The final
day of the iWorkinSport Education Virtual Expo wrapped up with an interactive
panel “Life After a Master in Sports” in which alumni from
prestigious sports management postgraduate programs discussed the real benefits
that such courses brought to their professional lives. An active audience also
had their questions answered by the panelists.
Pablo
Zarate, Vice
President SUM International Properties at Major League Soccer (MLS) and alumnus
of the University of Liverpool’s Football Industries MBA, said that he decided
to pursue a sports management degree because he wanted a career change. “I
wanted to become a professional footballer but because that didn’t happen, I
wanted to pursue something closer to football. A sports management degree
helped me get back to football, if only off the court”, he said. For him, a highlight
of his Masters was the friendship he developed from people all over the world.
Shalini
Krishnan,
alumna of the FIFA Master reflected on the importance of the course in her
professional life: “I was looking for a structured education, and I got it
through the master. The FIFA Master also brought me all my contacts in sport”,
she said. “Coincidentally, I learned about the new job I’m about to start
through an alumnus of the FIFA Master, who also help me in the process.”
Marely
Flores, Women's
Football Tournaments Manager at FIFA and alumna of the International Academy of
Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) decided to do pursue a sports management
degree when she went to US in a student exchange programme. She elaborates: “I
was studying marketing and also played football in my university. I started
contacting people from various programs, as I knew I wanted to work for FIFA
eventually, and I knew the path wasn’t going to be easy.”
Gustavo
Spanholi,
Partnerships Manager, International Relations at The Football Association, and
also an alumnus of University of Liverpool’s FIMBA said: “I reached to the
point in my initial career where I wanted to change things. I wanted to do
something outside my home country and for us Brazilians it’s a challenge to
cross the ocean and go to Europe. I wanted to do a Masters in Sports and have a
different life experience and it was then I started to explore courses.”
When asked if they felt they’ve made a good decision, by studying in a masters
in sport, all were super positive about it. Gustavo said that his dreams came
through, in part, thanks to his MBA, while Shalini said “I love my current life
in Europe and I don’t think I would have gotten here without the master”.
You can watch the full video here.
Before the closing panel, the final day of the event saw presentations by Real
Madrid Graduate School, University of Oregon, The Football Business Academy, Johan
Cruyff Institute, The FIFA Master, University of Liverpool and European Sport
Business School (ESBS).
Meanwhile,
the presentations from last week are also available for watching on demand
until this Friday. If you would still like to check the presentations or know
more about the programs, then you can still log on to the iWorkinSportEducation Virtual Expo, and although the course representatives won’t be there,
you can message them directly, if you require more information.
iWorkinSport would like to thank everyone who attended the event, and send a
special thanks to the Academic Partners, who were paramount for the success of
the event.
We look
forward to seeing you in the next one.