My Weekly Blog:
Day 1: Introduction Day 09/01/22
Today was my first day interning for Club and Rec sports. I was introduced to everyone whom I will be working with. I was given the duty of maintaining all the operations related to flag football and bowling. The duties included registering bowling team for the tournaments, planning all their transportation, preparing their budget, organizing matches for flag football team and reserving team’s accommodation for their tournament. I was also given the job of recruiting new students for bowling and flag football team. After my mentor gave me a brief about my duties and responsibilities, we completed all the paperwork required for me to be a TU van driver.
Day 2: Career Fair Day 09/02/22
Today we had a career fair at the Gilmore Basketball court. This career fair was mostly for high school students. We had different departments from the university like career services, club and rec sports, campus security, residence life, AVI Foodsystems, Tiffin CAB etc. we also had a few sororities and frat houses present at the fair. We tried recruiting high school students by telling them how Tiffin University is the best next step in their career. There were TU students who were present at the fair who were given an assignment by their professor, so they were going around different organizations and filling out a form.
Day 3: Recruiting 09/07/2022
I was taught how to recruit new student athletes for the bowling team. Charlie Massi (Director) and Coach Gioffre (Asst Director) they had already been too few tournaments earlier this year, where they had shortlisted few students who were a good fit for our bowling team to join next academic year (2023-2024). They had around 150-200 forms filled by students who they had shortlisted. My job was to send each one an individual message regarding completing all the admissions procedure and contact us if they have any doubts. My mentor said that usually out of 100 students only 15-17 call back regarding admissions procedure and 4-5 consider taking admission at TU. I was shocked when I heard this, it’s very low ration. After sending messages to around 50 high school students, I was expecting at least someone would reply but none did.
Day 4: Intramurals 09/08/2022
As soon as I arrived at my mentor’s office, he told me that I was approved to drive for TU. My mentor then took me for a test drive to check and see how I drive. He also took me on the route where I was supposed to take the bowling team to practice every week. He showed me all the alternate routes which I can take while driving during practice. After this it was time for intramurals. 3v3 basketball was scheduled today and all the students on campus were notified to come and participate in the tournament via email. Me and my mentor reached Heminger center 30 mins early to set up the basketball court for the tournaments. We got the balls, bibs, pump everything ready. Around 5 teams showed up for the tournament and there were few students who didn’t have a team, so they showed up individually, so we paired them with each other, and we had 2 more teams. We had a league system tournament where each team played against every other team once and 3 points were awarded to each winning team. At the end the top four teams played against each other in the semi-finals. Team no 1 played against team no 4 on the points table in semifinal 1 and team no 2 played against team no 3. The winners of both the semifinal games played against each other in the finals. There were two halves during each game of 5 mins each and two games being played simultaneously.
Day 5: Corn hole 09/09/2022
Today Club and rec sports had organized a cornhole tournament for all the TU students. We had two cornhole boards ready for the tournament, but many teams showed up and we had to borrows cornhole boards from our frat and sorority houses. We now had total of 5 cornhole boards. As soon we had all the boards and everything was set, we started the tournament with 12 teams. Where six winners advanced to the next round. So now we decided to give two winning teams a bye into the semi finals as that was the only option available. The two best teams that got the best scores were given a bye and they secured a spot in the semifinals. The remaining four teams battled against each other for a spot in the semifinals. Team no 1 (team with best score) was tied against the least good team among the top four and the remaining teams were tied against each other. Winners of semi final played against each other in the final. During the tournament I was given the responsibility of keeping track of scores and taking pictures, so that we can upload them later on twitter. After the tournament was concluded we had to give the cornhole boards back to the sorority and frat house that we had borrowed.
Day 6: First Bowling Practice 09/13/2022
I met my mentor as scheduled and he briefed me about my role and duties as a bowling assistant coach. I was assigned to be with the men’s bowling team as our head coach Chad Herner was going to be with women’s bowling team while travelling and competitions. Me and the head coach arrived at the pickup location where we were supposed to pick up the bowling team and head for practice. Our practice destination is in Fostoria, a place called Seneca Lanes. TU and Seneca lanes have a 1-year contract where we go to practice 3 days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) from 4pm to 6pm. If due to any circumstance if athlete misses practice, he/she can go to the bowling alley and practice there for free. Today was our first practice of this season. It was more of a greeting session as it was our Head coach Chad’s first day as well. Everyone was told to write a brief about themselves and bring a printout of it. After this all started warming up and did light practice. Soon the practice was over, and we headed back to the university.
