“When you get a groove going, time flies…”

The sun played hide and seek with us through the month of May with extended spells of rain and grey clouds over quaint Neuchâtel. They also say that these are the times that seem the longest. However, to us, the month of May zipped past us, just like April and quite like what we have now come to expect June to be.

This could be attributed not least to the fact that the classroom was filled with lectures and discussions on topics that held everyone’s attention such as Governance, Anti-Doping and Dispute Resolution, Bidding and Hosting of Events. We also had two very entertaining round table discussions on Governance and Anti-Doping which helped the class share and discuss its views on key topics relating to the issue.

Another feature of May was us waking up when the sun’s rays were yet to reach the shores of the lake, putting our business suits on and trudging (or in many cases sleep walking) down the path to the “Beaulac” or the boarding point for our many field visits to Lausanne, which is quickly becoming our second home in Switzerland. The first field visit in May was to the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. After an introduction to the confederation, we were split into different teams where we had to simulate a Champions League game and deal with different problems that arose between the two days prior to match day and the post-match press conference. It was an intense and stressful two hours, but enjoyable all the same, and helped us appreciate all the work that takes place “behind-the-scenes”. We also visited the IOC, the Olympic Museum and the Olympic Studies Centre, which allowed us to complement all the lectures relating to the Olympic Games we had previously had from our days in Leicester with Prof Lanfranchi to the bidding and hosting of the Games with Prof. Oswald this month. Our third field visit was to FIBA, the “House of Basketball”, where we learned about the digital, media and sponsorship strategies of the federation, as well as the increasingly popular game of 3x3 basketball, which has recently been added to the Tokyo 2020 programme.

If we were mentioning it in April, we had to start taking it head-on in May. In addition to the Career Day, which included one-on-one sessions with Cedric Le Nest from Sport Business Talent, we were very lucky to participate in the first edition of iWorkinSport Job Fair in Lausanne, organised by “FIFA Master” alumni Joao Frigerio and the support of CIES, which presented us with the opportunity to meet recruiters from some of the most renowned sports organisations in the industry. This was followed by an entrepreneurship workshop run by various “FIFA Master” alumni who provided us with some very inspirational first-hand accounts of FMA entrepreneurship. We also finished the day with the “FIFA Master” version of the ‘Dragons Den’, with the class being split into groups to present our business ideas to potential investors. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the dragons of the day, Alex Proctor-Pearson, Martin Kaswurm, and Veronika Muehlhofer, who travelled to Neuchâtel and conducted the session for us, despite their busy schedules.

Last but not least, we all understood why Premier League managers often complain about fixture congestion, as we played as many as four games in the space of seven days! Unfortunately, our congested football calendar led to an increasing number of injuries and subsequently, May was not the best month in terms of sporting results, with one win (against IOC), one draw (against AISTS) and two losses (against TEAM Marketing). However, we also had the opportunity to participate in an interfaculty tournament in Le Stade de la Maladière, which allowed us to experience what it is like to play for Neuchâtel Xamax.

The month of May also saw the first of the ‘lasts’, which saw us wrap up our last formal classes as part of the law module. While we know June is going to bring with it many more ‘lasts’ as well, we do hope it also drops by with loads of sunshine, opportunities and memories.

Shoko Tsuji and Srinivasan Saimani

Class Representatives for the Law Module

 

“When you get a groove going, time flies…” - quote from Donald Fagen