(What an experience I have had at IMG! Passed faster than light and learned more than the Solskjaer of technology)
“I tell you, nothing is going to
happen here. I wish we were working for IMG.” --- My friend’s words while sitting in the parking
lot of an Indian soccer stadium, during our marketing stint at an Indian soccer club, having failed to fill the seats with people.
Many of you might remember my
blog-post, written about two and a half years ago, ‘
A Touch Closer’.
It was about how after being rejected by this software company, Tieto, God
presented me with an opportunity to work and get paid, for what was a lot of
money for me back then, by the largest soccer data and analytics company in
Asia, Real Time Sportscast (RTS), as a soccer commentator and analyst.
After RTS, I went on to write for
the largest soccer website in the world, market the biggest and the best
professionally managed club in India, and in the past five months, I have
interned with the largest sport management company in the world. I have come a long way but it's only 1% of where I want to be. Reflecting back, that job with RTS did end up getting me a touch closer.
At RTS, I was taught about stats,
how they are needed, their importance, value and most importantly, their use. I
started from scratch, did online soccer commentary of games, helped collect
statistics and worked as a statistician, helped report the statistics and most
importantly, working with technology and data, and analyzed them to aid the teams playing in the Indian Soccer League
(I-League). It was a great experience.
When I moved to the United States, I was put on board of the FSU Women’s Soccer
Team as a soccer analyst. It was a great year-long experience and it helped me in mastering my
dream technology/software, Prozone. Now, I am called a ‘Prozone Expert’ by a
few people in the industry and having learned Dartfish, I look to take my
analysis to the next levels.
Late September 2012, I had
applied for an internship in Sponsorship with the academy of the world’s
largest sport management company, International Management Group (IMG), and
they came back to me asking me to focus on another area, along with
Sponsorship, Performance Technology (PT). I had offers for a marketing
internship with NASCAR in Daytona, a marketing (branding) internship with
Florida Panthers and a communications internship with the Philadelphia Union,
but when IMG came calling with PT, my choice was clear, even though one of the
other internships offered to pay me an hourly wage and another would have
covered my housing and food.
When I started with IMG, that
thing of ‘working for IMG’ had sunk in, completely. With my first week here, I
was still caught in the ’IMG awe’. Seeing the work-culture, the professionalism among staff,
the facility and infrastructure, the star athletes on campus, my job and
responsibilities, the level of technology used, the knowledge to gain…everything…it
was just marvelous, and I couldn’t believe that I was there. And to my loss, I, sort of, had started feeling that the organization was too big for me,
and I had started undervaluing myself. I wish I had respected
myself as much as I had done at any of the places where I worked in the past, but it was a priceless lesson from a learning standpoint. I won’t lie, I had a shaky start, but I improved in my work and partly, it was due to the IMG staff, who me feel like I was a part of the team. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them for that. It underlines their professionalism and management skill.
Alright, back to joining IMG. When I was told that I am cleared to join IMG, I remembered my friend’s quote (mentioned at the start of the post). It was all like a dream. I say, “I rely on miracles,” and that is what it was, it was a miracle. From a good old electronics engineer, who only ever sat for one job interview because he was clear that he wanted to get to Manchester United and Sky Sports, to a boy who interviewed players from several top clubs including Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, and is followed by Sky Sports journalists on Twitter, to one who was asked to be the face of the private television of an Indian soccer club that had their best season this year, to a boy who worked every day with the number one collegiate women’s soccer team in America on the number one soccer analysis software in the world used by the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Arsenal, and to a boy who was stepping into something that he considered absolutely massive, it was unbelievable how far I had come.
My internship was dual-departmental,
and for the sponsorship department, I worked on sponsorship activation,
sponsorship representation, inventory management, sponsor events,
sponsor-related social media interaction and sponsor-apparel allotment, amongst
several things. Working and interacting with some of the top sponsorship
professionals at IMG, along with the personnel from sponsors that visited the
IMG Academy campus onsite, was a magnificent experience.
For the performance department, I
dealt with some of the state-of-the-art technologies that were there to learn.
My job in performance revolved around working on Catapult, but later, I also
started working on Dartfish and worked on match analysis with IMG’s under-14
soccer team. It was a major challenge but it was terrific. Working with
Catapult was a little tough because I did not have the necessary exercise science
knowledge needed but I was there to implement the technology, and I was very
clear in that aspect.
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| The Catapult Guy! (Real Time Analysis) |
I believe, I did the best job that
I possibly could have done and in the process, learned a lot. Dartfish was
awesome. Knowing how to use the tagging feature in Dartfish has taught me how
to integrate various technologies together maximizing its use. I thought Match
Analysis (MA) would be a piece of cake for me, having worked on the best
technology that was there to work on, in Prozone. But Match Analysis was
different as it required a lot more manual work, but was no big deal for me to
adapt. However, with enough on the table to work with, finding time to work
with MA was tough, especially because I was not bound to work on when I started.
Working with MA and IMG soccer was something that I took up due to my love for
soccer and my two-year analysis experience in the sport.
In all, IMG offered me an
invaluable experience. In fact, I would have paid to work on some of the things
that I worked on and gain the knowledge that I gained. It was very-very special
indeed. Every single morning I would wake up, smile and say, “I am living my
dream,” and then, leave my apartment for work. I have loved every moment of my
time in Bradenton, Florida. I still remember when some of my colleagues brought
in a desk and set it up for me; what a moment that was! I was so touched. Five
minutes after that happened, I went into the restroom, locked myself in one of
the toilets and cried. To me, it showed that I was valued and loved. It was
such a touching thing. Even on my final day, gifts and comments like these made me melt. By the way, in the picture is a shakeweight gifted to me by one of the 'crew' members. I will miss the crew; everyone, absolutely everyone.
There are so many memories that I am taking back home with me and holding which in the highest regard, I would cherish these for a lifetime.
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| My office for the summer - Doak Campbell Stadium |
Hey reader, if you are looking
for an internship or a job, apply for a position at IMG Academy, it may not
only fulfill your expectation, but it may even supersede it.
As for me, it’s time to move on
and further enhance my learning. Next stop: Florida State Football. Yes, I am
heading back to Tallahassee. As my Tally lads may say, “Back In the hood.” In
the hood, yes, but who knows, I may head back to IMG in the future again :)
Yesterday, it was IMG; tomorrow it will be Manchester United. My dreams and aspirations make me
a dreamer. Thanks for reading this post from the nib of my pen.
Follow your heart. Have faith.
Live your dream.
Love,
Kratik
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