I’m Hanna Killeen, an Ohio State Field Hockey Player and the Social + Content Intern this summer at Teamworks. This internship allowed me to merge my passion for sports and content creation. So, I decided to interview the other Teamworks student-athlete interns to showcase the impact of The Operating System for Sports™.
Being a student-athlete is a rollercoaster of emotions—exciting, challenging, and rewarding. It requires hard work, sacrifice, and unwavering dedication. Balancing the rigors of training, studying, and life can feel overwhelming. However, I can confidently say that Teamworks makes the student-athlete experience a thousand times more manageable and enjoyable. With 12 products — covering Operations, Recruiting, Performance, Compliance, Student-Athlete Development, and Branding & NIL — there’s a tool to enhance every aspect of being a student-athlete.
Four Key Takeaways from Teamworks Student-Athlete Interns:
- Streamlining Communication & Coordination
- Building Your Brand (Empowerment)
- Fostering Accountability
- Maximizing Time
Meet the Summer 2024 Student-Athlete Interns
Hanna Killeen – Ohio State Field Hockey #2
First, there’s me, an Ohio State Buckeye:
- Sport: Field Hockey
- Position: Forward
- Year: Senior
- Major: Communications
- Teamworks Products Used: Hub, Influencer, Nutrition
- Fun Fact: I was the USA Today Ohio Field Hockey player of the year 2021-22
- Follow Me: Hannakilleen , Hannakil222, Hannakilleen2 [Instagram, TikTok, X]
Jacob Lurie – UMass Football #29
Next, Jacob; a UMass Minuteman:
- Sport: Football
- Position: Kicker
- Year: Graduate
- Major: Business
- Teamworks Products Used: Hub, Influencer, Acaemics
- Fun Fact: I did my undergrad at Vanderbilt
- Follow Me: jacob.lurie [Instagram]
Nicola Sommers – Tufts Soccer & Lacrosse #37
Third, Nicola; a Tufts Jumbo:
- Sport: Soccer & Lacrosse
- Position: Outside Forward – soccer, Defense – lacrosse
- Year: Senior
- Major: Economics
- Teamworks Products Used: Hub
- Fun Fact: I can only snap with my pinky finger
- Follow Me: nicola.sommers [Instagram]
Maddie Poissonnier – Brown Water Polo #24
Last but not least, Maddie, a Brown University Bear:
- Sport: Water Polo
- Position: Center Defender
- Year: Junior
- Major: Computer Science and entrepreneurship
- Teamworks Products Used: Hub, Compliance + Recruiting
- Fun Fact: I’ve won USAWP Junior Olympics 3 times
- Follow Me: maddie.poissonnier [Instagram]
Four Key Takeaways from Teamworks Interns
I had the pleasure of interviewing my fellow summer interns to understand how Teamworks shaped our lives as student-athletes.
1. Streamlining Communication & Coordination
The impact of streamlined communication Teamworks brings to collegiate athletics is revolutionary. Nicola, Jacob, and Maddie expressed that “life before Teamworks was straight chaos.” From travel itineraries and food orders to class and practice schedules, Teamworks Hub serves as our main platform, simplifying our lives significantly.
Jacob, a Division 1 football player, highlighted the chaos of managing communication within teams of up to 120 athletes. He stated,
“The last thing I want is a 120-person iMessage group chat.”
Jacob Lurie, UMass Football
“With football training camp being 6 am to 8 pm for a month straight, there are so many moving parts. Our operations team now manages everything smoothly with Teamworks.”
Jacob Lurie, UMass Football.
Having everything in one place allows athletes like Nicola to juggle two sports and academics without stress.
“The dashboard holds 95% of what I need daily. It erases low-grade stress, ensuring I don’t forget anything.”
Nicola Sommers, Tufts Soccer & Lacrosse.
A huge part of our lifestyle as student-athletes is travel. There are so many behind-the-scenes aspects of away trips, from meals to study times; Maddie expressed how simple Teamworks made planning Brown’s offseason training trip to Hawaii:
2. Building Your Brand (Empowerment)
With NIL on the rise, building your brand is now fundamental in athletics, and Teamworks empowers athletes to take ownership of it. The Teamworks Influencer app, a one-stop shop for NIL management and opportunities, has transformed how Jacob and I approach our personal branding.
I expressed my experience in a non-revenue-generating sport with fewer NIL opportunities. Teamworks Influencer has helped me build my brand and inspire young girls aspiring to be collegiate athletes. Before Influencer, I hadn’t considered NIL activities, but its user-friendly design encourages athletes to maximize their NIL potential.
As for Jacob, he found the centralized content platform invaluable.
“The content side of Influencer has benefited me a lot. Having a centralized place where our creative staff can provide us with the media and content we need, makes NIL a lot easier and more enjoyable.”
