Benjamin Duarte

Professor Mullen

6 Credit Summer Internship

July 9, 2017 Midway Paper

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 This summer I was fortunate enough to work at an internship with the Newport Gulls. I say

fortunate because while the field preparation and management of game day preparation and

production is labor intensive, the organization, the players, interns, volunteers, sponsors and fans made

the job fun while being an excellent learning experience in a family-like and friendly environment. The

Newport Gulls are a summer collegiate league baseball organization in Newport, Rhode Island. The Gulls

play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The team plays games from May through August

against similar college summer teams from across New England and as far away as northern Vermont.

The goals of the Gulls organization are to provide an organized, professional level program for college

baseball players to have an opportunity to improve their off-season skills in a semi-professional, family

friendly, environment. The Gulls play in a honored and old baseball field squeezed in between colonial

era houses and turn of the 20th century business structures. The city-owned field, opened in 1908, four

years before Fenway Park, is said to have been played by the barn-storming baseball teams of the early

1900s which may have included some of baseballs legends and hall of fame players.

As a Sports Management major and recent Nichols College baseball player with a strong interest

in a career in baseball, interning with the Newport Gulls Organization has been an opportunity of a

lifetime. The history, the local lore and aura has been aneye-opening experience to say the least! It is my

first exposure to the behind the scenes action and inner workings of a baseball operation. I see

participating in this baseball organization for my internship this summer as my starting point. As a

baseball player in high school and college, I loved showing up to the field and prepare and play in the

games. Realizing that extending my playing at the next level was looking more difficult, I decided to take

a different path into the game. Working for the team in the offices was my best and next path. The

Gulls are my start.

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 Spending more and more time with the Newport Gulls and now at the halfway point of my

semester and seasonal internship, I can look back at what Ive learned thus far and I see it is just the

beginning of so much more of what I have to learn. Im learning new things every day that go on behind

the scenes of operating and managing a sports organization, what it takes to put on a production such

as a baseball game, a promotional night at any professional, collegiate, or any sporting event. I thought

there was a lot of running around before the game as a player but it doesnt compare to the managing

and preparing for a game that goes on behind the scenes and off the field.

The Newport Gulls is a non-profit business operation. The Gulls depend on volunteers,

internships, ticket sales and the generosity of their sponsors and local business partnerships to operate.

Keeping the sponsors returning season after season is vital to the Gulls sustainability as a business. The

organization must be doing something right as many of the same sponsors return year after year. The

organization is mostly operated by unpaid interns under the supervisor of the General Manager/Owner

and Director of Operations. With their guidance and help, the other interns and I do our best to

implement the standard game-time operations procedures, balance sponsorship expectations and

promotions, entertain and engage the fans, expand our knowledge, improve our skills, attempt new

challenges and revisit other ideas. As unpaid interns working in a non-profit organization we work with

local and nationally recognized name brand companies to promote each other before and during each

game. We promote our sponsors and partners during the game with prizes, in-between inning contests

and on our pocket schedules and media guides handed out to each fan as they enter the stadium. We

also honor our sponsors by having them and their families or representatives at the games, as well as

throw out the first pitch of the game. In return, we are allowed to use those companies donated

resources to our advantage to help us advertise and promote our games. As well as prepare the field for

each game and print promotional literature hand-outs. Game day and in-between-inning promotions

are the most crowd interactive and fun for the fans and the interns. Working and interacting with each

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fan in our free best seats in the house give away raffle or selling arms lengths of tickets for the 50/50

raffle. Proceeds from the raffle go to the charity/organization of the night. Theme nights are popular.

My favorite was Star Wars night when I dressed up as Darth Vader. Almost every fan in the park had

their picture taken with me. In-between-innings contests with the younger fans like player dress up

race, the Brain-freeze challenge, Small spectator Dance-Off and Water balloon toss are always fun and

entertaining.

