UCLA’s Arthur Ashe Legacy Fund sponsors sports agency internship for students
UCLA’s Arthur Ashe Legacy Fund has partnered with sports media and marketing agency SPORTFIVE to offer an internship to one UCLA student or recent graduate each year. The inaugural internship session took place in summer 2021. (David Rimer/Assistant Photo editor)
By Constanza Montemayor
Sept. 4, 2021 6:55 p.m.
This post was updated Sept. 6 at 8:15 p.m.
UCLA is offering a newly created summer internship to current or recently graduated students at a sports marketing agency, SPORTFIVE.
The internship, which launched in 2021 and is sponsored by UCLA’s Arthur Ashe Legacy Fund, plans to carry on former professional tennis player Arthur Ashe’s legacy by annually supporting one UCLA student or graduate in the internship. Interns will work with SPORTFIVE, a global sports and entertainment management agency focused on uniting brands, rights-holders, media platforms, fans and the agency through partnerships, according to its website.
Jada Hart, who graduated with a master’s degree in 2021, is the first UCLA graduate to complete the internship this summer. Hart is also a professional tennis player and trained with the United States Tennis Association but suffered injuries that led her to step away from tennis and take an interest in sports management.
SPORTFIVE’s senior vice president of media, Alexandra Dell, managed Hart’s internship this year and said the work to establish the program began at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Giving college kids or graduates the opportunity to see what our industry is all about with the idea of doing an internship and maybe one day hiring them would be the best of both worlds,” Dell told Robin Migdol, the associate director of communications with UCLA Undergraduate Education, according to UCLA College.
The internship will give more students the opportunity to learn about the sports media business and help them explore their career options, Dell added.
At SPORTFIVE, Hart researched sports-related media, companies and entertainment, as well as assisted Dell in reviewing footage and giving notes on an upcoming documentary film about star professional tennis player Novak Djokovic. After working in the internship, Hart said she now plans to work in the sports industry after she leaves professional tennis.
“Before this internship, I knew I wanted to stay in sports. But since working at SPORTFIVE, being involved in TV productions and also meeting some incredible people in the company along the way, I’ve started to gain a good grasp of what goes on in the entertainment and media world,” Hart told Migdol. “I’ve started to gain an interest in that field as well.”
Dell added Hart was a valuable member of SPORTFIVE during her internship and emphasized her potential for a future career. She hopes the internship will help represent Ashe’s legacy and UCLA pride by offering Bruins a new chance to learn about the sports media and management industry.
