By Kelley Baylis, Swimming World College Intern
Kelly Dullard, Springfield College senior, spent his fall semester in Irvine, California partaking in an internship at Concordia University-Irvine. Concordia is a small NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) university, which is currently in the process of transitioning into a NCAA Division II institute.
“I interned there as part of my degree requirement for the Sport Management program at Springfield College. As a part of the curriculum, the internship can be completed anywhere the student is accepted, as long as it is approved by the department and met the requirement of 580 hours minimum. Although I was interning on the other side of the country, I was still receiving 12 credits that counted towards my Sport Management degree at Springfield,” Dullard said.
The internship ran from the end of July through December. Dullard worked closely alongside Sports Information Director, Brian Gaul.
“Essentially, it was my responsibility to work with Brian to ensure all types of athletic social media was up to date including the athletic website. I was responsible for writing press releases and interviewing coaches for the men’s water polo team, cross country team, and swim team and occasionally wrote stories for other sports such as soccer and volleyball,” Dullard said.
“I also performed game day operations, which included staffing home athletic events, supervising the events, live streaming home events, and approving student-workers timecards,” Dullard said. “The final major responsibility of mine was to travel with the women’s soccer team to Orange Beach, Alabama for the NAIA National Tournament and serve for my supervisor as Sport Information Director while he was at another National Championship site. It was exciting to have that big of a responsibility and be trusted to get the job done. Things I had to do while in Alabama were like most games, update social media, tweet, interview coaches and players, and create highlight reels for the website so folks back in California could stay in the loop.”
When it came to hearing about this internship, Dullard had a more interesting approach to this opportunity.
“I didn’t necessarily hear about this internship, in fact, it was almost created. I was hired by the YMCA of San Diego County in Imperial Beach, Calif., to lifeguard and work at a summer camp when I started to think about doing my internship in the fall in California too,” Dullard said.
“I had done research in the past looking at graduate schools and programs and I remembered that Concordia had a great Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration program so I decided to give someone in their athletic department a call to see if an internship was available,” Dullard said. “Eventually, I came in contact with Brian and he told me there currently wasn’t an internship position made, but he could use some extra help and we worked out the details over the next couple of months.”
Dullard is coming back as a second semester senior and will graduate in May with a Bachelors of Science in Sports Management and a minor in business. This internship certainly related to what Dullard hopes to do after graduation.
“I have always had the goal in mind to become an athletic director at a college or university someday so having the opportunity to intern in a small university was great. It really gave me a feel for the atmosphere of an athletic department and I have a much better understanding of the way things operate,” Dullard said.
When it came to staying in shape for the swim season, Dullard did not have a problem with using the resources available.
“I have been an ocean lifeguard for three years now, so when I found the place I was going to live in Newport Beach, Calif., I knew that I would be able to stay in shape by swimming in the ocean and running on the beach. The ocean served as my pool for the five months I was living out there. Many of my ocean swims would include run-swim-runs, starting at the top of the beach, running into the water, swimming past a marker, and then running back to the top of the beach. Sometimes, they would be sprints at a shorter distance and sometimes they would be paced for longer distances. Also, I bought a local gym membership so I would have access to free weights and other types of cords/bands. It was difficult to find time to do all of this and I did the best I could. I think it will be beneficial,” Dullard said.
Even though Dullard knew he would be missing out on his senior fall semester, he didn’t want to miss out on the internship.
“I knew that when the potential to intern at Concordia presented itself that it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on,” Dullard said.
After graduation, Dullard is thinking about heading back to California.
“I am looking into the possibility of going to graduate school at Concordia for their Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration program, but I am still researching and looking into other schools/programs and such,” Dullard said.