Jacob Lurie, UMass Football
Regarding the continuation of empowerment, we all discussed how NCAA regulations are constantly changing. Nicola reflects,
“Teamworks positions itself to be a super solid foundation for athletic departments to adapt at the same speed without missing a beat. The software really does empower the student-athlete, making them the priority.”
Nicola Sommers, Tufts Soccer & Lacrosse
3. Fostering Accountability
Accountability is one of the most important lessons in athletics. We all found that Teamworks breeds accountability on and off the field. Jacob briefly used Teamworks Academics while at Vanderbilt and explained how it was great to help plan study hall and check-ins and keep people accountable for their work. Something that stuck out to me was his emphasis on how Teamworks fostered trust among his teammates. He felt confident they would stay academically eligible, thanks to Teamworks Academics.
“A big thing in football is staying eligible academically, at a school like Vanderbilt where academic rigor is very high, it is of the utmost importance to our staff to keep everyone not only eligible but above and beyond. Having the ability to track that [academic eligibility] greatly affects the team as a whole. I can feel more confident knowing we will not have any issues with guys being ineligible thanks to Teamworks being able to keep it all under one umbrella.”
Jacob Lurie, UMass Football.
Nicola, Maddie, and I all felt that Teamworks helps state clear expectations while leaving no room for confusion.
“When our communication wasn’t streamlined through Teamworks, it was harder to hold people accountable for their mistakes because they maybe genuinely missed something.”
Maddie Poissonnier, Brown Water Polo
Teamworks also creates a positive team culture. We’re taught to check Teamworks if we have questions. If you miss something, that’s on you. If your coaches forget to put something in Teamworks, that’s on them. Athletes and staff alike are held accountable, which helps breed a culture of respect and trust. Nicola agreed,
4. Maximizing Time
One of the most significant benefits of using Teamworks is the time it saves us as student-athletes. The hectic schedules we maintain demand efficiency, and Teamworks delivers precisely that. Teamworks allows me to focus on what truly matters—my sport and academics.
Jacob agreed and emphasized the value of time management:
“Teamworks allows us to focus on our sport instead of managing where we need to be. The logistics can be overwhelming, but this platform gains us time to do what we love.”
Jacob Lurie, UMass Football
Having access to all necessary resources in one app means we no longer need to juggle multiple platforms or sift through countless messages to find critical information. The streamlined communication cuts down on wasted time and helps us stay organized throughout our busy days.
For instance, Teamworks makes it simple to coordinate practice schedules, team meetings, and academic commitments. With just a few clicks, I can see my entire week laid out in the app, allowing me to prioritize my training sessions while ensuring I meet my academic obligations. As Nicola said:
“The scheduling functionality of Teamworks has made it easier to meet with professors and organize team activities, strengthening our bonds in the process.”
Nicola Sommers, Tufts Soccer & Lacrosse
I’ve witnessed firsthand how the Teamworks Nutrition app enables me to track my meals and fuel my body without hassle. With personalized meal plans and easy tracking of my nutritional goals, I can focus more on performance and less on planning what to eat. This is crucial, especially as we head into our final seasons, where every little edge can make a difference in our performance.
Maddie also shared her thoughts on how Teamworks supports athletes with Compliance + Recruiting—an essential aspect that simplifies compliance and administrative tasks:
“Compliance + Recruiting simplifies this complexity with customized workflows, ensuring student-athletes, administrators, and compliance staff are all on the same page.”
Maddie Poissonnier, Brown Water Polo
The ease of communication regarding compliance and training hours means less time worrying about paperwork and more time spent honing our skills and strategies. Knowing that Teamworks keeps everything in order gives us peace of mind—and time back to invest in our game.
Additionally, Teamworks’ comprehensive calendar feature allows us to integrate personal commitments with athletic obligations seamlessly. I often reflect on this functionality when I schedule everything from training sessions to personal commitments like picking up groceries or even getting my nails done. It’s such a relief to have a centralized system that helps me stay organized and balanced.
“I wish I could use it forever,” I often find myself saying.
The platform makes it easy to not miss important events, appointments, or training sessions. The added time gained from improved organization and efficiency means we can engage more in our sport, strategizing, practicing, and pushing ourselves toward excellence, both as athletes and as students.
From Student-Athletes to Summer Interns: Brought Together By Teamworks
Sadly, our summer internship at Teamworks will soon end. We’ve had an incredible opportunity to learn and grow alongside each other. Reflecting on the impact Teamworks has had on me and my team and the invaluable tools and insights we’ve gained this summer, I feel so thankful to have been a part of such a competitive, empowering, innovative, and exciting work environment.
This experience will undoubtedly enhance our performance as student-athletes during our final seasons. We are excited to take what we’ve learned back to our respective teams, focusing on our sports and continuing to become the best versions of ourselves with all the best tools in our back pockets, thanks to Teamworks.
Thank you for following our journey. We look forward to what lies ahead with The Operating System for Sports™!