Day 7: First Flag football Practice 09/14/2022
Today we had bowling practice at 4 pm. I met coach Chad at 3:15 pm at the parking lot of Heminger where we picked up the vans and went to Gilmore to pick up the students. We left from there at 3:30 and reached Seneca lanes by 3:55pm. Today coach Chad had different exercise for the students. He wanted them to bowl to get a low score i.e., they only must hit the pin 10 on their first turn and pin 7 on their second. He wanted them to do the same for each frame. This exercise helps them in getting a spare and helps in getting a better score overall. After bowling practice, I had to go for Flag football practice at the Heminger. Coach Gioffre had all the students warm up and run for 25 mins with different exercises. After that he had planned to work on our offenses, and he had some drills printed out. This flag football team is a team of freshmen, so there is no chemistry. By working on our offense, we were able to build some chemistry and have an idea where everyone stands.
Day 8: Some More Practice 09/15/2022
Today I had three different duties. The first one was being at the office and doing some recruiting like I did last week. I started sending out messages to high school students and hoped that this time someone would call back regarding admission. This time a couple of students messaged back but it didn’t seem as they were willing to come to TU. But I and my mentor tried our best to convince them that TU is the best option for them and hoped that they would consider. After this I had bowling practice and it was the same schedule as yesterday. Once we reached there, Coach Chad told the students that they had to bowl 2 games today and try to get high score. And once they are done with that, they will be doing Bakers as this would help us in the tournament, we had this weekend. At 6pm we were done with practice and now I had to be at the Heminger for intramurals. Today we only had 3 teams show up for 3v3 basketball. So, we played one round of league matches and then the top two teams would play the finals.
Day 9: Some Shopping for the tournament 09/16/2022
Today my coach taught me what needs to be done before a tournament. We were supposed to fill the vans up with gas so that they are ready for tomorrow. After filling up the gas tank we went to Walmart to buy cases of water, some snacks, and some granola bars for the tournament. This was to provide students with some snacks during the tournament as they were going to bowl for more than 5 hours. During the tournament you cannot bring outside food, so the snacks help the students during the tournament. After filling up the vans with water, snacks, and gas we parked the vans by the heminger parking lot and coach gave me the keys to both the vans and the TU credit card for the weekend as I will be needing it for food.
Day 10: Welcome back Tournament Day 1 09/17/2022
It was my first tournament as a coach and operations intern. We left tiffin at 6:30 am in the morning to go at palace lanes in Columbus, Ohio. I was driving with men’s bowling team and coach Chad with women’s team. We stopped at McDonalds on our way for breakfast. We reached the destination at 9 am and me and coach registered our teams, and we got the sheets that told us which we start bowling and which way we move after each game. There were around 18 teams for men’s (V and JV combined) and 11 teams for women’s (V and JV combined). This tournament had 9 individual games. This was a two-day tournament where we would bowl 5 individual games on day 1 and remaining 4 on day 2. We started the tournament in a good way. We were ranked 8th after two individual games and one of our bowlers was in the competition to be in the top 5. We didn’t do well in game 3 and were down to 9th. For the next two games we had our heads down and we got serious. After game 5 we were 7th, a long way from 1st place but better than we were after game 3. We still had 4 more games to go, and we could do it. After game 5 we left for tiffin and on our way back we stopped at five guys for dinner and reached tiffin at 8:30 pm.
