July 14, 2023

UOW marketing student completes coveted internship with FIFA

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is here and UOW student Emily Wescombe, as part of the Communications team, played an active role in the lead up to it.

UOW’s Faculty of Business and Law student, Emily Wescombe is on a high after completing a sought-after internship with the Communications team at FIFA, working on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. The internship was organised through the University of Wollongong’s Business Internship Program (BUS391).

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will kick off on July 20 with matches being played in nine cities across Australia and New Zealand. It has already sold over one million tickets.

Emily joined the Communications team, which is responsible for managing all public relations and media communications for the tournament. She assisted the team in various tasks such as developing ambassador bios for the Beyond Greatness Champions Programme. The Programme includes a line-up of local stars tasked with supporting and promoting the tournament across AU and NZ. Using her knowledge gained at UOW, Emily distributed media releases to local newspapers, wrote pieces on key players to look out for, conducted research on host cities and the Young Matildas which her seniors would use to develop content features, and produced a detailed calendar of events to support ticket sales for the various matches.

Emily’s hard work did not go unnoticed by her team. Sarah Widera, Senior Communications Manager at FIFA shared, “There was no task too big or too small for Emily, she was a fantastic addition to the Communications team over her placement period. She was incredibly proactive and met every task with a smile and can-do attitude.” Her impressive performance even led to an offer of full-time employment with FIFA until the end of the World Cup tournament.

A highlight of the experience for Emily was assisting the Communications team at the Sydney Harbour Bridge Unity Celebrations, held on Sunday, 25^th June. The Unity Celebrations saw around 4000 football loving fans walk across the Bridge to mark the 25 days to go until the first matches are played. It was a unique opportunity which saw Emily meet several prominent Australian media personalities and former Matildas. She acquired valuable insights into the behind-the-scenes preparations and meticulous planning involved in hosting such events.

For Emily, who is a Bachelor of Commerce student majoring in Sports Marketing and Management, the internship provided her with skills and work experience which future employers, operating in the sports sector, highly value. She added, “This experience gave me unparalleled access to the inner workings of football and allowed me to build a network of industry professionals. I am immensely grateful to the entire team at FIFA for providing me with this extraordinary opportunity.”

The Business Internship Program is one of several programs that the University offers which provides our students with opportunities to apply their learnings in a practical setting. “We recognise how important it is to equip and empower our students with real-world experiences to increase their work readiness after graduation,” says Dr Mercedez Hinchcliff, Director of Academic Programs for Marketing and Emily’s former Lecturer. Jorge Perez, UOW’s Internship Manager added that the Business Internship Program has proven instrumental in fostering connections between students and industry professionals.  

To understand eligibility criteria, read about the experiences of other internship students, and get more information about the program, please visit the page.