Zach Rivera completed a summer internship with the Spokane Shock professional football team. He hoped to gain experience in football operations and scouting but found his role focused more on community relations events. Rivera utilized his strong interpersonal skills to connect with fans at these events. While he wanted more involvement in scouting, the internship helped him improve his skills with programs like Photoshop and Premiere. Coursework in event planning, sport finance, and digital content creation directly benefited his internship responsibilities and prepared him for a career in sports.

1. Exit Report
Washington State University Sport Management
Spokane Shock
Supervisor: Brett Gleason
Summer 2014
Zach Rivera
1307 Pike St. NE Auburn, WA 98002

2. I. Comment on your expectation for this internship, whether you attained your
goals, and why or why not. Be specific. Include opportunities and drawbacks.
Coming into this internship, I really didn’t have any specific expectations for how it would
go. I did expect to learn as much as I could on every facet of a professional sport
organization. I was hoping to be involved within football operations, and have a more active
role. While I did end up spending time working with football operations, I did want to be
more involved with scouting and recruiting. I failed to talk to our player personal director
sooner in the internship and we really did not have a scouting department to begin with. The
time I did spend with football operations however proved to be a valuable experience, as I
was able to interact with players directly on daily basis. Eventually, I would like to work
closely with players in either a scouting or general manager capacity. I had opportunities to
branch out into different departments as well. Our community relations director gave me
many chances to work closely alongside her on various community events. I showed some
initiative and leadership during these events, and I really found being out in the community
very rewarding for me personally.
II. Comment on the opportunities you used to develop your strengths during the
internship. What were your strengths and how did you employ them? How will
these strengths help you in future employment?
One of my strengths as an employee and as a person is that I am able to connect and talk with
people very easily. Especially within sports, you interact with a lot of people on the job
whether it is a fan, players, or other staff members. You have to be personable because
essentially, you are in the business of bringing entertainment to the masses. Especially during
community events, I got a chance to interact with many passionate fans and I made it a point

3. to talk to as many people as I could and tried to find what they loved about the team. In terms
of future employment, my personable nature will benefit me in a sales or community
relations capacity. Within sales, as long as a potential client or sponsor likes me and the
product, they will most like want to do business with me. Within community relations, I
represent the team. Ideally, an organization wants a friendly face representing the team out in
the community, and I would be the person to be that face.
III. How were you able to work on your areas of weakness and what progress was
made? Were your weaknesses detrimental to your completion of
responsibilities/assignments? Will your weaknesses harm your opportunities in
future employment?
In terms of weaknesses, I did not have any glaring problems. I did want to become more
proficient with certain computer programs such as Photoshop and Premiere. Working within
the communications department I got a chance to work with these programs a lot. I learned
many techniques from Brett and even editing together my own episode of a player’s show
that I filmed. My knowledge in these programs were not detrimental to me completing my
daily tasks, but had I known more about these programs, I would have finished them in a
timelier manner. As the internship went on and I practiced different techniques more, I feel
like I have made immense progress. Proficiency within these platforms is important in this
day in age. I do not consider my skills with these programs weaknesses anymore and it will
not affect whether or not I get a job in the future. On the contrary, I feel that it will actually
help me with my job search now.

4. IV. Discuss the contributions of the courses in the Sport Management Curriculum to
the success of your internship using the following code: (1) Some Value; (2)
Good Value; (3) Exceptional Value; (4) Not Applicable. Using specific examples,
from your internship, comment on how the content of each course helps to
prepare you for the internship.
SPMGT 276 – Introduction to Sport Management (4)
This class was useful to me at the time that I took it, in terms of introducing several
sports concepts and how sport organizations are run from the amateur, collegiate, and
professional level. But during my internship, this class was of no value to me. I do see the
importance of this class as an introduction to the major however.
SPMGT 290 – Sport Programs (2)
Sports Programs was useful in the sense that it got me prepared for SPMGT 489. This
class taught me how organize and prepare for an event properly. With the guidance of our
instructor, Amy Cole I was able to take a lot away from this class and give me a frame to
work with in event planning. Working closely with community relations, I was able to apply
knowledge learned in this class to host and preparing various community events and
functions.
SPMGT 365 – Ethics and Moral Reasoning in Sport (1)
Proper ethics and morals are important when working in an industry such as sports. In an
industry where ethics are sometimes thrown to the side, it’s important that sports
professionals to conduct themselves in a manner that is not detrimental to the organization. In