Day 11: Welcome back tournament Day 2 09/18/2022
Today we left a little later than yesterday at 8 am. We had to report at 10 am so we left a little late. While on our way there we stopped at Wendy’s for breakfast, and I would like to say McDonalds has better breakfast options than Wendy’s. We reached palace lanes by 10:05 am and our teams settled in and started doing their warmups. We started bowling at 11:30 am with 25 mins of practice and then we started game 6. We started off good and after game 6 and 7 we were Still 7th. This is not a good thing but there were teams that were doing bad than us and had lost couple of ranks but there were few teams that were doing good and had gained some ranks. If compared to that we were not bad, but we weren’t great either. We still had two more games to go, and we still had a chance to make it to the top 5. But there’s one thing about bowling after certain games the oil pattern starts to fade, and it becomes hard to bowl and get a strike. That might be the reason that we thanked the last two games and were ranked 9th after 9 games. As I mentioned earlier one of our student was competing to be in the top 5, he finished in 6 and missed all tournament team by 9 pins. That’s a bummer. On our way back we stopped at chipotle for dinner and reached tiffin at 8 pm.
Day 12: Back to practice 09/20/2022
Today it was the same routine for me. We went to practice with a mindset of winning in the next tournament. We were thinking of doing better in the tournament as it was possible was for us. Today during practice Coach Chad told everyone that we were going to practice on our release. He had bought a ball roller that helps in understanding if you have a problem with your wrist when you release the ball. It shows the angle at which you release the ball. Everyone learned their mistake and then they worked on it by trying to hit only pin 10. By doing this, it shows your accuracy and helps you in getting a good score. This was it for our practice today.
Day 13: Flag Football Practice 09/21/2022
Today I only had to be at the flag football practice at the heminger. Today we were going to work on our defense. We had some drills lined up and Coach wanted me to practice as well. It was my first-time playing football. We first did our warmups for about 20 mins and then the coach briefed everyone about the defense and told me to just follow his direction as I had no idea what I was supposed to do. We practiced on our defense for 90 minutes. We did a few drills and then we were done with practice. After practice the coach informed everyone to at least have 6 hours of study table every week. If anyone failed to achieve that goal, he/she would face consequences. As grades are equally important if you want to continue participating in the sport.
Day 14: 3v3 basketball 09/22/2022
Today was the same as last Thursday. I had 3 duties first I had to send some messages to recruit some high school athlete for our bowling team. It was the same procedure, I had to send the message to different students and wait for them to reply. But again, today nobody replied, and it was devastating for my director Massi. As he has been eager on recruiting some good bowler, but it’s been hard on finding or convincing them to join TU bowling team. After this we had bowling practice and we left tiffin at 3:30 pm. Today the coach said we’re going to bowl normal games and try to get strikes. As they make you maximum scores in a game. Everyone was supposed to bowl at least 3 games and keep an average of 180+. Two of them were able to keep that average but others struggled. After practice I had to be at the Heminger for 3v3 basketball. Today we only had one team and two individual players who wanted to play. So, coach Gioffre decided to play as that would make two teams. Today we didn’t have any tournament and we just played for 60 mins with 15 minutes of 4 quarter. I was the referee for the game.
Day 15: Lunch with Mentor 09/23/2022
Today when I went to the office, I was told to post some pictures of intramurals on twitter so that we can get more students on September 29, which is the final tournament day for 3v3 basketball. So, I posted some pictures and had some cool captions to attract more students. After this me Coach Gioffre and Coach Massi went for lunch at Reino’s. It was a treat from Coach Massi. This was a good team bonding lunch, and I got a chance to get to know my mentor and boss. The food at Reino’s was good. I had never been there, and this was my first time at Reino’s and I would say I enjoyed the food and the service over there.
Day 16: Punishment Day 09/26/2022
Today We had flag football practice at the heminger. Coach Gioffre decided that today we were going to only do physical training. This was more of a punishment than training because many of the students did not meet the six-hour study table. Out of 13 athletes only two of them went in and completed their six hours of study. First, he told everyone to complete 10 rounds of the ground and then he had everybody lined up and he made us run sprints for another 30 minutes. I was given the option to skip all of this, but I decided to do it anyways because I'm part of the team and as a team we stick with each other in glory and failure. After that he had some physical exercise that he wanted us to do like wall squats, push-ups etc. This punishment was a lesson for everyone to go and do the study tables every week. I hope everyone learned their lesson.
