Maties Sport Concludes Second Successful Internal Sport Management Workshop Series
Maties Sport recently wrapped up a successful 2025 internal workshop series that was aimed at students involved in the leadership structures of various sports codes and residence committees. The workshops, which ran from 21 February to 23 February, was designed to equip students managing sports clubs and activities at Maties Sport and within the residence clusters with essential leadership, governance, and administrative skills.
This was the second edition of the workshop, with the first taking place last year from July to September. The primary goal of the series was to foster the professional growth and sustainability of sports clubs. By the end of the workshops, participants were expected to gain proficiency in several areas:
- A deeper understanding of sport governance and administration.
- Enhanced knowledge of sport management and leadership.
- Improved skills in resource management.
- A heightened awareness of safeguarding practices in sport.
- Increased understanding of inclusivity and active lifestyle for all students.
- A greater grasp of media and communication strategies.
- Practical experience in project planning and managing volunteers.
Donny Jurgens, Director of Dynamic Development Solutions, emphasized the importance of empowering student sports leaders: “The importance of capacitating student sports leaders cannot be underestimated. Although their time at the university is relatively limited, they can make a significant impact while here, both on student sport and helping to identify and develop the next layer of leadership.
Far more importantly, we are preparing them for the rest of their lives. What we manage to get across during these training sessions could benefit whatever role they play in sport in the future. The topic I cover, Safeguarding, is of utmost importance. It is about developing policies and taking action to keep all who participate in sport free from any forms of harm or abuse. In our training, the students recognized that harm is happening in student sport and sports leaders have a responsibility to act. Now, it is up to the students, with our support, to ACT,” he encouraged.
Sherin Simon, Industrial Engineering student and Maties Women’s Cricketer, also shared her thoughts on the workshop series: “The Maties Sport workshop series was a great learning experience that improved my understanding of sports club management. Each session provided valuable insights on resource management, safeguarding, gender equity, and leadership.
Sitting with sports leaders from different clubs, sharing ideas and engaging in discussions made it even more enriching. I especially enjoyed the media communication and leadership sessions, which gave me practical skills to promote my club and lead more effectively. Overall, the workshop deepened my understanding of sports governance and inspired me to contribute more to the SU sports community and my peers in my club,” she expressed.
Head of Sport Management Reggie Smith shared the importance of the workshop of our students in sport leadership structures. “Sport clubs are the foundation of sport; club committees are vital in delivering on the strategic objectives of all clubs therefore it is critical that we develop the right capacities for our student club leaders. It is important to help our club committees to understand good governance, equip them with leaderships skills and sports management structures/systems. I enjoy these kinds of workshops to help further develop sport leaders with the right skills and tools to make an impact on the greater Maties Sport,” he said.
No stranger to leadership structures Alok More, Chairperson of Maties Esport gave his key takeaway from the workshop stating that his lesson was how to appropriately manage club resources against student expectations while ensuring student success and having a competitive edge as a club.
Erin Powers, who is studying BA and the current Vice-Chairperson of Maties Basketball was also grateful for the opportunity to learn saying: “It was an awesome experience, I have a lot of colleagues who are part of the first roll out of the workshop last year, I was very excited for the opportunity to be involved this year. It has been super informative on many levels throughout various sports leadership applications but it’s very helpful information beyond that, going forward into my career and into leadership in general. Thank you to Maties Sport this opportunity!”
The workshop series concluded with participants presenting their Capstone projects, showcasing innovative ideas for our various sporting clubs to grow and expand. The initiative hopes to expand this year, with external workshops to be held in the near future. Stay tuned for more details.
By Kimara Singh