Since 2011 the World Academy of Sport has been running, in affiliation with and accredited by Royal Holloway, University of London, the Postgraduate Certificate in Sport Management, giving participants the extra edge they need to take their career to the next level. Now welcoming participants for intake in September 2013, the programme is completely dedicated to the sports industry, providing a unique, in-depth understanding of the dynamic global business model of world sport, which contributes to making the industry so exceptional.

Rick Hastie, Finance & Data Officer for the International Cricket Committee (ICC) has been involved with the programme since early 2012. “I’d heard of [WAoS] for a number of years through the ICC. Directly, I began to get involved at the beginning of last year, starting doing some research on [the PGC in Sport Management] and thought it would be a good thing for me to do.” So, nearly 18 months since WAoS became a part of his working life, has he benefitted from the programme? “The clear tangible benefit would be the project that I have just done. This was tailored to the European members that I work with, and was very relevant to the work I do with the ICC. “Another benefit is that you get to see unique examples of other sports and see how they are achieving their goals, which is all transferable to what I do here at the ICC.”

The first alumni event takes place today (13^th June) and is hosted by the ICC at the Oval cricket ground in London during the Champions Trophy match between England and Sri Lanka. It is a great networking opportunity for all participants, where new contacts can be made and existing relationships reignited. It is a fantastic opportunity to bring together the different intakes and provide further benefits for the graduates. Rick is someone who has already benefitted from the contacts made during the course. “The relationships I have built with the individuals from the course have been invaluable and not just in terms of help throughout the course. I’ve been in contact with a few of them [afterwards], bouncing ideas off them, hearing their opinions and seeing how their sports deal with issues that I’m facing.”  The aforementioned intake also includes people from many different sports and organizations and backgrounds including basketball, rugby and the International Paralympic Committee, and consequently offers participants a unique insight into the inner workings of such organizations. 

The attendees’ areas of expertise cover a wide spectrum of sports and roles within their respective sports and students typically have an existing professional background in their sport. Therefore knowledge, advice, opinions and ideas that are shared throughout the programme by not only lectures but students themselves are practical, relevant and insightful.

Says Rick: “I would definitely advise others to join the programme if they wanted a senior management or leadership role in sport. A lot of the time the jobs that we do can get channelled down and just stick in our particular areas in day-to-day work, so it’s a great opportunity to get insight into other sports and other organizations. So, in that respect it has been a great benefit to my career, giving it that extra competitive edge.”