Internship Story: Norwich Sea Unicorns

Jacob Robinson-Smey, a rising junior from Windham, Connecticut, set out to find a summer internship close to home—and scored a valuable opportunity with the Norwich Sea Unicorns. As a Management, Marketing, and Sport Management triple major and member of the UMaine Men’s Cross Country team, Jacob is balancing academics, athletics, and real-world experience. His media relations internship has given him hands-on learning, a behind-the-scenes look at minor league sports, and the confidence to take the next step in his career journey.

Why did you choose to intern for the Norwich Sea Unicorns?


The Sea Unicorns is a local, intercollegiate baseball team. They offer a great hands-on opportunity to learn sport management skills over the summer. Because the organization is small, I’m able to have a lot of freedom to explore my interests, allowing me to learn and work with social media and marketing while exploring photography, broadcasting, and more!

What are your internship tasks?


As a Media Relations Intern, I have touched close to everything that is done at Dodd Stadium. Typically, though, my internship tasks include taking gameday photos, creating graphics for social media, helping with broadcasting, running on-field promotions between innings, setting up promotion tables, and being a source of information for fans. 

What do you like most about your internship?


The best part of my internship is interacting with the fans. Sometimes I interact with them on the concourse or talk to them when I am bringing them onto the field for a promotion. The fans having a good time and being appreciative of my work are what make the internship worth it. 

What is the biggest challenge you faced this summer as an intern?

The biggest challenge was the speed of creating graphics. Many times a week, I am under the stress of a quick deadline to get photos of players, create a social media graphic, and post it before a deadline. Creating these posts with a short time frame and many requirements can be challenging and stressful, but it is allowing me to learn to work under stress. 

What things are you learning during your internship that you can’t learn in the classroom?

A large learning component of my internship is learning how to engage fans and interact with people. Getting the confidence to get on a field mic and fire up the crowd is something you can only learn by doing. Similarly, getting a grasp of what promotions will work and won’t work based on varying factors is a learning experience you only get by putting the promotions on.

How will this experience help you as you move forward in your career?

This experience will greatly benefit my future career by giving me more confidence in my abilities to produce and engage fans in person and on social media. Similarly, this experience has given me a great portfolio of graphics that I have created that I can use to market my skills in the future. 

Any advice to share with other students considering an internship?

My best advice is to understand and prepare for the time commitment that comes with an internship. Comprehending that the experience is not just the time in the office but the time at home working with emails, projects, and communicating with others can be challenging. Similarly, I would highly advise introducing yourself to everyone at your internship. Knowing people’s professional and personal lives can make the job more fun during the day and could allow you further opportunities down the road. 

Name: Jacob Robinson-Smey
Hometown: Windham, CT
Class: 2026
Major: Marketing, Management, Sport Management 
Internship Title: Media Relations Intern