Tag: sport

“I am the master of my destiny. The captain of my soul”, as Nelson Mandela said, quoting “Invictus”, a wonderful poem composed by the Englishman, William Ernest Henley. During Madiba’s 27 years of imprisonment, this almost became a mantra, which enabled the South African activist to resist abuse, representing that indomitable soul capable of inspiring millions of people around the world. It is a phrase also taken up by Clint Eastwood in the homonymous feature film, Invictus (2009) [Italian title: Invictus – L’invincibile], in which the story of Mandela is intertwined with that of François Pienaar, captain of the South African national rugby team which won the World Championship in 1995.

Because sport, at every level, has always been a reason for union capable of smoothing out conflicts, overcoming hatred and flags and uniting 43 million people to push their team to beat the “invincible” All Blacks. This is a pattern that has also been repeated on the occasion of Euro 2020, for us Italians a source of great pride thanks to the victory of the national team coached by Roberto Mancini, which represents yet another confirmation of the power of sport, capable of uniting different countries through the first touring European competition.

The 51 scheduled meetings were organised in 11 cities, thus promoting a spirit of sharing which, almost magically, connected Rome with Baku, London with Bucharest, St. Petersburg with Amsterdam. It was an opportunity, also a particularly critical one given the health situation, but which constituted an added value in terms of communication, exporting (also) architectural, engineering and management expertise thanks to the acknowledged visibility of an event with such a following.

In this sense, iconic sports infrastructures such as Hampden Park (Glasgow, 1903) shared the stage with the latest generation of stadiums, establishing a partnership between commemoration and innovation, the latter highlighted by Euro 2020 due to the top-level facilities. By now fundamental issues such as sustainability, considered in the tout court sense, have for example formed the basis of the renovation of the Johan Cruijff Arena (Amsterdam, 1996), currently a real energy hub for its city, or the leitmotif of the entire area in which the Allianz Arena is located (Munich, 2005).

For this reason, alongside Italy, it is almost natural to consider also winners of Euro 2020 the 60,000 spectators who filled the Puskás Aréna (Budapest, 2019), the thousands of people who walked the Olympic Way to Wembley Stadium (London, 2007), or the spectacular vitality that has, since the opening match, illuminated the Foro Italico, where countless tricolours were waved and then, in an unforgettable European evening, featured on Wembley’s arch, able to break into the London night as a radiant symbolic manifesto of the tenacity demonstrated by our country to get out of the pandemic crisis.

Because ultimately, recalling some of Nelson Mandela’s words, it is values, identified in team spirit, in the will to rise again from difficulties, in the ambition to conquer something and even in adapting, that give sport the difficult mantle of inspirer.

This is regardless of the athlete’s talent, which must always be driven by “a desire, a dream, a vision” as the great Muhammad Ali maintained. Someone  ̶  like Madiba  ̶  who was capable of personifying the deepest essence of being a sportsman, not only during those unforgettable encounters, but also – and I would say above all – because of the strength he demonstrated in Atlanta ’96, when, his body now weakened, he still found the will to thrill millions of people, as if to reiterate one of his sayings: “Impossible is not a rule, it is a challenge.”

Bearing this in mind, the Master in Design Construction Management of Sports Infrastructure which I attended, and which is organised by the Politecnico di Milano and MIP, does in fact place sport at the centre of its programme, considering sports practice as an expression of this added value: the transversal nature of passion and sporting values combined with a high level of scientific and multidisciplinary training which offers a highly prestigious educational spectrum and, at the same time, professional and personal satisfaction.”

 

About the author

Luca Filidei After graduating from the Politecnico di Milano as an architect, I obtained a University Master’s Degree in Design, Construction and Management of Sports Infrastructure at the same institution. I carried out research and assisted the Milan City Council on the occasion of the participatory budget. Since February I have been writing articles on sports infrastructure for the web magazine Calcio e Finanza [Football and Finance].

 

 

Infrastructures can no longer be conceived exclusively as theatres of sporting feats but must be seen as active elements within a social, economic and cultural fabric. This is explained by Emilio Faroldi, director of the Master in Sport Design and Management

Not only the stage for memorable athletic accomplishments, but also places able to enhance the context out of which they arise, with positive repercussions on a social, economic and cultural level.  It is the future, and in some cases the present, of sporting infrastructure. «But sports today are not only major infrastructure or the monument to high-level competitive events: it’s everything that shapes young people both in terms of character and physically.

This is why the culture of sports is essential. And managing sports is an extraordinarily complex job» explains Professor Emilio Faroldi, director of the Master in Sport Design and Management and Vice Rector of Politecnico di Milano.

But what does managing sports mean?

First management, then design

«It means approaching the management of facilities not only from a technical point of view, which is still fundamental, but also from a process perspective», explains Faroldi. «In other words, a manager today must be able to immediately incorporate aspects of a management nature in planning issues, trying to anticipate and prevent problems.

Think about big events, like the Olympic Games or major football competitions, like the  World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. «In most cases, the creation of sports infrastructure translates, immediately after the event, in it being abandoned. Sometimes as early as a few weeks after the last competition. To overcome this problem, we need to start to think about sports not as an event, but as an ordinary element. We need to look beyond to the future», explains Professor Faroldi.

Between emotions, experience and sharing

Those who are involved with sports management today also cannot ignore its methods of use, even and especially digital ones. «The first aspect is tied to the growth of eSports. In Asia there are already arenas that host gaming competitions, and many football clubs have teams of gamers. The second aspect instead involves the way we experience events. Sharing of that experience on social media is one of the aspects that pushes people to experience that same moment live. This is especially true of the new generations, but not only». Sports infrastructure thus becomes a space for sharing an experience to which emotions are inevitably tied. «We aren’t attached to the aspect of a structure, but to the emotions we have experienced within it. Of a stadium, we have at heart a suffered victory or an evening tied to a concert. It’s a parameter that shouldn’t be overlooked when we talk about the management of sports infrastructure».

Competitiveness requires competence

These are only some of the aspects that show the complexity and the strategic importance of sports and its structures, which therefore requires the training of professionals aware of the numerous implications tied to this field. The Master in Sport Design and Management, offered by Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with MIP, has exactly this goal: «Italian sports can no longer allow itself an empirical approach. It is a mistake to only let athletes enter sports management. Instead, we are interested both in people with technical training and those who come from other sectors like economics, law or design», clarifies Faroldi. «There are many job opportunities. Think about the stadium operations manager or about infrastructure project managers and facility project managers who dedicate themselves to sports as a vehicle for social inclusions. Figures that become essential in an increasingly competitive global context, and to which clubs must look, if they want to create structures able to bring economic benefits that are not limited to single sporting events».