Gerke Deekens completed the Sport Management Fundamentals online course in 2017, which prepared him to start the Master in Sport Management
Gerke Deekens (picture) is an educator at Snowsports Academy and at the Austrian ski instructor association, where he provides practical and theory lessons for ski instructors. Before that, he was for many years a ski coach and trainer, for which he had to be abroad a lot. Therefore, he did not really have much time to study. “I felt the need to gain more insight into the commercial sports world so that I could better understand how decisions in sports organizations are taken. But I hadn’t studied for years,” Deekens explains. “That’s why it seemed like an ideal step for me to start with an introductory course first, and that’s how I ended up doing the online course Sport Management Fundamentals.”
A logical choice, because studying online offers a lot of flexibility. “During the course, I worked in Austria as a free ride coach, and I had to work long days. It was therefore difficult to schedule time to study. As a result, the online course was perfect for me, because I could organize my own time. As a practical kind of person, online studying was hard at first, but the online learning environment — in which there was a lot of contact with fellow students and teachers — helped me with this.”
“The online course is a nice tool to better understand sports organizations or your own organization.”
In 2017, Deekens completed the online course. Did he gain the knowledge he hoped for? “Yes, for sure. The course is a nice tool to better understand sports organizations or your own organization. I’ve learned a lot about decision-making. In my coordinating role, for example, I regularly have to deal with taking financial decisions. From a practice point of view, I often have other motives for decisions than the owner or someone who is financially more educated, but through the course I’ve learned to think more from the leadership role. Many decisions are made that people in the workplace will never see.”
“My interest in the sports industry was only strengthened by the course”
The skiing fanatic became inspired by the online sports program and decided to take a next step. “My interest in the sports industry was only strengthened by the course. After completing the online program, I started the Master in Sport Management, which is being given in Amsterdam. The way of teaching appealed to me, and that’s what made me decide to continue. I really liked the transition to on-campus studying,” says the coach. “The level is a lot higher, but because it advances more slowly and there is more face-to-face communication, I noticed that I was growing into the habit of studying. I particularly liked working together in a team. The online course was a very good entry for me, especially since I hadn’t studied for a long time. By first doing the course, I learned to look at the sports world with different eyes, which I can now use during my Master’s degree.”
STUDY WITH US
Visit the web pages to find out about these upcoming online study programs:
- Course in Sport Management Fundamentals (Start: March 5, English)*
*If you are interested in the Dutch edition, start: Feb. 26, please click here. - Course in Football Business Fundamentals (Start: March 5, English)*.
*If you are interested in the Dutch edition, start: Feb. 26, please click here.
Johan Cruyff Institute offers these programs on campus in Amsterdam:
- Master in Coaching (Start: February 23, 2018, English)
- Master in Sport Management (Start: September 2018, English)
