Josh Canning, a junior sports management major at Merrimack, had an internship last fall with the Kraft Group. He was an event operations intern at Gillette Stadium, home of the two New England sports teams: the Patriots and the Revolution. Josh has worked at Gillette since 2021. He started as a security guard and was able to slowly progress his way up to working in security systems. He networked with the right people to get this internship in event operations.
Josh is one of the first in-house hires within the Kraft Group, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. He typically worked Thursday through Sunday, when he helped with private events or professional sports games during the weekend. One private event that he ran on his own was a flag football game for the Special Olympics.
“They tasked me with running it by myself, and there were about…5,000 or so people there,” Josh said. “I was tasked with placing all our employees in spots, and…if there was an injury on the field, I would have to call it in and…if anyone had any problems on the radio, I’m the guy they’re looking for.”
He reflected on this experience and how he was quickly able to adapt to setting up events while still learning the process.
“Going from…asking people for help, to people asking me [for help], it was different,” he said. “It was.. nerve-racking you know, but I did it and it went very well.”
Managing many people at once was something that Josh was used to in this position. His daily tasks on the weekdays involved managing about 800 employees and security staff.
“I helped out with audio pre-event stuff on Thursdays. Fridays [was] getting paperwork [done], sending emails [and] scheduling people,” he said. “[It] was pretty hectic…I was the only intern for the security operation side of it…but there was about…10 or 12 of us [in total].”
During the professional sports games, Josh shadowed the event managers until he had a set role later on in the season which was helping with the owner’s escort.
“One of my main tasks on Patriots days was helping with the owner’s escort, for either the away team or helping Robert Kraft and his wife,” he said. “Wherever they go… I would be…making sure that…no one’s doing anything or coming up to them.”
He also had many different responsibilities during game day such as helping with credentials for game day employees, making sure security was alert and focused and helping out with the halftime shows.
Josh credits his professors at Merrimack such as Ed Lynch and Professor Mansfield for inspiring him to search for jobs and look for every opportunity.
“Taking sports marketing with Ed Lynch, and sports management with Professor Mansfield…[really] inspired me,” he said. “They did all these jobs in the sports field and they started pretty young themselves…[so] they just put those morals into my head to…get out there…and apply for everything you see.”
Josh hopes to reconnect with the Kraft Group later down the line, whether it’s a summer position or another internship next fall. In the meantime, he looks to continue building his resume and connect with more people in the sports management field.