5. this class, I learned the proper framework of thinking which helped me in an intangible way.
Because of this class I am generally more of a professional person in the professional setting.
SPMGT 367 – Sports in American Society (4)
Honestly, I did not take a lot away from this class. While I did enjoy many of the stories
and papers that we wrote, I feel as if this class and SPMGT 365 could be combined into one
class. A lot of the concepts learned in this class were already taught to me in 365.
SPMGT 374 – Sport Finance (3)
Not only was this class interesting, but it gave me my first introduction into Microsoft
Excel. Being proficient in this program is beneficial in many ways. In the class we learned
how to make budget sheets and formula applicable to said budget sheets. This information
transferred over when I helped in the creation of the comprehensive statistics sheet. In this
Excel sheet, I input many different formulas that calculated things such as quarterback rating
and completion percentage. Even though these weren’t the financial formulas that I learned
in 374, this class taught me how to use Excel efficiently.
SPMGT 377 – Legal Aspects of Sports (4)
During my internship, I did not deal with any of the legal issues of the organization, so I
had no use of the information learned in this class. However, this was one of the more
interesting classes that I took during my undergraduate career. As someone who is aspiring to
one day be a general manager of a sports organization, it is important to have knowledge of
contract and negligence law. In addition to that I learned a great deal of liability in that class.
While none of this information was applicable during my internship, I think it will be useful
later on in my career.

6. SPMGT 394 – Practicum (3)
I spent the majority of my practicum hours working games and working in the office of
IMG. During my time here, I learned how to work in an office setting and how to work with
others on game days. It gave me an introduction to practical experience within the sports
realm and the way I conduct myself in the office and on game days can be attributed to what
I learned during my practicum hours.
SPMGT 464 Sport Marketing (4)
This class introduced to many important marketing concepts, but working in
communications, community relations, and football operations I did not have many
opportunities to apply these concepts in a way that was helpful.
SPMGT 468 – Managing Sport Organizations (2)
This class introduced me to many interesting managing concepts that I can still recall.
While I did not have to apply these concepts directly, I did get a good idea of how this
organization was run in terms of formalization, complexity, and organizational structure.
From observations made by me, I have a good idea of how I eventually want to manage an
organization. My big hairy audacious goal is to become a general manager and there is a
certain way I want things to be run. The Spokane Shock gave me some good ideas from an
organizational structure standpoint, which I would want to incorporate into my managing
philosophy.

7. SPMGT 488 – Current Trends in Sport Management (1)
Under Seth Haselhuhn, this class taught to build a skill set for myself as a sport
professional. That was the biggest take away from that class for me and when I started my
internship, I had a very good idea of what skills I brought to a given organization. I knew that
I was a diligent worker, had practical experience in event management, and possessed
leadership qualities. This class taught me to highlight these attributes, especially in
interviews. I did exactly that in my interview with the Shock, and it worked out well for me.
SPMGT 489 – Event and Facility Management (3)
This was the most useful class for me during my internship. While I had the framework
mastered in event planning, this class put my knowledge to work and gave me experience in
event planning, fundraising, and execution. This knowledge and experience was ery useful in
the set up and execution of the community events that I supervised and assisted with.
SPMGT 490 – Internship Seminar (1)
This class was useful in the sense that it got me prepared for life after college. I learned
how to write a more proficient cover letter and created a new resume, which I now use when
submitting job applications.
V. Identify 3-4 courses from your Area of Specialization and comment on the
contributions that these made to your preparation for your internship/first job.
COM 210 – Digital Content Creation
This class introduced me to the whole Adobe Creative Suite. This included programs
such as Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, and Audition. The information learned in this class

