Scotland

26-11-2012

It has been some intense last weeks. Having exams and papers due as well as preparing for our final project has definitely kept me busy. We also had a long weekend off, where some of us went to Scotland and had an amazing time at the Scottish highlands. Some pictures from the trip can be found below. We first went to Edinburgh and I really enjoyed my time there, mostly because I enjoy the outdoors and the scenery is amazing. Edinburgh has also an international scene, which was fun to explore. We ended up having both a South African evening (their national rugby team played Scotland) and a Latin night. Some of us also went for a “hike” up the summit, Arthur’s seats, and had a stunning view of the city. Can’t wait to come back one day and tour the rest of Scotland!

Edinburgh Castle

View from the summit

Outside the castle

Read More

London 2012 Olympics - Neil Snowball

Over a year ago, when I was trying to figure out the direction of my future career path, someone asked me “nathalie, what excites you?” The question made me think, especially since majority of my life has been formed around tennis and all the decisions that I have previously been taken has been with tennis as a guiding force.
A few hours ago I thought about the same question again. What really excites me?

Today, we had a guest lecture from Neil Snowball, the Head of Sports Administration at the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where he presented the steps leading up to the London Olympic 2012 and the successful outcome of the event. The lecture began with a short opening video of the London Olympic and Paralympic games where Neil afterwards presented a very interesting overview of the games. Listening to someone that had been very closely involved with this type of major event was very inspiring and as a spectator it is sometimes difficult to realize the amount of hours that are being devoted to plan and execute larger events.

So, there I found myself understanding not only why I am part of this course, but also that I had made the right decision. Listening to Neil’s presentation made me realize where I see myself in the future and more importantly why sports really excites me! The feelings sport evokes; excitement, passion, dedication and being torn between tears and happiness are elements that make sport unique for me. Either if you are a professional athlete or a sport administrator running an event, it is the outcome of determination and hard work that makes it worth the effort, and it is this feeling that I am trying to replicate - to one day be able in my future career to evoke these feelings again!

Read More

Guest lecture from David Goldblatt

10-10-2012

“Sport is more than sport”. As David Goldblatt began the lecture with this powerful statement I was smiling and could not agree more with him. I am amused, entertained and completely fascinated about the way Goldblatt presented his lecture. Having attended a significant amount of lectures throughout my academic years, I must say that Goldblatt has been one of the most interesting and entertaining teachers.

He presented the history of the Olympic movements and later the development of football in different parts of the world while analyzing the complexity in the sporting world. I am not surprise that he had come back to teach the FIFA master class for two consecutive days this year, nor am I surprise that he is the writer of the bible-look-a-like “The Ball is Round”, which describes the global history of football. Definitely a must buy for me this Christmas!

Read More