Boomer's Blogs 1.0

January 10th, 2025

As we all continue into the new year, Firecracker Sports would like to highlight some of the opportunities available for students seeking potential internships. In order to give a more pertinent outline of the program, we asked John Liberatore, who worked as a Game-Day Operations intern this past summer, to share his experiences from the position. Here’s what he had to say on what an internship with Firecracker Sports might entail:

“I served as a Game-Day Operator for Firecracker Sports this past summer (2024), which ran from the end of May to about mid-August. Throughout the duration of the summer, Firecracker Sports provided a hands-on, highly experiential internship program, in which myself and my fellow interns all had opportunities to showcase our individual talents and abilities within our respective roles. While the majority of us were Game-Day Operations interns, like myself, Firecracker Sports also searches for Statistics & Analytics interns, who use leading sports technology to evaluate or compile statistics and player data from our tournaments and showcases. There is also a Digital Content internship position, which is focused on taking high-quality pictures and videos of players and tournament activity, as well as the creation of edits, short-form videos, and more Firecracker content.

While looking for internship and job opportunities, I knew that I wanted to find something in the sports sector, and baseball has always been a huge part of my life. While my prior experience as a player and my overall familiarity with the game did make the position and program more intriguing, it is not a requirement or necessity; anyone with interest in the program, regardless of prior baseball or softball experience, could fulfill the duties of an intern.

Working in Game-Day Operations, my tasks were more in line with coordinating games and events at my respective location, as each Game-Day Operator is typically assigned an individual field, park, or stadium to oversee each day during a tournament. While in this position, I was responsible for communicating with coaches, players, and umpires to ensure games were played on time and properly, as well as relaying relevant information back to Firecracker Sports’ full time staff. We were also tasked with scoring games live, which, with a bit of training and some experience on the field, becomes second nature. When working as a Game-Day Operator, you are essentially serving as the tournament staff for your location; it takes a certain level of responsibility, as well as the ability to handle any potential situation that may arise during or outside of play.

For a typical weekend tournament, we’d usually arrive at our hotel or destination earlier in the day that Friday, in the event that there were games being played that evening. A Game-Day Operator would work somewhere between 8-12 games any given tournament, with a few games taking place the first night, and most of the games, including playoffs, being played throughout the rest of the weekend. Most days, we were in charge of our own fields, but some larger venues and events required more than one intern at a location. This offered an opportunity for us to work alongside other interns, whether they were in the same position or a different role. Between our training and work together early on, we all became familiar with one another, which helped make working together or around each other that much easier.

Through my internship, I got the chance to travel quite a bit; I made my way through most of New England, into New York, Pennsylvania, and even all the way down to Virginia. There is a good amount of travel tied into the program, so reliable transportation is definitely an important factor, and you have to be comfortable with some slightly longer drives. However, the travel itself, if planned properly, really isn’t too bad at all. All hotels are taken care of already, and there are gas/food reimbursements per each tournament worked. Each tournament location offered new opportunities, both within the scope of my position and personally, as I got to experience plenty outside of work as well. (Old Orchard Beach in Maine, Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, and HersheyPark in Pennsylvania were just a few of my personal favorite places I was able to visit.)

As a recent college graduate, I can attest to the benefit and importance of a meritable internship experience. In a job market this competitive, employers are looking for work experience and acquired skills, certain traits that can only come from positions like internships. Mark, Don, and the rest of the Firecracker Sports Staff have put together a program that offers legitimate experience, no matter the role. I’m grateful to have been part of the team as an intern, and I look forward to seeing what my experience will bring me in the future.”

– John Liberatore

All of our interns hit it out of the park this past summer, and we hope to come back this year with our roster looking bigger and better than ever!

If you’re interested in applying for a position, click on this link our websites’ internship page. From there, you can send in your contact information, a resume, and cover letter. If someone you know may be interested, be sure to share this page with them, too!

Thanks for reading, and check back in for more Firecracker Sports blog posts coming next week!