12 Sports Management Internships for High School Students
If you‘re a high schooler interested in sports, you could consider a career in sports management. Sports management is the business of sports and recreation, involving planning, coaching, budgeting, leading, directing, organizing, promoting, and evaluating a certain element of sports and recreation. All sports require management, allowing you to focus on the sport of your choice and build a career in it.
Being aware of what the field demands is essential, and high school can be the perfect time to start learning. Pursuing a sports management internship at this stage will equip you with skills and experience early on, giving you an edge in your college and job applications. Additionally, you can use this opportunity to figure out if the field is a right fit for you and which element of the field you wish to focus on.
To help you get started, we have compiled a list of 12 sports management internships for high school students. Note that some of these also include educational programs providing plenty of practical experience.
1. Hawken Athletics Student Athletic Management & Media (SAMM) Intern Program
Location: One of the Hawken School campuses in Ohio.
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9-12).
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Fall, winter, or spring.
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship until the student completes 6 events, after which you will be eligible to be paid for further tasks and responsibilities.
The Hawken Athletics SAMM Intern Program allows high school students to work with Hawnken’s sports management team and assist in sporting events and media relations. Interns will work under the athletic director to carry out tasks like game-day management and digital media programming. Interns should complete a minimum of 6 events (that then need to be approved by an advisor) before moving on to paid opportunities.
As an athletic management and media intern, you can opt for positions in promotions, PA announcements, game management, film, and digital media, allowing you to focus on a particular aspect of the field to hone your skills.
2. Sports Management Internships with the South Burlington Dolphins
Location: South Burlington, VT.
Eligibility: High school (grades 9-12) and college students.
Application Deadline: June 1, 2024.
Dates: June 10, 2024 - July 21, 2024 (summer) | August 5, 2024 - November 7, 2024 (fall).
Stipend: Not specified.
The South Burlington Dolphins, a youth football team based in Vermont, offers seasonal internship opportunities in sports management where you can learn the ropes of managing a sports team, build your network, learn about your potential career, and strengthen your resume and portfolio. Students will get a chance to work directly with the coaching and administration staff while simultaneously working with a local non-profit organization.
You can choose an internship in the following areas of sports management.
Operational Management: This includes equipment operations, game day operations, and fundraising.
Media: An internship with the media team includes marketing, social media, and production.
Others: Other internship options include broadcasting, student management, summer camp counseling, and student refereeing.
3. Metro Parks Tacoma Coaching & Sports Management Internship
Location: Metro Parks Tacoma, Tacoma, WA.
Eligibility: High school students ages 15 and older.
Application Deadline: Not mentioned.
Dates: 10-12 weeks over the summer, winter/spring, or fall.
Stipend: Up to $500.
Coaching a youth-level team is a great entry point into sports management. As a head or assistant coach for Metro Parks Tacoma, you will be able to guide young students in sports like soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and football while serving as the point of contact between Metro Parks and Tacoma and the athletes’ families. Additionally, you will assist in planning and coordinating the end-of-season banquet, completing reports, and planning and recruitment for upcoming seasons.
As part of this internship, you will carry out your coaching duties at least two nights a week. Games are usually held on Sundays, for which you must be present.
4. San Diego Sockers Internships
Location: San Diego, CA.
Eligibility: High school and college students.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Not mentioned.
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
The San Diego Sockers are a professional indoor soccer team offering unpaid internships to high school students. Multiple internship opportunities are available if you want to work with this team, with the sports management internship being a good choice here. You can also consider options like ticketing, marketing and communications, merchandising, and gameday operations, each of which is useful for a career in sports management.
An adjacent option is to volunteer as a fan ambassador for the team to engage with fans and gain gameday experience. Assisting guests, supporting event coordinators, helping special guests, and assisting with ticketing and operations are some tasks you can anticipate.
5. Summer Internship at Maiden Parks and Recreation
Location: Maiden, NC.
Eligibility: Students (high school and college) who are at least 18 years old.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Dates: Summer (any time between May and August).
Stipend: $15 per hour.
The Town of Maiden in North Carolina offers part-time summer internships in which students assist the Recreation Programmer and Director in organizing and running summer programs and activities. You will work independently and under regular supervision in various weather conditions and around adult and youth athletics and other special events. Many sports management students go on to work in recreation departments, making this a valuable experience.
As an intern, your major duties will include planning, facilitation, setup, and breakdown, opening and closing athletic facilities and parks, maintaining facilities and equipment, managing inventory, assisting with operations, and interacting with and assisting the public.
Location: Laguna Hills, CA | Atlanta, GA.
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors and college students who are at least 18 years old.
Application Deadline: June 3, 2024 (for fall internships). Applications are closed for summer internships.
Dates: August 19, 2024 - December 20, 2024 (fall).
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified).
Athletes First is a management firm representing NFL players, coaches, broadcasters, and personnel. Multiple internship options are available for graduating high school seniors, such as graphic design, video editing, football operations, and client relations. For the field of sports management, we recommend opting for the following internships.
Client Relations: This internship entails brand outreach, industry research, coordinating travel, making reservations, and developing client resources.
Football Operations: This internship entails creating reports, monitoring and reporting NFL injuries, assisting in contract analysis, creating coaching bios, preparing recruiting materials, assisting with event logistics, and performing general administrative duties.
Internship positions are likely to change over the year, so keep checking the website multiple times a year.