8. was very pertinent, especially working in the communications department. In this
department, we create various different types of media to release to the public. Print, visual,
and audio media are constantly being created and I could not have aided in the creation
without the knowledge I obtained in this class.
COMJOUR 481 – Broadcast Management
While this class didn’t give as much practical information needed within the sports field,
our instructor had many guest speakers come to our classrooms throughout the semester.
Speakers included the chief of police of Pullman, Cindy Brunson of ESPN, and the
Marketing Director of Athletics for WSU. Our instructor encouraged us to network with
these individuals since they are all very successful in their individual field. Networking is
important as a young professional and I took full advantage of that with this class.
COMST 102 – Public Speaking
This class was beneficial to me in the sense that it taught me how to get over my fear of
speaking in front of people. Throughout the semester, we were to prepare and recite ten
speeches of varying length. Especially in a sales position, it is important that you speak with
confidence in your voice. This class gave me that confidence.
What other skills contributed or detracted from your performance as an intern?
I don’t think I had anything that detracted from my performance as an intern because I feel
like I am a well-rounded individual. I was never reprimanded by my superiors for the way I
conducted myself in the office nor did any of my weaknesses affect the other interns I
worked with.

9. VI. What courses/areas of study seemedto be missing from your preparation, or
what courses should be considered for addition to the curriculum? Be specific.
While the Sport Management curriculum is fairly well rounded and has produced many
quality sports professionals, there is always room for improvement. From talking to several
of my classmates over the years and from personal preference, I feel like there is a need for a
sales class within the curriculum. I would suggest making Pete’s 497 class a required class
instead of just an elective. It is important that future students have a sales repertoire and
savvy so they have an edge in getting into ticket sales. While the curriculum has
opportunities in 374 with cold calling, I feel as if that isn’t enough. Many students found
Chris’s 377 very interesting and found a need for secondary law class that focused more on
contract law. I would suggest making a second law class, possibly as an elective. With 365
and 367, those two classes where usually taught by the same teacher and the information
from these classes were usually the same thing. I have heard suggestions of combining the
two classes into one.
VII. Recommendations to:
A. The Sport Management Program
Consolidate 365 and 367 into one class. Most of the material is the same and having to take
two classes teaching essentially the same thing can be annoying and a waste of time. Make
SPMGT 497 a required class. Future students need a skill set for sales if they want to get
their foot in the door of an organization.
B. The Spokane Shock

10. Hire more staff members in the player personnel department. We only have one staff member
dealing with player accommodations and that is a lot of work to be put on one person,
especially with how much turnover happened at the end of the season. Also, I would like to
see a scouting department and scouts brought on. They don’t necessarily have to be hired but
willing interns could become scouts.
C. The University
I would like to see better maintenance of the campus, especially during the winter months.
Better facilities for the education program would be nice too, but I know budget issues would
not make that possible.
VIII. List the names of those people from whom you are seeking letters of
recommendations as a result of your internship. Include information on the
position these people hold, their relationship to your internship, and how they
can be of assistance.
Ryan Eucker – Director of Player Personnel and Marketing
Ryan is in charge of player accommodations and marketing. He does all of the hiring for the
football operations interns and does scouting on the side. In relation to my internship, my
supervisor reported to him. I would like to eventually try scouting and a recommendation
from him would be beneficial to my goal.
Crystal Medina – Community Relations Director
I worked very closely with Crystal during my internship. I accompanied her on many
community events and I really got a chance to show her my skills during my time with the

11. Shock. I could see myself working in community relations and would find that work very
rewarding.
IX. Comment on the types of employment opportunities that could result from this
internship. If your internship has resulted in a job offer, please provide specific
information, including the name of the employing organization, job title, and
major responsibilities.
Based on my experience with the Shock, I could find jobs within the communications,
community relations, and football operations side of a sport organization. Through my
relentless job hunting, I have three pending interviews once I get home to Auburn. One job
would be an administrative position with the SKC Colts, a semi pro football team stationed in
Kent, Washington. Another would be an assistant coach with a local high school. The third
job interview I have would be for the Seattle Seahawks. For this job I would be working on
the sidelines during game days and assisting with the communication equipment for the
coaches. I would maintain all the headsets and make sure they are all in working order. Each
of these interviews will happen within a week of when I get back home.