Zarina Bahdur (South Africa) and Diego Brenes (Costa Rica), FIFA/CIES Programme alumni who completed the programme at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) respectively, share impressions of the FIFA Master that they started last September.
The memories of Diego Brenes are particularly linked to the first module of the FIFA Master, the Humanities of Sport module taught at De Montfort University in Leicester where the students spent their first months:
“If I had to mention a strong point among the many discoveries I made during our stay in Leicester, I would say the conference on the theme “The Scotland and England Match: Football and National identity in the UK”.
Why this conference? Because it was one of our first activities in the framework of the 14th edition of the FIFA Master. But above all because it brought together researchers and experts from the entire country and we had the opportunity to undertake a detailed analysis of the role of football in the construction of nationalism in our modern societies. Moreover, the conference allowed us to connect the past to the near future thanks to the remarkable presentation by David Goldblatt. He focused on explaining to us how national identity is declining in Brazil in particular in the context of the demonstrations which are currently taking place linked to football-related events.
Obviously the new knowledge acquired by the FIFA Master students on sport and society is not limited to this conference. We also had the opportunity to delve into the history and the birth of modern sport and to discuss its development as an international cultural phenomenon.
Moreover, each of the 28 students - from all over the world - learned a great deal from classmates. The diversity of the group and the richness of exchanges are an incomparable asset offered by the FIFA Master and prove the importance sport has gained throughout the world.
Another important thing about our stay in England: We already started working on our final project which will be presented in July. The six groups formed for the projects must now undertake research aimed at contributing to the progress of the sports industry.
The eleven weeks spent in Leicester were very rewarding. But the FIFA Master still holds many enriching surprises in store, in Milan and Neuchâtel, in our journey towards a better understanding of sport, our passion.”
After England, on to Italy for the first weeks of classes at SDA Bocconi - School of Management. Zarina Bahdur takes over from Diego to talk about that experience:
“In January, all the FIFA Master students moved on to Milan to start the sport management module. We were all very excited when we moved into our new “homes”.
From the very first hours of classes, we were confronted with the new challenges involved in the subjects taught in Italy: Leadership, marketing, finance, strategic management and soon event organisation. Moreover, thanks to carefully selected speakers, we had the opportunity to study various very important topics in more detail. The organisers of the module in Milan also gave us the opportunity to visit many of the most important sports organisations in Italy.
These visits were in fact very complementary to our classroom learning. The visits to Dallara and Ferrari allowed us to learn even more about concepts such as leadership and marketing. Also, thanks to our presence at San Siro on the day of the Champions League match between AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, we were able to observe various aspects of organisation of the event first-hand. And that is what I enjoyed most! Not to mention the moments of pure fun this sort of match can offer.
If I had to mention two other special - even privileged - moments of the module in Italy, I would say our trip to Vero Volley and our visit to Inter campus with Nicoletta Flutti.
Given that volleyball has never been my cup of tea, I was not overly enthusiastic about the idea of exploring this sport. But when we arrived at Vero Volley, I was very impressed by the quality of the management of this sports organisation and the value of its brand. Our class received a fantastic welcome. We were able to learn more about the different facets of Vero Volley and then enjoyed a delicious meal. And to crown it all, we had the privilege of being able to play a few matches on central court! As a small organisation that can be proud of its capacity to create relationships, its astuteness and common sense, Vero Volley offered us the best opportunity to learn the art of management, to discover the talents of genuine leaders as well as the passion to complete projects.
The visit to Inter campus was the second highlight of our stay in Milan. It would have been easy to impress us with the glamour, money and show that often go with the world of sport. But in fact, the programme implemented by Inter campus, that we can consider, in some aspects, as “pure magic”, reminded us that sport goes way beyond superficial appearances and that it has a much more important role to play. This project opened the way for Corporate Social Responsibility way before it became a fashionable concept. The passion and commitment of people like Nicoletta Flutti and all the members of the Inter campus team prove that this visionary programme - which helps children in need by offering them better chances in life - can genuinely and concretely make a difference and improve their daily lives and those of their families.
A few weeks from the end of our classes in Milan, we can only thank those who opened the doors to their world and allowed us to make progress in our learning process.”