{"id":44241,"date":"2025-12-12T13:54:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T12:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cruyffalumni.org\/johancruyffinstitute-2026\/master-degree-in-sports-management-profile-athlete-marketing-professional\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:42:29","slug":"master-degree-in-sports-management-profile-athlete-marketing-professional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/the-magazine\/sport-management\/master-degree-in-sports-management-profile-athlete-marketing-professional\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe University Master\u2019s Degree in Sports Management allows me to complement my profile as an athlete and as a marketing professional.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Susana Torres Arenas is a student of the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">University Master\u2019s Degree in Sports Management<\/a> at Johan Cruyff Institute in collaboration with Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, and at the same time she competed in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, which took place in Marbella<\/h2>\n<p class=\"thevelop-dropcap\">Balancing a <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">University Master\u2019s Degree in Sports Management<\/a>\u00a0with preparing for a World Championship <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/blog-en\/gonzaga-rubiera-ironman-the-sports-industry-discovering-new-things\/\">IRONMAN<\/a> is not common, but for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/susanatorresa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Susana Torres Arenas<\/a> it was the most coherent way to bring together her two worlds: sport and marketing. Her time at <a href=\"\/johancruyffinstitute-2026?page_id=41528\">Johan Cruyff Institute<\/a> coincides with one of the most important challenges of her sporting career.<\/p>\n<p>After successfully completing the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/blog-en\/gonzaga-rubiera-ironman-the-sports-industry-discovering-new-things\/\">IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship<\/a>, which took place in Marbella, Susana explains the reasons that led her to study the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">master at Johan Cruyff Institute<\/a>, and how she combines her athlete profile with student life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-video\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vb1ggjcP0c4?si=o2DJz38GsY3d76zu\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen> width=&#8221;560&#8243; height=&#8221;315&#8243; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allowfullscreen=&#8221;allowfullscreen&#8221;><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>You come from the world of communication and marketing. What made you take the leap to the <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">University Master\u2019s Degree in Sports Management<\/a>\u00a0at Johan Cruyff Institute?<\/h2>\n<p>I have a background in communication, but sport management covers many other areas.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that to work in the sports industry you need to understand different fields, such as finance or human resources. I also believe that Spain is a great place to learn about the sports industry \u2014 it\u2019s a growing sector with a long tradition.<\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">master<\/a> attracted me because it includes many topics I wanted to learn about that I couldn\u2019t find as easily in Colombia.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;Currently I\u2019m here studying this master because it\u2019s the best way to prepare myself for the sports industry&#8221;.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>What motivated you to come study in Barcelona and how has your experience living and studying here been?<\/h2>\n<p>I had always wanted to live in Barcelona \u2014 it was one of my biggest dreams for a long time. I have family here, and a few years ago I came on a trip and remember thinking that I wanted to live in this city someday and study here.<\/p>\n<p>And now I\u2019m fortunate to be living in this city, studying something I\u2019m passionate about and that will help me grow professionally.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s an incredible city, a place that truly breathes sport, where sport feels like a lifestyle and not an obligation. I\u2019m very happy to be here.<\/p>\n<h2>What attracted you most to Johan Cruyff Institute?<\/h2>\n<p>What attracted me most \u2014 and one of the main reasons I heard about <a href=\"\/johancruyffinstitute-2026?page_id=41528\">Johan Cruyff Institute<\/a> \u2014 is that a friend of mine had already completed the same <a href=\"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/programa\/university-masters-degree-in-sports-management-barcelona\/\">master<\/a> and really enjoyed it. Word of mouth is very important because I was able to hear about the experience firsthand. But even before that, I already had great references.<\/p>\n<p>I knew it was a very complete program, that covers very different aspects of the sports industry. And now that I\u2019m studying it, I can say that the in-person experience adds even more: you meet people from different niches who share a passion for sport.<\/p>\n<h2>You completed the 70.3 World Championship in Marbella. What role does sport play in the way you learn?<\/h2>\n<p>Sport plays a very important role in the way I learn, in the way I live and work. I\u2019m lucky to work on topics related to sport, specifically triathlon, which is what I practice. And when I found out that the World Championship was going to be held here in Marbella, in Spain, I said to myself that I had to do everything possible to qualify and come study this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;So that was my life plan for this year: to race the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship and start studying the Master.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I believe sport teaches you a lot; it gives you structure, which is the best tool we can have, because triathlon consists of three disciplines and that means organizing your time to train, study, work, and keep a balanced lifestyle.<\/p>\n<h2>You\u2019ve experienced sport from the inside, as an athlete and as a marketing professional. How do those two perspectives complement each other?<\/h2>\n<p>Understanding how the world of sports marketing works and having firsthand experience as an athlete is something you don\u2019t learn in a classroom.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"sht-blockquote alignleft\"><p>&#8220;I think I learned very well how to put myself in the athlete\u2019s shoes when working in marketing \u2014 and also the other way around.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This Master allows me to complement my profile as an athlete and as a marketing professional.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re two things that complement each other and allow me to connect much better with sporting events and brands, and to build good relationships with athletes as well. I really enjoy finding the balance between those two worlds because sometimes I\u2019m happy to be at an event as an athlete, and other times I love being on the organizational side, in logistics, communication, and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m very fortunate to have turned my passion into my job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Susana Torres Arenas is a student of the University Master\u2019s Degree in Sports Management at Johan Cruyff Institute in collaboration with Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, and at the same time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,227,228],"tags":[],"editorial_type":[400],"class_list":["post-44241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-sport-management","category-blog-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44241","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=44241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62547,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44241\/revisions\/62547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44241"},{"taxonomy":"editorial_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial_type?post=44241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}