/ August 9, 2022/

Interview Professors – Barrie Houlihan

Professor
Ian Henry
Loughborough University (UK)

Dr. Barrie Houlihan is a professor of Sport Policy in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, UK. His research interests include the domestic and international policy processes for sport. He has a particular interest in sports development, the diplomatic use of sport, and drug abuse by athletes. He has authored

or edited twenty books and over fifty journal articles.
Dr. Houlihan has undertaken consultancy projects for various UK government departments, UK Sport, Sport England, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the European Union. He is the editor in chief of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.

Q : What was your motivation for joining this program?

The main attraction for me was the group of students that program was recruiting. The students joining the Dream Together Master Program have the opportunity to meet the group of students who have some sport management roles already or want to work in the area, but faced with such difficult challenges due to limited resources. So, the main attraction was the opportunity to become familiar with different set of management problems. And, that is the opportunity that I don’t get by going to a conference or teaching my own students.

Q : What kind of benefits do you think this program brings to students?

Being together for a year, they probably learned a lot from each other as well as from what the program has offered them. Also, one clear benefit is that they can get a degree from SNU, one of the best universities in the world. They also can develop a global network of contacts through the students they’re with, and the people they meet here. They then accumulate the knowledge and skills that hopefully make them better managers when they go back; more imaginative and innovative in dealing with the problems when delivering their sport policy. There are a number of very concrete benefits that they take away from being at SNU for 16 months.

Q : What advice would you give to the DTM students?

The advice I give to all students is that 16 months will fly by, it goes too fast and while you’re there to benefit from the teaching you receive, you need to see it as an opportunity to develop a life-long network of contents. Many of the students are in organizations where they will meet again and it becomes a part of a global network where they can continue to exchange information and continue to learn as managers. And, the network of the context here is something that hopefully they can use over and over again in their lifetime. It’s what they take away; the knowledge, the skills, network and context. That is the real richness and what I say to the students is that they need to concentrate on their studies and they need to acquire the knowledge and see this as an opportunity to develop that knowledge as managers. All these students are going to be leaders in their sports field, and they will be able to accumulate knowledge as they move through their career as managers. This is a rich opportunity not just to acquire knowledge but to acquire much more than that.