The London Lions Foundation is happy to support professional development for young people. One way the Foundation does this is through work experience for sport management and analytics students. Over the past several years, the London Lions Foundation has hosted 11 students participating in the Syracuse University London Internship Program. American undergraduates studying abroad in the UK are given an opportunity to challenge themselves, pushing beyond their comfort zones to engage in a new working culture. The university's accompanying course "The Global Workplace" aids students' progress toward graduation, as many of their majors require an internship for graduation.
The London Lions Foundation is pleased to provide opportunities for Syracuse University students within all areas of the Lions' back office. The current three interns on placement are working across partnerships, ticketing, and analytics from January until early May 2024, supporting the continued growth of London basketball.
A major success story of this partnership is Quinn Schmidt, who interned with the Lions back in 2022 as the organization was emerging from the pandemic and working on the safe return of fans to the Copper Box. Schmidt commented, ❝During my time with the Lions, I learned what it takes to be part of a professional sports organization. There are so many little things that take place on game days and in the weeks leading up to them that I wasn't aware of until I started working with the London Lions. There's ticketing, merchandising, social media, marketing, operations, media relations, fan engagement, and more. I really enjoyed learning about all of these aspects of the sports world, and my time with the Lions was unique because I was given an opportunity to dabble in all of the different areas of the industry to find out which one I enjoyed best.❞
Quinn has used his experience gained at the Lions, alongside his degree from Syracuse University, to successfully secure his current position as Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Colgate College.
Quinn continued ❝I still tell stories about my time with the Lions in interviews because I learned so much about what it is actually like to work in sports. Yes, it was glamorous to be able to be courtside in the Box watching some of the best players in the world play, but there were also long days, late nights and early mornings that come with working in the industry. I think organizations that I've applied to since leaving the Lions, including Colgate University, appreciated that I have a good feel for what will be expected of me and I owe that to my internship with the London Lions❞.
The continued relationship with Syracuse London will see the London Lions Foundation offer additional students the opportunity to learn transferable skills within a fast pasted environment of a professional basketball club to support their future professional aspirations, alongside both organisations exploring more opportunities to grow the offer to even more students.
For more information on this partnership and the London Lions Foundation please email Jason Henley, Director of Operations jhenley@thelondonlions.com