Day 17: Bowling practice 09/27/2022
Today was again a normal bowling practice day we left tiffin at 3:30 pm. Coach Chad decided that today we are going to only practice bakers. Bakers is a competition in which 5 bowlers bowl in a single game. for example, first bowler bowls 1st and 6th frame, second bowler bowls 2nd and 7th frame so on and so forth. This weekend we have our first OBC tournament, where each team is supposed to bowl five individual games and 16 baker’s games. So, coach Chad wanted everyone to practice bakers. Their focus was to score above 180 in each game. Initially the boys and the girls practiced individually and after four games the coach decided to compete boys against the girls. If the girls scored more than the boys, then everyone had to do 20 push-ups. The girls were able to beat the boys twice and they had to do 20 push-ups each time. After this we were done with practice, and we came back to tiffin.
Day 18: Bowling Practice 09/28/2022
Today was also like yesterday. we left tiffin at 3:30 PM so that we can reach Seneca lanes by 4:00 PM and start our practice. coach Chad told everyone the warmup and bowl three individual games. the first game students were supposed to keep a low score i.e., they were supposed to only hit pin 10 and pin 7. During the second game they had to bowl as many strikes as possible So as to achieve a higher score. During the third game they had to hit a strike with their spare ball. This activity helps send getting a proper line and accuracy. Once everyone was done with their three individual games the coach wanted them to bowl three baker’s game and it was same as yesterday boys versus girls. Once they were done with bakers we headed back to tiffin.
Day 19: Intramural tournament 09/29/2022
Today I had to go to the office and help coach Gioffre in organizing a tournament for the flag football team. I had to call in a bunch of universities and colleges and talk to their club and recreational sports Department head about playing a match against our team. Coach Gioffre and I called in a few universities in Ohio and Kentucky. Most of them didn't respond and the ones that did told us that they would think about it and let us know. After this I had to meet coach Chad and pick up the students for bowling practice. We did the same exercises as yesterday and tried to get better scores. After bowling practice, I had to meet coach Gioffre at the Heminger for the 3v3 basketball tournament. Today we had five teams show up and two individual students who wanted to participate in the basketball tournament. So, coach Gioffre decided to play and now we had six teams. We played league matches, that is every team played against each other and at the end whoever had the most wins qualified for the finals. So, the top two teams played in the finals and the winner was given a champions jersey.
Day 20: Tournament Shopping 09/30/2022
Coach Gioffre, Coach Massi and me went to Walmart to buy cases of water, snacks, energy bars and energy drinks for the bowlers to stay energetic during the tournament. After that we went to fill up the gas tank of the vans that we were supposed to be using tomorrow. We also called the Holiday Inn in Dayton to book 6 rooms for our tournament next week. We got a good deal of 90$ per room with free breakfast.
Day 21: Ohio Bowling Conference (OBC) #1 10/01/2022
Today we had to go to Columbus for our second tournament. So, we left from tiffin at 6:30 am and reached Columbus at around 9 am. While on our way there we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. As soon as we reached there me, and Coach Chad registered our team and were given the score sheet and lane assignment for the tournament. All the athletes took their bowling bag and snacks from the van and got ready for the tournament. The format of the tournament was 5 individual games and 16 baker’s games. We were off to a good start and after the first 5 individual games we were ranked 7th out of 15 teams (V and JV combined). Now it was time for the baker’s games. We were doing all right but not as good as others. We needed to keep an avg of 180+ in the bakers to compete for the top 5 spot. But our avg was not anywhere near to 180 and we were dropped down 10th after 16 bakers. It was not a good day for the team, but I was told that we had done better than last year. We left the place to head home and on our way back we had Chic fil A for dinner and reached tiffin at 9:30 pm.
Day 22: Back to practice 10/04/2022
Today it was a similar daily schedule for me. We went to practice with a mentality of winning in the following competition. We were considering improving in the competition it was conceivable for us. Today during training Coach Chad let everybody know that we planned to practice on our swing. He had purchased a ball roller that aides in understanding the swing angle when one does bowling. Everybody took in their misstep and afterward they chipped away at it by attempting to hit just pin 7. By doing this, it shows your precision and helps you in getting a decent score. This was all for our training today.
Day 23: getting ready for our first tournament (Flag Football) 10/05/2022
Today we had Bowling practice. We did the same drill and activities from yesterday. We worked on our weakness and tried to get better. After that I had to be with Coach Gioffre for flag football practice. We worked on our defense and offense and did some formations. Today was a great day as we also built our chemistry.
