I had a place that was near the facility, and I would be able to walk 10 minutes to the Iowa weight room. Perfect. $990 gone from the $1,500. That left $510 for 3 months. After internet and utilities - I had about $300 for the time I was Iowa. I was budgeting $25 per week on food bill. The way I would do it is only plan to eat breakfast and dinner during the week. And then 3 meals on the weekend. I would get my eggs, bacon, and frozen veggies for breakfast. Add some toast and peanut butter and I am golden. Cannot forget the coffee. Then, my go to protein for dinner was the frozen chicken breasts. Those were gold. For around $7 I would have a huge bag of protein.
I would eat lunch (supplements) at the facility for lunch. This was 2012 so remember training table and fuel zones where not what they are today. I was SO happy when the occasional meal would happen and the football team had a meal we could go to. That made me feel like I king.
So that is also how I did it. I needed the help of my family. I understand that I was lucky and I had family who was willing to help me out. I plan to be able to do the same for my kids. Did my dad make it a cake walk for me? No, again I was living off $25 per week for a food budget. But, I was actually able to do the thing. He let me brush against the guard rails of failure - not hit them. Maybe not all of you have a family that will be willing to let you live at home for free while you intern near by. And maybe they wont give you money to live while you go off and intern out of state.
Maybe you do, and maybe you just wont ask for the help. Trust me, ego and pride are sins. They can take you down. You will need to intern out of state, ideally where you want to be hired, in order to get your career started. This means you need help. No one is self made. It is ok to ask for help if you have the support system. Just ask yourself, wouldn’t you do the same for your kids.
Oh, I almost forgot the best part about the Iowa story. So, when I was interning I needed to pass the CSCS. I bought the cert (with my dad’s money again) and then needed to study. I worked this thing called the Ladies Football Academy and I got a $50 gift card. I took that and bought one of the small desks and chairs that Walmart has. Set it up in my room. Then for an entire week (the players had the week of the fourth of July off) I did nothing but sleep, wake up, drink coffee, nap study more. I was SO HAPPY to be able to use that money to get that desk and study.
If you are a coach and you need help with your internship advice get inside the network. Or if you are a coach who runs an internship department, you need to watch this presentation from Nick DiMarco. Nick was also a former Iowa football intern (summer 2013), and was my colleague for 3 years before he took over at Elon. Nick has since set up one of the best S&C departments in the country. One reason for Elon’s success is their internship program. Learn the tips and secrets from Nick by clicking here to watch the presentation.
When you want to get into the field of S&C you will need to intern. This does not mean you need to work for free. Some internship programs actually will pay for interns. Now they are few and far between - but they do exist. Why do you need to intern? Well because chances are no one knows who you are. Yes, your family and friends love you and know you are special and will be the next great S&C coach. But no one else does. So you need to change that. That is why you need to intern.
Now, picking where to intern (I also like to call it volunteer coaching - but you decide) can be the hard part. You might live somewhere in the world where S&C is not popular and you would not get a great experience where you live. Or maybe you have interned in your local area and you need to expand your network of coaches (see what I did there?).
This was the situation for me. I completed my internship at Harvard University in December of 2011 (wow I am old). After my internship I stayed on for another semester. Why did I do this? Because the director, James Frazier, got me a summer internship at Iowa Football. This internship was where S&C coaches went to get jobs. So I wanted to be prepared for the summer of 2012.
Frazier and I talked about how to best prepare me for the Iowa internship. We both decided it would be best for me to come back and work with more responsibilities at Harvard. We even threw around the idea of interning at Harvard during the day, and interning at Mike Boyle’s during the afternoon/evening. But, after talking with Tim Mullen, the assistant director, it was decided for me to get as much responsibility as appropriate at Harvard so I could see what being a college S&C coach was like.
This was my start in working for free - yet having to pay bills like everyone else. I moved out of the home I was living in Rhode Island where I was working at my offensive line coach’s gym (this was my TRUE first start into S&C). I could not afford to pay rent at the house anymore since I would be working at Harvard full time (I was part time in fall semester 2011 while I was finishing grad school and working at the gym). So I moved back home with my dad and my step mom. Ah, humble pie, it tastes so good.
Once my ego healed, I was driving 75-90 minutes to Harvard from Cape Cod each day. This was 75-90 minutes each way. Traffic dictated how long the drive would take. How did I do this? Well I did not have any expenses besides gas and food. My housing was paid because I got to live at home with my father and step mom. He would help me with gas money as I did not have time to work. And then I would eat the food he had in the fridge.
Again humbling. But I did not have the time to work. I would leave the house around 3:45 or 4a to get to harvard around 5:15a for set up at 5:30am and would get home around 7:30-8pm. I would occasionally get to sleep at a friend’s house who lived near Harvard. This was only a 15-20 min drive to and from Harvard. This made for some AMAZING rest as I could get to his place at 6pm, eat and pass out before waking up at 5am.
So that is how I did the first part of the internship. Relying on family. This would be the same way I made the summer of 2012 internship at Iowa work. My father gave me $500 per month for May, June, and July. It was my job to make sure I could live.
I found a sublet on craigslist. It was around $330 per month. I would be living with 2 random people, but who cared. I had a place that was near the facility, and I would be able to walk 10 minutes to the Iowa weight room. Perfect. $990 gone from the $1,500. That left $510 for 3 months. After internet and utilities - I had about $300 for the time I was Iowa. I was budgeting $25 per week on food bill. The way I would do it is only plan to eat breakfast and dinner during the week. And then 3 meals on the weekend. I would get my eggs, bacon, and frozen veggies for breakfast. Add some toast and peanut butter and I am golden. Cannot forget the coffee. Then, my go to protein for dinner was the frozen chicken breasts. Those were gold. For around $7 I would have a huge bag of protein.
I would eat lunch (supplements) at the facility for lunch. This was 2012 so remember training table and fuel zones where not what they are today. I was SO happy when the occasional meal would happen and the football team had a meal we could go to. That made me feel like I king.
So that is also how I did it. I needed the help of my family. I understand that I was lucky and I had family who was willing to help me out. I plan to be able to do the same for my kids. Did my dad make it a cake walk for me? No, again I was living off $25 per week for a food budget. But, I was actually able to do the thing. He let me brush against the guard rails of failure - not hit them. Maybe not all of you have a family that will be willing to let you live at home for free while you intern near by. And maybe they wont give you money to live while you go off and intern out of state.
Maybe you do, and maybe you just wont ask for the help. Trust me, ego and pride are sins. They can take you down. You will need to intern out of state, ideally where you want to be hired, in order to get your career started. This means you need help. No one is self made. It is ok to ask for help if you have the support system. Just ask yourself, wouldn’t you do the same for your kids.
Oh, I almost forgot the best part about the Iowa story. So, when I was interning I needed to pass the CSCS. I bought the cert (with my dad’s money again) and then needed to study. I worked this thing called the Ladies Football Academy and I got a $50 gift card. I took that and bought one of the small desks and chairs that Walmart has. Set it up in my room. Then for an entire week (the players had the week of the fourth of July off) I did nothing but sleep, wake up, drink coffee, nap study more. I was SO HAPPY to be able to use that money to get that desk and study.
If you are a coach and you need help with your internship advice get inside the network. Or if you are a coach who runs an internship department, you need to watch this presentation from Nick DiMarco. Nick was also a former Iowa football intern (summer 2013), and was my colleague for 3 years before he took over at Elon. Nick has since set up one of the best S&C departments in the country. One reason for Elon’s success is their internship program. Learn the tips and secrets from Nick by clicking here to watch the presentation.
