University Honors Program
Senior Spotlight: Sam Veeneman shares his internship experience with the Cincinnati Bengals
By Kaitlin Lewis
Senior Samuel Veeneman had the chance to make some of his dreams come true this summer working as a coaching video assistant for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Veeneman, a video productions major earning a film studies minor, has had plenty of experience in athletic videography during his time at the University of Dayton. While he originally chose his degree to pursue a career in the movie industry, he had an opportunity early at UD to work video production for UD’s athletic department and said he fell in love with it.
In May, he took the skills he’s learned at Dayton to a bigger field - literally. As a Bengals’ coaching video assistant, Veeneman was in charge of shooting film at practice for coaches and players to review later. His day-to-day work consisted of videoing individual player drills as well as larger, team-based drills. If Veeneman caught a good shot, sometimes his videos would be used for social media posts to highlight the players during preseason training.
Veeneman said that his role as a coaching assistant required a different approach than his job with UD athletics, but he enjoyed getting to try something new. With Dayton, his job consists mainly of capturing social videos used for promotional purposes. But while working for the Bengals, he had to focus on capturing a player’s technique and footwork rather than an exciting play.
“I think it’s a good thing to be diversified in your experience,” Veeneman said. “You can take techniques and tools from both and see how you can improve in either.”
A born-and-raised Cincinnatian, Veeneman said he and his family have always been Bengals fans, and that working for the team this summer “meant everything.”
“I felt like I was a part of the team,” Veeneman said. “In my opinion, it’s so much more than the 53 men on the roster. It’s the coaches and trainers and people like the video department.”
Veeneman said that while he has enjoyed his time shooting social video with UD athletics, it was interesting working so closely with coaches and players this summer. Looking forward, after graduation in May 2022, Veeneman said he might consider either as a potential career path.
“As long as I’m working in athletics videography, I’ll be happy,” Veeneman said.