This past summer, senior Koby Braunsitein was chosen for an internship at Hartford Athletic, a professional soccer team based in Hartford. He wrote player and team articles, recaps for news channels, recorded stats, and helped set up the media station for home games.
During the spring of Koby’s junior year, he was in touch with many of the people that worked at Hartford Athletic, trying to land the internship. He did a few interviews with them where he expressed his interest in writing and sports journalism.
Koby was super excited for his internship at Hartford Athletic because he has been a fan of the team since the very beginning. “I’ve been to a lot of the games at Dillon Stadium and even before Dylan Stadium opened up in the summer of 2019,” he said.
He walked into his first day in the beginning of June having no clue what he was going to be doing. “I didn’t know if I was going to get coffee for the people that were working there in the front office,” Koby explained.
However, he ended up doing way more than he ever imagined would be possible. He got to know the players on a personal level by interviewing them. He wrote articles on the players, and one of his favorite interviews was with the team’s right back Abdel Walid Yacoubou, or Tulu as they call him.
During his teens, Tulu came to the US from Africa not knowing any English. It was here where he found his passion for soccer. Koby explained that hearing the stories of the players was super interesting. He talked to players from all around the globe including Europe, South America, Africa, and around the United States.
Koby’s favorite part about writing these articles was that he could provide fans with life stories about the players instead of just discussing their involvement with soccer.
Another player that stood out to him was Sebastian Elney, a Florida native who has started his own clothing line.
Koby was nervous at first because interviewing these soccer players is a daunting task for anyone. However, over time, he learned to trust himself and have confidence. “I just used what I knew from journalism with Ms. Schieffelin,” he said, “and I trusted my abilities as a communicator.”
Koby would sometimes wake up at 5:00 a.m. to watch the practices at Dillon Stadium. Before home games, he would get to the stadium three to four hours early to help set up the tent for the media.
During the games, he would sit in the press box and record statistics such as goals, assists, substitutions, and injuries. He would then send each of the statistics to a company called Opta during the game.
At the same time that he had to record statistics, Koby also had to write his own detailed descriptions of the game, which he then used to write post-game recaps. He had only 45 minutes to write these recaps because he had to send them into news channels so they could have all the information needed to report on the game.
“That was hard because I am more of a meticulous writer,” Koby said. “I like to take my time.” Since he only had 45 minutes to write the recaps, he had to adjust his personal standard for his writing.
Koby’s articles were posted on the Hartford Athletic’s social media platforms, and he expressed his excitement that his work was credited, putting his name out there. He was quick to add that he couldn’t have done this job if he didn’t own up to the mistakes he made and have confidence in his abilities.
Koby left some advice for students who have to take on a daunting task: “It’s okay to make mistakes,” he said. “You’re not going to be perfect, but it’s important to be honest and own up to your mistakes.”
