Advice on Landing a Professional Sports Strength & Conditioning Internship

I’ve been on a roll lately when it comes to discussing low back pain. And rightfully so, considering it’s my niche and personal to me; however, I thought today I would change it up and discuss a different topic, which is “How to Land a Professional Sports Strength & Conditioning Internship.”

Once in a while, I’ll get a question from an aspiring strength & conditioning coach seeking advice on how to land an internship with a professional sports team, such as “the” Toronto Raptors. Here is a recent example from an aspiring strength and conditioning coach:

“Hello, Coach Sovran,

Tips to Landing the Internship

1. Training Experience: If you don’t have any experience training athletes, you’re going to have a tough time getting an interview. A professional sports team isn’t going to hire a person without any prior training experience with athletes.

Many people don’t know this, but I did 2 internships with a junior hockey team (OHL)/offseason hockey strength & conditioning program (DRIVE Performance) before applying to the Toronto Raptors. These internships gave me an introduction to the field of strength & conditioning, and training experience with professional athletes.

Why is this important? 

Well. Having prior experience with professional athletes meant I wouldn’t be overwhelmed or intimidated when it comes to training. What a lot of members in the organization tend to be concerned about is how is this “intern” going to act around our athletes that may make upwards of 20 million dollars per year?

Will they be scared to be around them?

Annoy the player?

Are they going to be able to train the athlete without injuring them?

All of these questions are running through the hiring committee’s mind. And I can tell you that having prior experience with professional athlete’s will ease the mind of the hiring committee.

2. Cover Letter & Resume – I’m not an expert on cover letters or resumes. But, I’m thankful a good friend of mine, along with his sister were good with this sort of stuff. Both of them, especially my friend’s sister had read through my cover letter and resume multiple times. They helped me research MLSE & the Toronto Raptors, guided me through what to include/emphasize and remove.

Through this process, I learned a lot, and I’ve taken an appreciation in what a “good” cover letter and resume should look like.

I’d recommend you become familiar with the process of developing a cover letter and resume that is specific to the organization you’re applying to. Know were to put the job posting #, professional summary, qualifications, etc. And be sure to check for spelling and grammar errors. Perhaps even hire a professional that can help you. Nothing is more unprofessional than a cover letter filled with spelling and grammar errors. 

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3. Become Knowledgeable About the Team and Sport – I’m not a basketball guy. And I didn’t follow much of the Raptors before applying to the internship. But I made sure to become familiar with the sport, star players on the team, coaches, common injuries (e.g., ankle, knee, low back), combine testing procedures, and basketball performance training before applying.

I’m not saying you have to know everything about the sport or organization, but be sure to know the basics and understand how (insert sport) athletes may relate to athletes you’re familiar with training. You don’t want to look like an idiot and not know the basics of the organization you’re applying for – that’s disrespectful and shows a lack of knowledge about the organization.

Not a good impression.

4. Be Personal – When I was close to finishing my internship, one of the questions I had asked the hiring committee was:

“Why did you decide to hire me”?

The response was something like this:

“Well.

To be honest Remi.

It came down to you and another candidate.

Both of you had a background in training athletes, which stood out to us. And actually, the other candidate may have had more knowledge than you, but when it came down to who would we rather hang out with and have a beer with, it was you. You seemed like a more relaxed guy and easier to get along with, which was important to us when it came down to making the final decisions.”

The takeaway from this interaction is that knowledge may only get you so far. You need to be social and a relatable person if you want others to like you and hire you.

5. Make Sure You Have the Prerequisites – Depending on the internship you apply for, there is going to be prerequisites. And this could be anything from being enrolled in an exercise science degree program to owning a certification to training experience with a particular population.

I know for my internship, I was required to be enrolled in an exercise science degree and have my CPR & AED certifications up-to-date. Aspiring candidates need to be sure they have the correct prerequisites before applying.

6. Preferences Matter, but Only to an Extent – From what I remember, there were 3 preferences the Raptors were looking for:

A) Enrolled in a Master’s of Exercise Science program

B) Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)

C) Experience training basketball athletes

I can tell you that I didn’t have my CSCS at the time, nor did I have previous experience with basketball athletes.

But I was enrolled in my Master’s, and I had previous experience with professional athletes (hockey).

Those were the 2 things I had going for me. I’ll say that the more preferences you’ve got, the better chance you’ll have at landing an interview and the position.

7. Be Professional – Be sure you write your emails with professionalism, show up early for the interview, and bring a copy of your cover letter and resume to the interview. While these may be standard procedures, many people tend to screw up the simple things.

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8. Be Prepared to Travel for the Interview – I had to travel from Windsor to Toronto and stay one night in Toronto to have this interview. That was a big move for me and an expense that my parents seriously helped me out with!

I don’t think many people would travel 4 hours + and stay the night prior for an interview; however, I will say that it does show the hiring committee you’re serious about the position, and they may take that into consideration (e.g., a kid from Windsor comes to Toronto for this interview, he must be serious).

In Summary

Landing an internship with a professional sports team is not easy. But if you’ve got training experience with athletes, the proper prerequisites/certifications, and know how to relate to others, then you’ve got a chance at landing “the” internship. 

Note: If you don’t land the internship on the first attempt, I’d find out “why”. Reach out to the hiring committee and see what their ultimate decisions were in not hiring you. They could perhaps help you identify area’s that you may need to improve on. And in turn that may only make you a better strength & conditioning coach in the future.

Best of luck to landing that internship,

Remi

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