After my bachelor studies in sports science, I could choose between two follow-up master programs at my university in Salzburg, namely Sport and Exercise Science and Sport Management Media. At this time, I stopped my active career as an athlete, which gave me a lot more time for other things. So I thought why not spend that newly available time to pursue both master programs? I clearly wanted to continue in the field of sports science, but I was interested in sports management as well and therefore I decided to go for both.
In this section, I provide a brief overview of the areas covered in the sports management studies. I also explain the reason why I completed a second management program, the certificate study European Handball Manager at the German Sport University Cologne, as an addition to the management master program.
Master study ‚Sports Management Media‘ at the University of Salzburg
As it is a follow-up master study, knowledge about certain basics is mandatory and was provided within the bachelor’s study in a few classes such as Business administration, Sports organization, Sports and law, Applied business administration, and Marketing – Sponsoring.
However, in the master study, the aim was to develop a deeper knowledge of research methods in the field of management, communication, and media, to understand strategic and operational processes in organizations, federations, or associations, and to be able to use the learned tools within those processes. My interest was throughout the whole study and still is in the area of sports management, less in the area of media, even though there is a clear relationship between those two sections. Therefore, classes like Sports economics, Sports business administration, Sponsoring, PR and merchandising, Sports policy and sports organization, Leadership and human resource management, Sports marketing, Project and quality management, Sports event management and Questions of sports law had the most of my interest. Although a lot of the content taught was very important and was also taught well, after completing all classes I did not have the feeling that I had covered all areas sufficiently to be able to work most effectively and efficiently in certain areas. To put it more precisely, topics like finance and accounting, controlling, or labor law in sports and the requirements and obligations that come with these ones, as well as several topics in the context of team sports, especially or preferably team handball, were missing for me. It is obviously not the idea of a sports management study to focus on certain kinds of sports and therefore you cannot expect or ask for that, but when you have an idea for yourself, in which sport you would like to work, then a little bit more specificity could be of interest. Of course, this should not come at the expense of the general perspective, but as I say, additionally interesting.
Certificate program ‚European Handball Manager‘ of the German Sport University Cologne and the EHF
Therefore, I went looking for an additional management course, which could provide that content. I found what I was looking for in the certificate program ‚European Handball Manager‘ from the German Sport University Cologne, which is designed and offered in collaboration with the European Handball Federation (EHF). This program is characterized by its team handball specificity, high practical orientation, and its integration of legal, economic, and media and communication aspects into the management process, which meets modern market needs in this field. Overall, it consists of five modules, Economic and legal requirements of team sport, Team sport governance and team handball management, Sports marketing and sponsorship, Financing and licensing, and Media and communication and is taught by experts in various fields. Obviously, there was a minor overlap of some topics regarding the management studies, but as I mentioned before, on the one hand, it was very interesting to approach it in the context of team handball and with a high practical orientation, and on the other hand, the previously missing areas were perfectly covered in the certificate program.
Overall, the combination of a more general and theoretical study plus the certificate program with a more practical focus on the specific sport and the demands associated with it was very valuable for me. It helped me a lot to advance my knowledge and skills from different perspectives.