Day 24: Futsal 10/06/2022
First, I had to be with the bowling team for their practice. We Did the same thing we have been doing this whole week. Practice is the key to perfection. We also told the students to bowl atleast two games and try to keep the avg 180+. After that we were done with today’s practice. Now it was time for Futsal. We organized a 5v5 Football tournament. Only 5 people showed up today for futsal. The reason being our university had a soccer match today and all the soccer players were either tired or not in the mood to play. But anyways we played 3v3 as I was the sixth player. And this was not a good start to our futsal intramurals.
Day 25: Shopping Day 10/07/2022
I went with my mentor to Walmart to shop for our upcoming tournament which was tomorrow. We bought a few cases of water, snacks, energy drinks, granola bars etc. Tomorrow we were going to Dayton, and we were going to stay there for the night as it was a two-day tournament. After this went to fill the gas tank of both the vans and later Coach Massi Took us out for lunch.
Day 26: Dayton Tournament Day 1 10/08/2022
Today we left at 8 am for Dayton as we had to report at 11:30 am. It was a 2-hour drive and we stopped at Subway for breakfast in Dayton. Then the girls and boys had their tournament at different places. I was with the boy’s team and coach Chad with the girl’s team. We had to bowl 5 individual games and we did well and were ranked 6th after day 1. We left to reach our hotel after the tournament. Everyone was told to freshen up and meet in the lobby at 8:30 for dinner. We had dinner at Buffalo wild wings and then went to McDonald’s for a shake. That was it from day 1.
Day 27: Dayton Tournament Day 2 10/09/2022
Everyone was told to meet in the lobby at 7 am for breakfast with their luggage. We had breakfast and left for our tournament at 8:30 am. We had to report there at 9:30 am. Today we were going to bowl 16 bakers and the score were added at the end from day 1 and day 2. We didn’t do good at bakers and and couldn’t make the knockout stage of the tournament. We finished 9th overall. We left from the bowling place at 3pm and stopped at arby’s for lunch and reached tiffin at 6:30 pm.
Day 28: Practice Day 10/12/2022
Today was the same practice day. First, I had bowling practice where we did some warmup and practiced top of the mountain. It is a game where you must hit different pins on different lanes to move ahead and whoever completes all the levels wins. This helps to play under pressure and helps to keep your focus no matter what happens. After that I had flag football practice where we did some drills to work on our offense and defense. We were going to play our first tournament next week.
Day 29: Futsal 10/13/2022
First, I had to take the bowling team to practice where they bowled 5 games and were to get an avg of 175+. After that we had intramurals. This time 9 students showed up and we played one match of 5v5 for around 80 mins. There were not many students showing up for intramurals according to our expectation. It turned out to be a flop show. Coach Gioffre told me that we need to try and get more students and for that we had to come up with a strategy.
Day 30: Office work 10/14/2022
This weekend we had no tournament, so we didn’t go shopping. I was told to send some message to potential recruits and try to make them consider joining TU. Today we also had some recruits coming to visit the University and I was told to accompany Coach Massi while he showed the recruit University.
Day 31: Some more practice 10/18/2022
Today was again an ordinary bowling training day we left tiffin at 3:30 pm. Coach Chad concluded that today we will just practice dough punchers. Bread cooks is a rivalry where 5 bowlers bowl in a solitary game. for instance, first bowler bowls first and sixth casing, second bowler bowls second and seventh edge et cetera. This weekend we have our most memorable OBC competition, where each group should bowl five individual games and 16 bread cook's games. In this way, Coach Chad maintained that everybody should rehearse dough punchers. Their aim was to score over 180 in each game. At first the young men and the young ladies rehearsed independently and after four games the mentor chose to contend young men against the young ladies. If the young ladies scored more than the young men, everybody needed to do 20 push-ups. The young ladies had the option to beat the young men two times and they needed to do 20 push-ups each time. After this we were finished with training, and we returned to tiffin.