7. Internships at the Connecticut Sports Management Group, Inc.
Location: Middletown, CT.
Eligibility: High school students (mainly graduating seniors) can apply for the short-term summer internship.
Application Deadline: Applications usually close in April.
Dates: Mid-May to early August.
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship. Once you start college, however, you will become eligible for paid internships.
The Connecticut Sports Management Group, Inc. offers multiple internships throughout the year, with the short-term summer internship being ideal for graduating high school students. A little over 15 students are accepted for this internship, making it highly competitive and selective. Students can work for 250-300 hours across the internship while also receiving credit for the same.
As an intern, you will assist in an event coinciding with your internship period, such as the Nutmeg Games, Connecticut Masters’ Games, Northeast Football Showcase, Nutmeg Holiday Basketball Festival, and fundraising events. You will assist in recruiting, corresponding with coaches and athletes, scheduling sporting events, performing gameday duties and operations, maintaining equipment and facilities, ticketing, and other general duties.
Location: Atlanta, GA.
Eligibility: High school and college students with a comprehensive knowledge of football.
Application Deadline: February for summer, July for fall, and November for spring.
Dates: Spring, summer, and fall each year.
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
SportsTrust is an athlete recruitment and management agency. Its general internship, offered seasonally, provides students the chance to assist professionals in the areas of marketing/endorsements, contract negotiations, community relations, public relations, client services, financial services, and other relevant service areas. Interns can help with local, regional, and national marketing efforts on behalf of SportsTrust’s 60+ clients. Additional duties may include assisting with research projects and recruitment.
You will primarily work in assisting with the management of the agency’s football operations while getting a chance to learn about the sport behind the scenes and working in a fast-paced environment.
9. High School Summer Discovery Sports Business Academy at UCLA Anderson School of Management
Location: UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
Eligibility: Domestic and international high school students (grades 9-12).
Application Deadline: Not specified.
Dates: Multiple 2- or 3-week options available.
Cost: $4,194 - $14,099 depending on commuter/residential options and program length.
UCLA’s Anderson School of Management runs the annual High School Summer Discovery Program for high school students, with one of its offerings being the Sports Business Academy. As part of this program, you will attend lectures, workshops, and seminars while also participating in hands-on activities and projects. Tours, excursions to matches, sports, and other recreational activities are also included in the programming.
The Sports Business Academy will expose you to key changes in the sports industry and focus primarily on business frameworks (finance, economics, strategy, marketing), case studies, meetings with industry professionals, mechanics of sports management and business, and accessing LA’s arenas and stadiums behind the scenes.
Cohort sizes are small, with a student-instructor ratio of 10:1.
10. Roc Nation Sports Management Academy at Long Island University
Location: Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY.
Eligibility: High school students aged 14-17.
Application Deadline: Not mentioned.
Dates: July 8, 2024 - July 12, 2024 | July 15, 2024 - July 19, 2024.
Cost: $800 (tuition) + $500 (housing). Financial aid is not available, but students can avail of a $300 discount on tuition if applying for more than one week.
You might know of Roc Nation as Jay-Z’s music label, but it is a multidisciplinary entertainment company that includes sports management as one of its verticals. The Roc Nation School of Music, Sports, and Entertainment at Long Island University further runs a Sports Management Academy, offering high school students a chance to undertake experiential learning. Focus areas include signing an athlete, managing venues, sports branding, promoting teams and sports, running athletic programs, and negotiating deals.
Students will attend major sporting events, learn from professional athletes and industry leaders, engage with the eSports and fantasy sports industry, and participate in simulations and pitches.
11. National Student Leadership Conference’s (NSLC) Sports Management High School Summer Program
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY or Duke University, Durham, NC.
Eligibility: High school students.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted until all spots are filled.
Dates: June 12, 2024 - June 20, 2024 | June 24, 2024 - July 2, 2024 | July 12, 2024 - July 20, 2024 | July 24, 2024 - August 1, 2024.
Cost: $4,095 (Columbia) | $3,895 (Duke). This includes the cost of tuition and residence. Scholarships are available.
NSLC’s Sports Management High School Summer Program is a chance to explore sports management as a career through hands-on learning and simulations, trips and tours, and interactions with professionals and guest speakers. Through immersive workshops and activities, you will learn about client management, sports marketing and public relations, sponsorship strategies, and how sports can be used for peace development. You will also receive support in networking, resume building, interviewing, and public speaking.
Trips and tours may include visits to the MetLife Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Yankees or Mets baseball games, Duke/UNC Athletics tour, Durham Bulls games, and more.
Take a look at the sample schedule here.
12. Sports Management Summer Program at Suffolk University
Location: Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors.
Application Deadline: Applications are closed for summer 2024 and will reopen for summer 2025 in January 2025.
Dates: July 8, 2024 - July 25, 2024.
Cost: Free, with daily lunch and a local subway/bus pass provided to students. Note that housing is not provided.
Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School offers a Sports Management Summer Program in which high school students will learn about the functioning and operations of professional sports teams while understanding the career paths available in this field. The program features lectures, workshops, discussions, marketing simulations, group activities and projects, and talks from guest speakers and industry experts.
Multiple field trips are also included in this program, with potential venues including Converse, Boston Bruins/Delaware North, Boston Celtics/CLTX Gaming, Boston Sports Museum, Whoop, Sports Innovation Lab, Concussion Legacy Foundation, and more.
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
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Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.