This week in the Fortinet Intern Spotlight Series, we introduce our Spring Tournament Assistants (TAs) for 2024. A TA is an elevated internship position for those who return for another traveling internship season. This year’s Spring TAs are Ian Swietkowski and Harry Coleman. Coleman worked as a Spring Operations Intern in 2023 while Swietkowski worked the same position that summer. The two shared what they are looking forward to with the second stint and what they learned from their first experience.
Can you tell me a little about your background? How did you know you wanted to work in sports?
IS: I’m from New Jersey and I’ve played sports my entire life. I think I got my first set of clubs when I was 4-years-old. I played on the Junior Pioneer Tour, but I had never heard of the AJGA back then. Fast forward to college, I went to the University of Scranton and majored in Criminal Justice. However, after an internship, I really couldn’t see myself continuing down that path so my love for sports came back into the picture. I started looking for internships and found the AJGA on TeamWork Online and thought this was something I wanted to get involved in and luckily, I did.
HC: I’m originally from Massachusetts but grew up in South Carolina. I grew up playing lots of golf, baseball and soccer. I tried other sports but stuck with soccer and golf throughout high school. I was unsure of what I wanted to do career-wise, but I ended up in the sports management program at the University of South Carolina. I realized there are many careers in sports, and I was always interested in them. I did some operations internships in soccer and then baseball but fell back in love with golf. It ignited my passion back into the sport, so I ended up at a job fair and found the AJGA. It seemed fun so I applied and here we are.
What were some of the biggest skills you learned last year? Any favorite memories?
IS: I learned a lot of team-oriented and communication skills. There are a lot of levels of communication needed to succeed at an event between the team, stakeholders and management. My public speaking ability was enhanced after talking to parents, sponsors and important stakeholders.
I enjoyed the traveling aspect. I’ve traveled to 38 states so far and trying to get to all 50 so I’ve loved it. I think I crossed eight states off the list because of the internship. We also got to help run the Wyndham Cup and it was an incredible event watching the 20 best players from the East match up against the West. It’s one of the few match-play events, so learning different tournament settings of golf was awesome to take part in.
HC: I felt confident on the operations aspect of the job due to previous experience so adjusting on the fly and being adjustable was in my wheelhouse. However, I haven’t had a position where communication was as vital as it was. It was huge to start to learn that impact and improve on it. Towards the end, I strengthened my leadership skills and I believe it’s going to be valuable moving forward.
I don’t think there was like a specific place or event. I think being on the golf course every single day with some people that now I can call my best friends was amazing. My intern team was full of great people, and I miss it every day. That was such a great experience to be able to connect with people that I will stay in touch with forever.
What drew you to the TA position and coming back a second year?
IS: We had TAs at all our events so I just talked with them and learned about their experiences. That’s a thing I like which is everyone here loves to speak about their past experiences doing the internship so if you ask something, they’ll gladly tell you about it. After working here for a month, I realized that this is a great company and I want to continue my career path with the AJGA whether that be a TA role or whatever else.
HC: We didn’t have any TAs at our events but knowing some of the things that the Assistant Tournament Director would do gave me a little bit of an idea of what it could look like. After the spring, I thought it was a great place to work. The travel was awesome and while I’m young it’s great to see the country. When fall came around and there was an opportunity to come back, I thought it was the perfect place to develop my skills and build connections both within the AJGA and outside of it.
What are you looking forward to the most about being a TA?
HC: I alluded to it a bit earlier, but certainly leadership. That’s something that I want to continue to grow and develop so I’m excited to come back for that. I’m hoping to learn a lot more. We did a bit of development last year in terms of learning what the Tournament Directors do, so the ins and outs that even the interns don’t have time to see will be great to learn. I think being able to see more places and events will be great so I’m excited.
IS: Leadership is something I’m looking forward to growing and developing my skills in. I like the style of management here and the hierarchy because everyone wants to help you and you’re never alone. I want to provide that to the interns coming in. I’m interested in learning how to help develop the interns and mentor them.
You’re both graduated. What are your goals for the future?
IS: I want to stay within the golf industry. If it’s here at the AJGA, I think it would be an amazing place to work and I would want to work here. But if not, anywhere in the golf space is something that I want to stay in.
HC: I would love to work here. The work environment and culture are awesome. I think there’s a good work-life balance and everyone seems to be happy to be here. But whether it’s here or within the golf industry, that’s my plan for the future.
If you're driven to be part of this dynamic community, applications for the 2025 Traveling Internship will open in August. For more insights into the #AJGAInternship, explore the AJGA Careers webpage and Instagram channel .
