McCANDLESS, Pa. - The La Roche University Athletics Department is thrilled to announce its two student-interns for the Spring 2021 semester: Senior Marketing & Management major Tyler Bowman and junior Marketing & Management major/Graphic Design minor Denali Nicholas.
Tyler and Denali began the internship at the start of the 2021 spring semester and will be earning class credit for their work. Throughout the semester, Tyler and Denali will be working directly with LRU's Sports Information Director, Paul Novelli. The interns duties will consist of keeping live stats for all of the spring sports home events, assisting in the creation of graphics for social media and the athletics website, taking pictures/video at sporting events, setting up video live streams, writing game recaps, creating game day programs and more.
When asked about the internship so far, the students had this to say:
Tyler Bowman: When I heard about the Athletics' Media Internship, I was really excited to find an internship in Sports. Prior to the Pandemic, I was a brand ambassador for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was pursuing an internship with them as well. Once COVID-19 hit, and left the sports industry closed, it became very difficult to find jobs and internships in sports marketing. When I first met with Paul, I was really interested in this opportunity. I knew that this was a special chance to still pursue my passion in sports, while learning some very useful skills that will further help my career. This internship is a great way to become proficient in graphic design, photography, marketing, and live stats keeping. All of these useful tools will give me a competitive edge in the Sports Industry. Thank you, Paul Novelli and La Roche Athletics, for granting me this opportunity.
Bowman is also the President of the LRU Marketing Club, a member of the in-line intramural hockey team and a Resident Assistant for the University.
Denali Nicholas: When I saw the email from Career Development about the Athletics Department looking for Interns, I immediately emailed Paul. From the moment I was introduced to the sports culture here at La Roche, I was interested in understanding how they were handling things such as the social media pages, live scores, graphics and the website. When I learned that Paul was dealing with all of those aspects, I was shocked! Before the internship, as an athlete, I knew Paul Novelli, as "the guy that takes pictures at our practices". Throughout this internship, I was able to learn about Paul's duties as a Sports Information Director and how he handles dealing with certain situations. I was also given the opportunity to learn about the important aspects of multiple sports for statistics. Out of all the sports, I can definitely say that learning baseball was the most challenging to understand since I haven't really played the sport. Of course, with Paul's guidance, time, and application of what I've learned, I will get through. Even though this internship is supposed to be a learning experience, I was also able to teach. From my background in Graphic Design, I was able to show the group some techniques I learned while, also showing Paul how Athletics can use Instagram to its fullest potential. I can't say as much about what's coming, but when it comes out, I hope to see "that's different" or "That's so fire!" coming from the athletes and supporters. I'm very grateful for being given this position. Thank You, Paul and the La Roche Athletics Department, for giving me this opportunity!
Nicholas is also a member of La Roche's Black Student Achievement, Redhawk Radio, the Marketing Club, the men's soccer team, the men's cross country team and a Resident Assistant for the University.