{"id":43778,"date":"2022-06-03T11:25:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T09:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cruyffalumni.org\/johancruyffinstitute-2026\/a-dual-career-for-athletes-offers-only-advantages\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:42:01","slug":"a-dual-career-for-athletes-offers-only-advantages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/the-magazine\/sport-management\/a-dual-career-for-athletes-offers-only-advantages\/","title":{"rendered":"A dual career for athletes offers only advantages"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Studying gave me a lot of tools that I could transfer directly to my career as a football player, both on the pitch and in the dressing room; a dual career for athletes is very important,” says Shay Sade, student of the Master in Sport Management<\/a> at Johan Cruyff Institute Amsterdam and co-founder of FIRSTEAM USA<\/h2>\n

Leave your comfort zone. That’s what it’s about if you want to prosper in life. It is a habit that Shay Sade<\/strong><\/a>, student of the Master in Sport Management<\/strong><\/a> at Johan Cruyff Institute Amsterdam<\/strong>, incorporated to progress as a football player in Israel, where she comes from, to combine a dual career<\/strong> as a football player and a university student in the United States. And she has continued her studies in Amsterdam, now that her days as an active athlete are over and she is aiming for new challenges.<\/p>\n

No one had to convince her that continuous education was more than just a choice, it was an extraordinary opportunity. Shay took that opportunity and left her country to broaden her horizons. In 2012, she enjoyed her own American dream: pursuing her career as a professional football player while continuing to study. To this day, it\u2019s still clear to her that this decision changed her life.<\/p>\n

“Studying gave me many tools, that I could use instantaneously in team sports,” she says about her experiences. “I could take many skills from the classroom to the sports field and the dressing room. For example, when I served as a team captain, it was important to use my communication skills that I had learned in class.”<\/p>\n

Off the field, Shay felt the importance of an education too, in her job as a project manager at the Israeli Culture and Sport Ministry office: “As a football player, you want to move forward, you want to act quickly. At the minister\u2019s office, I didn\u2019t take decisions for the 90 minutes of a football game, but for a whole season or even years ahead. You have to think about the consequences and there\u2019s much more involved. I definitely realized how difficult it is to manage the sports industry.”<\/p>\n

“At the minister\u2019s office, I didn\u2019t take decisions for the 90 minutes of a football game, but for a whole season or even years ahead. You have to think about the consequences and there\u2019s much more involved. I definitely realized how difficult it is to manage the sports industry” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their passion for sport might drive athletes, but there is a lot more at stake when it comes to managing the sports industry<\/strong><\/a>, or even when you take over leadership<\/strong><\/a> of your own career. Shay is an experienced expert who has dedicated her life to sport. She is co-founder of FIRSTEAM USA<\/strong><\/a>, a company that helps athletes combine football with studying in the US. In this interview, she talks about the importance of an education for football players<\/strong>, the position of women\u2019s football, and her own experiences in the football world.<\/p>\n

You started playing with a boys’ team. With what mentality did you, as a young girl, start playing football?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Definitely a strong mentality. I started playing football when I was six, and I played with boys\u2019 teams until the age of 14, because in Israel only at 14 were you able to transfer to a women\u2019s team. Back then, there were no youth teams, like under-19 teams, and so on.<\/p>\n

When I was a child, I didn\u2019t think about it much, but when I grew older, I realized that you need a strong mentality and a strong belief in your dream. I think this is what helped me to keep going with my football career. It was unique, with many ups and downs, but I had to stay strong, and follow the right path and keep believing in my dream. I always considered myself a footballer when I was young, and when I grew older. That helped me to get through the obstacles back then.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Shay on her times as a player of ASA Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You succeeded at different clubs and as a member of Israel\u2019s national team. How do you think women’s football has changed in recent years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would split my answer in two: in Israel and in the rest of the world. In Israel, we are still behind. It is a lot to do with the culture. In Israel, they don\u2019t stimulate girls to play football. It has got better since I was young though. Now there are teams for girls. But it\u2019s still not really accepted in Israeli culture. In the rest of the world, I am thinking of western Europe or the US, it\u2019s different. It\u2019s more common for girls to play and over the last years, a lot of clubs have discovered that it gives them a lot of opportunities \u2014both financial and social\u2014 to open up women\u2019s teams. So, it\u2019s all got better, the exposure is huge, but I think we are still missing something. There is still a long way to go.<\/p>\n

How do you remember your American experience as a player? Did you discover a new world there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An amazing world! Every time when I think about my American experience I smile. It was amazing. I loved it. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that it was okay to be a woman football player. It was very acceptable. I felt the community and the university were supporting me. There was not an issue about my gender. And I loved that, I loved America, the opportunities, the facilities in the university, and of course, the combination of studying and playing. It was very unique. I think it was a huge step in my life.<\/p>\n

“I loved America, the opportunities, the facilities in the university, and of course, the combination of studying and playing. It was very unique. I think it was a huge step in my life” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Men\u2019s football is much bigger in Europe than in the US, but it seems the opposite in women\u2019s football. How do you explain that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the main reason is because in the US, American football, and baseball or basketball, are more popular there for men. A lot of the men choose those sports over soccer. And then, what happened is that a lot of women do play soccer. If I am not mistaken, their national women\u2019s football team achieved huge success back in the 1990s. That gave them a lot of exposure. I think that is the main reason, that there are other sports that are strong in America. I mean, I had a lot of male friends that didn\u2019t even play soccer.<\/p>\n