Felicerio Barria Carrasco, a student of the 7th edition of the FIFA/CIES Programme in sport management organised in Chile, travelled more than 60,000 kilometres, i.e. one and a half times around the world, to attend classes at Universidad Santo Tomás in Santiago in 2014.
Felicerio Barria Carrasco, who is the manager at a junior high school with 700 pupils, lives in Temuco, capital of the Araucanía region, some 670 kilometres south of Santiago de Chile.
Felicerio had wanted to attend a sport management curriculum for years: “The junior high school I manage essentially caters for pupils from very disadvantaged backgrounds, involving significant social risks. Attending the UST/FIFA/CIES Programme allowed me to perfect my management skills and to make the best use of sport as an instrument to serve the community. For us, the idea was to allow young people to overcome a difficult environment where they are exposed to alcoholism, drug use, violence and other forms of crime.”
So from May to November 2014, twice a week, Felicerio travelled from Temuco to Santiago by overnight bus: “Yes, it really took up a lot of my time… but it was worth it. The Programme managers and teachers were excellent. Not to mention the very high level of the international speakers.”
For Felicerio, who has a passion for football in all its forms and who is also a basketball enthusiast, the idea is now to apply the knowledge he gained over more than 6 months: “Sport makes it possible to give young people a different vision, to encourage them to be useful to society. Sport opens doors and facilitates exchanges and dialogue between children and their parents.”
How can this be done? Felicerio sums up his social work in a few words: “In my junior high school, over 200 pupils, both boys and girls, play football with a view to taking part in school competitions at the local and regional levels. But to be allowed to play, they must achieve good results and their behaviour must be irreproachable. Their interest in sport therefore encourages them to change their habits and their behaviour in a positive way. That is the contribution my colleagues and I want to make to our country, the heritage we can leave our community!”
Thank you to Felicerio for trusting Universidad Santo Tomás and CIES. We hope that travelling one and a half times around the world to attend classes will be useful to him, to his pupils and to the whole region of Temuco!