Day 32: Some More Practice 10/19/2022
Today was also like yesterday. we left tiffin at 3:30 PM so that we can reach Seneca lanes by 4:00 PM and start our practice. coach Chad told everyone the warmup and bowl three individual games. the first game students were supposed to keep a low score i.e., they were supposed to only hit pin 10 and pin 7. During the second game they had to bowl as many strikes as possible So as to achieve a higher score. During the third game they had to hit a strike with their spare ball. This activity helps in getting a proper line and accuracy. Once everyone was done with their three individual games the coach wanted them to bowl three baker’s game and it was same as yesterday boys versus girls. Once they were done with bakers we headed back to tiffin. Then I had flag football practice where we practiced on our defense as it needed some work and we had to improve on our defense.
Day 33: Intramurals 10/20/2022
Today we left tiffin at 3:30 pm for bowling practice. We worked on our swing and release timing and bowled some individual games. Coach Chad had told me that he didn’t need me to keep track of their scores from todays practice. After practicing it was time for futsal. Today we had 4 teams show up so we played a league system tournament and then the top two teams with the most points played against each other in the finals.
Day 34: Team bonding 10/21/2022
Today we first went to Walmart to shop as we had bowling and flag football tournament this weekend. We filled up the vans full of gas. After that we left to go to Cedar Point as a team bonding activity for the flag football team. We reached there around 3 pm. This was Halloween week, so the place had haunted houses. We went on some roller coasters and later went to see the haunted houses. It was a fun day and experience as we were able to build our chemistry as a team. We left Cedar Point at 11pm and had McDonald’s for dinner on our way back.
Day 35: OBC #2 10/22/2022
Today was our OBC tournament where we were supposed to bowl 5 individual games and 16 bakers. We left tiffin at 6:30 am to reach columbus and stopped at Wendy’s for breakfast. It was the same story as earlier tournaments. We started off good but, in the end, we couldn’t make it to the top 5. I don’t know what possible reason we must not finish good. We have been doing good at practice but when it comes to performing good at tournaments, we just can’t do it. I was annoyed and frustrated as we were always losing. We reached tiffin at 9 pm and stopped at Taco bell for dinner on our way back.
Day 36: Practice!!! 11/01/2022
Today was the same practice day. First, I had bowling practice where we did some warmup and practiced top of the mountain. It is a game where you must hit different pins on different lanes to move ahead and whoever completes all the levels wins. This helps to play under pressure and helps to keep your focus no matter what happens. After that I had flag football practice where we did some drills to work on our offense and defense. We were going to play our first tournament next week.
Day 37: Some more practice 11/02/2022
Today was like yesterday. we left tiffin at 3:30 PM with the goal that we can arrive at Seneca lanes by 4:00 PM and begin our training. Coach Chad told everybody the warmup and bowl three individual games. The primary game understudies should keep a low score i.e., they should just hit pin 10 and pin 7. During the second game they needed to bowl strikes as it helps to accomplish a higher score. During the third game they needed to bowl with their spare ball. This movement helps in getting a legitimate line and precision. Whenever everybody was finished with their three individual games the mentor believed they should bowl three bakers. Once they were finished with bakers, we made a beeline for tiffin.
Day 38: Futsal Day 11/03/2022
Today was the same practice day again. We went to Seneca lanes. Students bowled individual games and tried to work on their weakness. They were told to bowl lower scoring games. Once they were done, we left for tiffin. Then I had to be at Heminger for futsal. We had 5 teams today participating in intramurals. We played league tournament first and then the top 2 teams battled in the finals to be crowned champions.
Day 39: Shopping Day 11/04/2022
We went to Walmart to buy cases of water and some snacks for the bowling team as we were travelling to Dayton for a tournament this weekend. After that we went to fill up the gas tank for both the vans which we were supposed to be taking.
Day 40: OBC #3 11/05/2022
Today we left tiffin at 6:30 am as we had to be there by 9 am. On our way there we stopped at Burger king for breakfast. As soon as we reached there, me and coach Chad registered our team, and we got the lane assignment and the sheet to fill up the scores. We were off to a good start but tumbled during our way. We were doing so good that we had a real chance to finish in the top 5. But bakers crushed us and dropped us to 7th rank and yet again we couldn’t make it to the top 5. We left Columbus after the tournament and reached tiffin at 9 pm. On our way back we stopped at a burger place (I don’t remember the name). It was my first time over there.