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INTERNS, PLACEMENTS & MORALS: AN ETHICAL TALE FEATURE / RYAN DEFREITAS Introduction The use of unpaid internships in elite sport has typically been used to boost departmental provision. At Leicester City, the club recognised the need to move away from what has often been associated with questionable and unethical working models to ensuring our ‘interns’ have the best possible experience at the Club. In this article, the clubs lead academy analyst, Ryan DeFreitas, now into his 9th season with the category one club, provides insight into the desire to extract real value from student involvement in performance analysis workflows. Desire & Drive Having obtained my own university qualifications, including an MSc in the Professional Practice of Performance Analysis, alongside my UEFA B, I understand the importance and place of academic and practical work experience in our evercompetitive industry. Ultimately, the goal of an effective student analyst programme is to provide value to the student, the department
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and the overall hierarchy of the club, with my personal goal being to have each student analyst who works with me ready for full time employment by the time they leave. In bringing this to reality, I have worked closely together with Dr. Andrew Butterworth, firstly at the University of Derby, and more recently at Loughborough University, to develop ethical and enabling opportunities for both academic and professional development. Together we have enacted industry-leading practice in the provision of collaborative paid practical placements for student analysts as they simultaneously gain extensive applied experience alongside an outstanding postgraduate academic offer. Recruitment & Selection: What Do We Need Them For? Critical to the recruitment of aspiring analysts is evaluating the needs and strategy of the organisation. Ideally, the answer to that question won’t be, “We just need to film more training.
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Let’s get an intern in.” Immediately, that very basic example raises questions; Why do you need to film more training? Why should it be an intern that films? What benefit is this to the players, support staff & the student? Sure, there’s benefit to players and staff in being able obtain to footage to access feedback on their performances, but how much is too much? Equally, an aspiring analyst is not going to look back fondly on their time with you and your organisation if they’re stood outside in the rain all winter. I would argue that’s not appropriate preparation for full-time employment and I think you would find that difficult to rebut. At Leicester City we understand that a multitude of skills contribute to our provision and we recruit aspiring analysts with that in mind. We think widely about the holistic value that they will bring us, and we will bring them, not just the basic tasks that need covering. Given that we want to