The Structure and standard operational practices is referred to by the interns as The bible The

bible is a log book, a collection of past experiences and ideas from previous seasons interns and

volunteers recorded in a binder that can help future interns with next years planning for each night and

game. The log contains information like who to contact in each sponsor organization, who was the

group volunteer that night, the honor guards, national anthem singer or singers, whos the sponsor of

that night, whos delivering the ball to the pitcher - part of the UPS delivery partnership. Everything that

happens each game and each week goes into a document binder. The bible it has been helpful to the

interns in very quickly familiarizing themselves on how things are done. In a short baseball season, with

fresh personnel each year, the bible is gold-mine of information. While standard practices are

important to the routine, the Gulls encourage their interns to be creative. Being able to use some of

your own resources and ideas brings more options for future interns to use.

To be effective, we have to be able to work as a group and help one another. Personally, I think

that is our biggest strength. Our biggest weakness - getting distracted by the game. Some of us are

better at that than others. The players are a team on the field but the interns are a team as well. Being

able to help one another, knowing that we all want the night to run as smoothly and as successfully as

possible, we have each-others backs. Also, we want to keep the bosses happy. In the beginning, it was

tough learning everyone strengths and weakness but once we realized what each of us brought to the

table, the interns work with or help each other with those strengths and weakness and build off

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experience or pick them up. We all have our own responsibilities. We do complete those jobs but we

also know that we can count on each other to help get things done.

As a Non Profit, the money we do make goes back into the community. From Newport Gulls

Camps, players meals, equipment for the field, promotional items hosted by us. The Gulls also use the

revenues to give scholarships to local schools and college in the area. We also get money from Sponsors,

which also goes towards field equipment, banners, signs and other attractions for the field. The Newport

Gulls have been a Non Profit organization since the being.

The Gulls market themselves through the NECBL Conference website, the Newport Gulls

Website, sponsorship links, literature handout, local and internet radio broadcasting of games, on game

day and all-season long. Our Marketing team spends a lot of time getting the word out. Especially on

social media. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We even put up signs, A- frames, which are signs that go

on the side of the road. We put a banner on the field every game day to let the local and visiting people

know that the Newport Gulls have a Home Game. We also have partners that allow to use radio time,

newspaper space to market. I have spent some time with the market team, helping spread the word

with our Military Appreciation Night, this July 19. Reaching out to Veteran homes and retirement

centers seeing if they would be interested in coming to our game. This game was one of the largest

attended game we have. So, naturally we would like to beat the previous years attendance. Reaching

out to multiple places, with everyone on the phone making phone calls.

Working with the Gulls, calling people rather than texting, sending an email or even sending

something from the mail, teaches you to speak slowly, confidently and speak with a calm and friendly

voice. I have learned the direct contact like a phone call also makes it harder for people to say no or not

being willing to help. Being able to hold a conversation or get right to the point has become a nice touch

to have when working on a laptop or on your phone.

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 Like all businesses, the Gulls have legal issues and concerns. As a non-profit those concerns, I

believe, are mostly in liabilities. Injuries to players, personnel, attendees and fans are always at the

fore-front of attention to safety. The team travels to other cities and towns throughout New England by

bus, so there are insurance issues to be covered. The stadium, Cardines Field, is owned and operated

by the city of Newport. The Gulls have leased the facility on a seasonal basis for seventeen seasons.

This past fall as a player on the Nichols baseball team, the team and I had the opportunity to

work at Gillette Stadium during some New England Patriots and High School Football Games. The

objective was to work stadium concessions and split earnings with charity organizations and the Nichols

baseball team expenses. Having now experienced how things are done with the Gulls I see vast

differences in the culture, approach and operations between the Patriots empire and the local

collection of college players gathering for summer ball.

If the season were to end today, the experiences I have learned as a summer intern with the

Newport Gulls have been invaluable. It has also been a blast. Experiences and skills that will benefit me

and any career path I end up following. Experience in organization, motivation, cold calling,

presentation, perseverance, dedication, business operations and modeling are just a few that come to

me. The information I have learned on and off the field will stay with me moving forward to my future

employment, may it be in the Sports Industry or in another industry. Wherever I end up, I will feel better

prepared, confident and well trained for emergent business situations.

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