A little over a year ago, Hugo Kuipers was looking for something interesting to do in the afternoons after practice, when his wife was at work. Then a striker for Belgian club Gent, Kuipers learned about the UEFA Certificate in Football Management, an online class for footballers who might be interested in a career in football management after leaving the field.
Kuipers signed up for the course in September and started the curriculum in January. After leaving Europe to join FIRE in February, he continued with the course and plans to complete it by the end of September.
“The course started around the time I moved to the U.S., so I didn't need to be busy,” Kuipers joked to the Sun-Times. “I thought it was really interesting.”
Besides Kuipers, other well-known players who have taken the course include Spain's Juan Mata and Swiss-born Croatian star Ivan Rakitic. The class consists of 10 online modules and seven online masterclasses on topics such as the organization of world football, operational management, marketing, communication and social responsibility.
“I'll probably never be a coach and I'm not sure if management is for me, but it would still be good for me to get behind the scenes. [of soccer] “Because I want to continue playing football after I retire,” Kuipers says, “I don't know in what field, but football is my specialty compared to other fields.”
Yes, Kuipers knows a lot about football, but his job is to practice and play. Every other aspect of the sport is looked after by non-players.
Kuipers is interested in learning about that side of football, not just club management but also leagues and organisations such as FIFA and UEFA.
“After the first class on Zoom, I realized there was a lot more work to do. [soccer] “I want to see more games than just the ones we see every day,” Kuipers said. “The players are busy with daily training, and there's always another game three days or a week after one. For me, at least, we're always living in a very short time frame. It was inspiring to see how the business is run behind the scenes.”
An important part of the curriculum for players is learning the ins and outs of their clubs and completing analysis.
Kuipers took advantage of the opportunity. He's scheduled to discuss the job with Fire technical director Sebastian Peltzer and owner Joe Mansueto. He met multiple times with the sports communications staff to discuss the job and spent three hours with team president Dave Baldwin discussing the business side of the franchise.
The conversation with Baldwin was “really interesting” but “a little overwhelming” for Kuipers.
“It's hard to fit everything in. [over] “It only takes a few hours,” he says. “It's the same club but the environment and the way things work is completely different. It will be very interesting for the players to see how many people work at the club.”
Cowpers is grateful for how Fire helped him complete the class.
“One of the questions you have to answer to complete your essay is to talk about the values and vision and mission of the club,” Cowpers said. “They stand by what they say. They want great people and they have a process in place to surround that person so they can reach the best of their ability, and that's exactly what they're doing with me.”
