Inside the league

Similar to most others who will view this blog, I am a soccer freak. I live, breathe and think about soccer 24/7. I played for 15 years, was a referee for 7 (still have my license!) and even coached one year (but I would much rather be out on the field). Three years ago I decided to give up the sport I love so I could work full time to pay for college. As I near the end of my undergraduate studies I realized that I needed to do an internship to gain experience in the work field. Fortunately, I ran across an internship listing that allowed me to combine my two favorite passions: soccer and communications (I’m majoring in communication studies at CSU Stanislaus in Turlock, CA).

I am now a new media/journalism intern with the WPS league office in San Francisco. I have been with WPS a little over two months and it has been one of the most remarkable experiences. Every day in the office I am learning something new, whether it’s about the league itself or the programs and software we use to make our website look fantastic (yes, I’m biased, but really I think it looks amazing and not just because I work on it).

While some of my daily tasks may come across as boring (I tell my mom about my work day and she always makes a comment of how dull the work sounds), I find it absolutely enthralling. While I admit some of the tasks may not be the best (e.g. data entry and tagging stories in Delicious), they definitely help out the organization and the overall goal of making WPS successful. For me the most exciting things are HTML coding (ok so it is kind of dull, but it was something I have always wanted to learn and I really enjoy figuring it out), and updating the news modules on the homepage of the website.

However, there is “work” outside the office that needs to get done as well. Watching the games from the press box (seriously, the best view ever) is a real treat. On top of all that, I get to attend the post-game press conferences (imagine a small room with one table and reporters forming a semi-circle around it questioning players such as Abby Wambach and Marta). Fantastic, right? Of course, I do have to write a story following the games, but it’s totally worth it.

This week in the office we have been working really hard preparing for a few upcoming events. First, SeeExtraordinary.com launched this week. It’s designed for everyone to upload their extraordinary soccer videos and share with their friends and family (I relate this site to like a YouTube for soccer videos – it simply makes the extraordinary soccer videos more accessible for everyone). Secondly, WPS Camps are fast approaching (beginning June 29). If you have not signed up already, there is still time. We have lots of fun events planned (e.g. WPS player appearances) and it will be a great experience for girls to learn more technical skills to improve their game. For more information, dates, and locations, visit wpscamps.com.

Well, that’s about everything! Don’t forget to watch this weekend’s action on Saturday and Sunday.
*Jill*