A Super Connected Internship
Emily Doane’s short time at Endicott might be characterized by serendipity.
A transfer student from Penn State, Doane, who will graduate this spring as an exercise science major, originally landed in Beverly last year as a nursing student. But when the lacrosse student-athlete learned that her credits had transferred differently, causing her to potentially graduate a semester late, she reconsidered her major altogether.
That’s not the serendipitous part, though. Transferring to a new college during junior year can be particularly challenging when it comes to making friends. But the summer before the start of the 2021-22 academic year, Doane saw a message sent to the lacrosse group text from another lacrosse player and transfer student from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell … where Doane’s friend played baseball.
“I’d met her multiple times through him,” said Doane. “I was like, ‘Holy cow, I know her!’ So then we roomed together, and we’ve been best friends ever since. Very small world.”
Now in her senior year, Doane is gearing up for her last lacrosse season as a Gull and interning with the men’s soccer team, in yet another serendipitous twist.
Last year, Doane told Kelsey Taylor, a clinical coordinator for sport science, that she wasn’t sure of a career path, so she had no idea where to start looking for an internship.
“We probably talked for an hour. And she said, ‘Well, I think you should look into player performance technology and data analytics,’” recalled Doane.
Doane called Taylor “super-connected” with the athletics department, so weeks later, she recommended Doane for an internship after learning that men’s soccer Head Coach Joe Calabrese had purchased performance trackers for the team.
“She told him, ‘I have a student who’s literally looking to do that for her internship.’ It’s just a super cool opportunity. It’s hard to find this opportunity where you’re the one that’s in charge of collecting all the data and doing everything. So I’m just super grateful for Kelsey and her remembering our entire conversation,” said Doane.
According to Calabrese, those are Catapult One GPS trackers, which provide important performance data analytics to improve overall student-athlete performance, readiness, and well-being.
“The analysis of the data supports our preparation and periodization model for our training sessions and matches,” he said. “This is a unique regular season schedule because we're playing 20 regular season games compared to previous seasons with 17 or 18. The data has allowed our coaching staff to manage the student-athletes’ weekly training and game load. This has greatly benefited the student-athletes because it’s reduced our overall number of injuries.”
Catapult One is utilized by many top professional soccer teams including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Chelsea. What’s more, the technology is now used by many NCAA Division I, II, and III programs.
“This sparked our initial interest in the product,” added Calabrese.
Doane attends the team’s weekly practices and will outfit student-athletes with bibs, pods, and heart rate monitors. After practice or a game, Doane collects all of the devices from the student-athletes, syncs them to her computer, synthesizes the data, and creates special reports for Calabrese.
“Her experience as a student-athlete at Endicott and her understanding of the Catapult data points have allowed all of us to collaborate on how our soccer student-athletes are feeling daily,” said Calabrese. “Without Emily as a full-time resource this semester, the use of the Catapult One technology isn’t possible. She is one of the most valuable members of our staff this year!”
“It’s been very interesting because I wasn’t sure what to expect. It didn’t register that I’d be spending as much time with the team as I am. It’s like being an extension of their team, and it’s challenging and very new for me,” she said.
Doane is also using the data to inform her thesis in progress, which explores player perception compared to the quantitative data of their performance.
“I’m excited to get into that a little bit more next semester,” she said.
Now, with soccer season winding down, Doane is ready for a busy spring semester of thesis writing, lacrosse playing, and applying to grad school.
“I’ve been looking at Tufts because they have a specific public health program with a biostatistics and epidemiology concentration,” she said.
With hard work and a little luck, she’s sure to be on her way.