End of a Module: Reflections on Leicester

Looking back to when I met my classmates for the first time at Heathrow Airport, I can assuredly say that I had no idea what we were about to experience. Regardless of the thoroughness of the introductions and orientations, we couldn't have anticipated how much we were going to mature and experience in the short three months we spent in Leicester. Speaking personally, I emerged from the first module a different person than I entered. In a way, the subjects covered in the sub-modules reflect our personal development along the way as well: birth of modern sport in England, professionalization of sport, internationalization, and finally research methods.

In September, we were brought into this adventure in England, the birthplace of modern sport. As we came to learn and live through site visits and guest speakers, sport in its current version is directly attributable to Victorian invention. In embarking on this journey with the study and site visit to Wimbledon, we were able to get an overview of what lay in store for us during the humanities module. When we looked at Wimbledon, we began with the creation of tennis, incidents that resulted in professionalization, and the internationalization of the sport. Moreover, we were also able to understand the concepts that awaited us in Milan by studying business topics such as marketability, competitive advantage, media relationships, and sustainability.

Soon after our presentations on Wimbledon, we delved deeper into England as the birthplace of modern sport. In line with how we began our programme with tennis, we didn't zone in purely on the history of football but rather other sports too such as cricket, baseball, American football, and especially rugby. The deeper we went into the origins of sport, the less the differences between the individual sports came to matter. The thread of relevance between sports was made visible to us. As aspiring future managers of sport, we realized that  when it comes to solving the important questions in the sporting world, we can learn from other sports within the industry as a whole.

The module of professionalization of sport was truly eye opening as well. Given that some of my colleagues and I had never been introduced to certain sports such as rugby before (which only became fully professional as recently as 1995) professionalization was something I took for granted in modern sport. We studied areas such as the driving factors and social conditions that catalyzed the shift from amateur to professional across the board of the different sports. The seeds of fundamental principles of sport such as fair play, competition, and sporting rules were planted and nourished by Victorian England. One cannot fully understand the impact of these concepts without knowing from where these modern strategies of sport management arose.

The internationalization module showed us why it is so valuable to us that the course takes place in three countries. With international competitions and organizations positioned as one of the defining characteristics of modern sport, sports have come to earn an increased importance in international affairs. As future sports professionals, it is imperative that we have a firm grasp on this concept. Studying in different cultures and countries gives us the opportunity to personally experience cultural differences, collaborations, and more.

To close out the first unit, we had an intensive research methods sub-module where we formally faced our final project for the first time. After an intensive survey of academic articles, we presented our proposals to members of the scientific committee. Following questions, feedback, and suggestions, we documented the completion of our Leicester unit with the above photograph from our very last day of the module.

As we enter the second module of the masters program in Milan, I have a feeling that again I can't begin to imagine the challenging yet spectacular experience that awaits us. I do know, however, that my classmates and I are ready to seize this opportunity.

By Marianne Cornejo, class representative in Leicester for the 15th edition of the FIFA Master