{"id":44229,"date":"2025-10-27T13:35:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cruyffalumni.org\/johancruyffinstitute-2026\/master-in-sport-business-online-equipped-me-to-succeed-sports-industry\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:41:04","slug":"master-in-sport-business-online-equipped-me-to-succeed-sports-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/the-magazine\/sport-management\/master-in-sport-business-online-equipped-me-to-succeed-sports-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Master in Sport Business Online has equipped me to succeed in any area of the sports industry&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Paula Ram\u00edrez Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez is a Spanish artistic swimmer, a member of the national team, and a bronze medalist at the latest Olympic Games. In this interview, Paula shares her experience in the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">Master in Sport Business Online<\/a> program<\/h2>\n<p class=\"thevelop-dropcap\">At 29, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paula-ram%C3%ADrez-ib%C3%A1%C3%B1ez-oly-79a594235\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paula Ram\u00edrez Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/a> is one of the most prominent figures in Spanish artistic swimming. Throughout her career, she has won some of the world\u2019s most prestigious competitions \u2014 from an Olympic bronze medal in <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/blog-en\/athlete-development-and-paris-2024-cruyff-education-approach\/\">Paris 2024<\/a> to multiple medals at World and European Championships.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside her athletic career, Paula completed the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">Master in Sport Business Online<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/about-us\/\">Johan Cruyff Institute<\/a>. Despite her limited time due to training and competitions, she successfully finished the program: \u201cIt actually helped me disconnect a bit from the synchro world and my routines,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>In this interview, Paula reflects on her academic experience, explains how she managed to balance sports and studies, and shares her thoughts on the current state of artistic swimming.<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-video\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/3lFmDthmNuq8htpfjy1Ley?utm_source=generator&amp;t=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen> width=&#8221;100%&#8221; height=&#8221;352&#8243; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allowfullscreen=&#8221;allowfullscreen&#8221; data-testid=&#8221;embed-iframe&#8221;><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"margin-top:-110px\">What lessons from your sports career do you think are most transferable to the field of sports management?<\/h2>\n<p>First of all, since I do a team sport, organization is essential. My discipline also requires many hours of training. All my life \u2014 not only now in the master\u2019s or at university but since school \u2014 I\u2019ve had to manage my time very efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>Because I had so little time, I had to be effective. So I think one of the main things I\u2019ve learned is to make the most of my study time. It\u2019s not easy, but it has helped me a lot during the master\u2019s.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;I also think that in the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">master\u2019s<\/a> you often have to take initiative \u2014 create a company or a project, because it\u2019s much more than just taking exams.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thanks to my experience in sports, I\u2019m less afraid of challenges, so I\u2019ve felt more confident about launching new projects. And the creativity from my sport has definitely helped me too.<\/p>\n<h2>How did you manage to combine training, competitions, and academic life?<\/h2>\n<p>At first, it was a bit difficult. The first few months \u2014 the adjustment period \u2014 coincided with the Olympic year. So there were countless hours of training and a lot of physical and mental fatigue. I was exhausted, which made it hard to focus on learning new things or dedicating much time to projects and assignments.<\/p>\n<p>But honestly, I liked it from the very beginning. It actually helped me disconnect a bit from the synchro world and my routines. I used Sundays for studying; it was fun to work on projects and learn new things.<\/p>\n<p>Once I got used to the work methodology, I started to understand when I studied best. I discovered that Sunday afternoons, for example, were my quietest moments \u2014 when I was home, more relaxed, and could focus better on the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">master\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>What would you highlight as the most useful aspect for your personal or professional development?<\/h2>\n<p>Something I really liked was the encouragement of creativity. For example, when we had to do a finance or marketing project, we didn\u2019t necessarily have to analyze a specific company \u2014 we had a lot of freedom. I could choose which company to study, and I always picked projects that truly interested me.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;During these months of study, I\u2019ve taken the opportunity to read more about the Olympic Committee, which has always fascinated me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019ve also studied sports brands I admire and learned even more about them. What I\u2019ve enjoyed the most is that freedom \u2014 being able to study and develop projects in the way that best suited us.<\/p>\n<h2>Was there any project or subject that you particularly enjoyed?<\/h2>\n<p>In general, I\u2019m better at event and project management \u2014 or people management \u2014 than at the financial side of business. What I liked the most was the final project.<\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t just mean the final thesis itself, which I\u2019m also proud of, but the process. Throughout the master\u2019s, we were building a puzzle piece by piece, with each subject contributing a small part. That way, the final project was the result of all those smaller steps we learned along the way.<\/p>\n<h2>From your perspective as an athlete and now as a graduate in sports management, what do you think are the main challenges facing the sports industry \u2014 and artistic swimming in particular?<\/h2>\n<p>Although many people say that sports and politics shouldn\u2019t mix, I believe they are connected \u2014 we represent countries and have a platform to send messages to the world. In our team, we try to inspire people \u2014 to make them look at us not only for how we perform in the water but also for who we are and the responsibility we carry.<\/p>\n<p>Our sport is also fighting for equality \u2014 to include more men in the discipline. I\u2019ve learned from other federations, and I believe some of those lessons can be applied to ours. It\u2019s a large federation, but there are still many projects to develop.<\/p>\n<h2>How do you imagine applying your sports management knowledge after your athletic career?<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m very curious and like to be involved in different areas, so I\u2019m not entirely sure where life will take me.<\/p>\n<p>One of my dreams has always been to work at the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland \u2014 that\u2019s been a goal of mine for years. I\u2019m also interested in athlete management and developing my own projects, like my master\u2019s final project: a sports center surrounded by nature, combining physical activity and outdoor experiences.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is to make sports more accessible to people while integrating it with nature \u2014 another one of my passions. I think it could be a very interesting project and could become a reality in the future.<\/p>\n<h2>What advice would you give to other athletes considering studying to prepare for their professional transition?<\/h2>\n<p>Honestly, I\u2019d say that I\u2019m extremely happy with this <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">master\u2019s<\/a>. I had my doubts at first \u2014 I was worried it might be too focused on football, basketball, or other sports less related to mine.But I truly loved it. I\u2019ve learned so much.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;I was able to make the master\u2019s my own and tailor the learning experience to what interested and motivated me most. And I loved the professors.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s been a great experience, and I would definitely recommend taking this step. I feel that the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/master-in-sport-business-online\/\">Master\u2019s<\/a> has prepared me to work on any project within the sports industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paula Ram\u00edrez Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez is a Spanish artistic swimmer, a member of the national team, and a bronze medalist at the latest Olympic Games. In this interview, Paula shares her experience [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[227,228],"tags":[277],"editorial_type":[394],"class_list":["post-44229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport-management","category-blog-en","tag-interviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62912,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44229\/revisions\/62912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44229"},{"taxonomy":"editorial_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial_type?post=44229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}