With the presence of Johan Cruyff and special guest Jordi Villacampa, the 2014-2015 students of the Master in Sports Management and the Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Marketing, Sponsorship and Football Business celebrate their graduation party
The Johan Cruyff Institute has concluded another academic year with the celebration of the 2014-2015 graduation ceremony. A total of 43 students from 10 different nationalities received their diplomas in Barcelona from the hands of the founder of the institution, Johan Cruyff, in an act of celebration that had as its guest of honour Jordi Villacampa, the former international basketball player and now president of the Club Joventut Badalona, who was also a student of the first Master in Sports Management class in 2005.
“The worlds of sport and of management have many things in common – discipline, effort, commitment, competition, the pressure to get results and, above all, passion. The Masters and Postgraduates that you have completed have given you the knowledge so that you may, from now on, have the confidence to face these challenges. All that is left for me now is to congratulate you and wish you luck in your new stage”, said Jordi Villacampa, before Johan Cruyff addressed all those present with these words of recognition and inspiration: “I created the Institute 15 years ago, and a lot of people were very critical of my idea that athletes could study. For some, it is strange that I have dedicated myself to the academic world considering that I did not finish my own training. But I thought it was unfair that athletes never had the opportunity to access a business school or university that could help them. And every time I see a new generation of athletes and managers receive their diplomas as you are doing today, I see clearer that we doing a good job”.
The meeting between the students who chose the online mode with their fellow students who shared a classroom was, as every year, a special moment. It was the first time they met but, as Johan reminded them, it might not be the last. “Now you are part of the great Cruyff Institute family. Remember that you should also count on each other from now on. Stay connected.”.
Interaction and networking between students and teachers, all of them working professionals in the world of sport, is one of our strengths. The graduation of the students at the Johan Cruyff Institute in the Netherlands on 19 June was the beginning of the celebrations of this academic year. After Barcelona (30 June), it will be the turn of Mexico (8 August) and then Sweden (10 December).
