During my finance internship with the Kane County Cougars, I was tasked with ticket sales reconciliation and inventory management of a concession stand. During these tasks, I had to ensure my attention to minute details to avoid mistakes that could cause a catastrophic slope in the ballpark operations.
During this internship, I realized that I have what it takes to work in the sports industry. I enjoyed everything about each day in the ballpark. The fact that each day had something new to handle was enjoyable. I loved the way that I had to constantly be on my feet to solve different problems every day versus a regular 9-5 job behind a desk where each task feels repetitive every week. I also was able to experience the tight-knit community that the sports industry has to offer. During my last days at Northwestern Medicine Field, my coworkers offered connections to help me get where I want in the future.
Each gameday started with a daily task of reconciling ticket sales and inputting invoices into NetSuite. Through this task, I found myself paying attention to small details and being able to problem-solve through difficult discrepancies where payments did not match up to the number of ticket sales the system said we had. Also, I had to match up each item we had bought throughout the season with their specific input in the system. Without being careful in entering these items, it would cause a major discrepancy in the end-of-the-year inventory.
After my daily tasks, I managed a concession stand. During this time, I was able to build relationships with all my cashiers and cooks. During each game, I made it my job to create a fun working environment for my employees while leading them through numerous rushes when customers line up for food. I was tasked with managing the inventory of my concession stand and making sure it was stocked throughout each game. I had to make split-second decisions to keep my stand running whether that meant wasting food or catering to an angry customer’s needs.
Catering to angry customer’s needs really opened my eyes to my ability to think on my feet. A customer had approached us asking for peppers and onions on his brat. But we had made the decision not to put them on our regular brats as it would create a mess in our warmers. The customer started to berate my cashiers for not cooking peppers and onions on our brats and calling it disgusting, to which point he didn’t want to eat it. He kept telling us that he wanted his money back because it was gross to eat a brat with no peppers and onions. So instead of trying to calm him down by offering alternatives, I decided it was in our best interest to appease him by refunding his order. This type of interaction helped me realize that I really enjoy not knowing what my days hold for me and being able to be decisive in challenging situations.
These abilities I have developed allow me to become a better decision-maker for my hopeful career in sports operations. In draft days, I will have to go with gut feelings all the time and think on the fly as the draft board is constantly changing. These scenarios will never cater to my predicted scenarios, so being able to make decisions on the fly becomes incredibly important. I am so thankful for the Kane County Cougars and can not express how blessed I am for this opportunity to further my sports industry journey.
