FC Utrecht icon Mark van der Maarel studied the Master in Sport Management at Johan Cruyff Institute in 2017 and wrote this column for Telesport*
As a football nation, I have the feeling that we have been a little spoiled by the successes of the past. But they don’t offer any guarantees for the future. As a professional football player, I often see that opportunism reigns, which leads to wrong decisions from a professional point of view. Together with the emotions in the world of football, this is often labeled as a logical consequence. I think that there are number of factors that the leaders in this world should take into consideration in order to minimize this opportunism. Fortunately, I also see a trend in which gaining and implementing knowledge is playing an important role. Knowledge about this world in combination with knowledge about management and strategy is a requirement in my opinion.
I learned more about this during the Master in Sport Management at the Johan Cruyff Institute. I have gained much more insight into the sports world and I now also have a better understanding of the business side of things at FC Utrecht. This applies both within my team, in which I discover management structures and group processes, and within the organization of the club, in which I recognize structures of the policy makers.
The study was a welcome addition to my life and I think it was a nice change. The combination of studying and playing football brought balance into my life. This allowed me to put the issues of football into perspective and put them to one side when necessary. In the past, I have had trouble with that, as a result of taking my problems back home. I have played my best season ever that year!
In addition, I also felt that I could get more out of my personal development and career. I have experienced that I haven’t given this a moment’s thought during my career often enough and now I have a strong need to develop myself as a person. Besides that, becoming older probably also plays a part in this, because now I occasionally ask myself: What am I going to do after my career? A football career is difficult to plan in advance, but I want to make choices that ultimately help me in my personal development so it will be easier for me to do something else after my playing career comes to an end.
* For information about the Telesport Scholarship Campaign, please click here
Header photo source: FC Utrecht
STUDY PROGRAMS JOHAN CRUYFF INSTITUTE AMSTERDAM
- Master in Sport Management (Amsterdam, English, Start: September 2020)
- Master in Coaching (Amsterdam & Arnhem, English, Start: February 2021 – Dutch edition: September 2020)
