Chapter 1
As any other kid in the early 90´s, most of my free time was being spent outside, whether playing football on the street - literally anywhere a ball could roll - or shooting baskets at some home-made backboard with a rim. At the age of 8, I joined my first basketball team and quickly became enamoured with the sport and its universal values. With 13, I became team captain, a status that I kept for 5 years as a result of my commitment, team spirit and respect for, and from, others.
Chapter 2
With 18, I decided to continue playing basketball in a level which would allow me to focus on my academic career. I started a bachelor’s degree in economics while playing in the Portuguese 3rd Division. I also represented my university´s basketball team in the National Championships and in two European Universities Basketball Championships, one as a team captain. Progressing into my master´s degree, I realized that I wanted my professional future to be about my two great passions: Business and Sports.
Chapter 3
After a learning period focused on Sports Economics, I wrote my master thesis: "The determination of professional football players´ wages”. The study invested in this project helped me to gain valuable knowledge about the economic facet of football, where I had the opportunity to develop scientific work in various topics, such as the professional football labour market, the evolution of football players´ wages, tax reforms, international migration or contract length affecting individual / collective performance.
Chapter 4
My professional career´s kick off was at the Portuguese Embassy in Tunis, while supporting the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP). After 1 year in Tunisia, I spent 5 years as a sales manager at Forever GmbH based in Germany, where I helped the company increase sales by 68%, expand customers´ network by 45% and strategically structure new international markets. During this period, I joined an amateur football team in Heidelberg, allowing me to gain practical experience of the sport.
Chapter 5
Following this enriching period as an international sales manager, I felt it was time to perfect my knowledge and gain the skills to become a recognized expert in the sports field. Therefore, I first graduated with an Executive MBA in Sports Management from the Real Madrid Graduate School, where I had the opportunity to conduct detailed research, analysis and discussions in many areas of the sports industry. Then, I specialized in Football Management and broadened my perspective about the role of a Sport Director.
Chapter 6
After my EMBA, I moved to Munich, where I am currently based, and joined SponsorUnited. My role as a sports sponsorship scout allowed me to support the international operations team, while working with all kinds of sponsorship assets from the 1. and 2. Bundesliga sports properties, such as FC Bayern München, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, SC Paderborn 07 or FC Hansa Rostock. During this period, I was able to develop my interest and gain valuable experience in such an exciting area within the sports industry.
Chapter 7
Nevertheless, "continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success", so I kept searching for new challenges to improve my technical skills and become a well-rounded sports manager. This eagerness to learn motivated me to recently accomplish a set of different programs, such as the Sports Management Seminar at Columbia University, the PFSA Football Scouting Program or the Ingame Digital Scorecard FIBA. Well, this is my story - for now. To find out more about my background and skills, please scroll down.
My Professional Experience
Sponsorship Scout
@ SponsorUnited
USA (remote) 2021-2022
Scouting a live event at Allianz Arena in Munich.
FC Bayern vs Hertha Berlin
Sales Manager
@ Forever GmbH
Germany 2015-2020
With the sales team at another international tradeshow, this time in Hamburg, Germany.
Business Advisor
@ Portuguese Embassy
Tunisia 2013-2014
Supporting the internationalization process of Portuguese companies is Tunisia.
My Academic Background
Specialization Degree
Sport Director Football
Universidade Europeia
Portugal (remote)
2021 - 2022
Executive MBA
Sports Management
Real Madrid Grad. School
Spain (remote)
2020 - 2021
Erasmus Programme
Economics
University of Warsaw
Poland
2009 - 2010
Bachelor & Master of Arts
Economics
University of Coimbra
Portugal
2004 - 2012
My Sporting Career
TSV Milbertshofen
@ Bezirksliga München
2021/22 (Germany)
TSV Handschusheim
@ Kreisliga Heidelberg
2014 - 2020
University of Coimbra
@ National Championships
2010/11 (Portugal)
Always keep playing.
No matter if the turf is artificial...
University of Coimbra
@ European Universities Basketball Championship 2007 (Switzerland)
...the match is played indoors...
Olivais FC
@ CNB1 (3rd division)
2004/05 (Portugal)
...or the weather conditions are rough.
My Skills
Creativity & Innovation
I tend to bring a creative and open-minded approach to each project, which keeps me curious about finding innovative solutions. I like to be involved in the process of improving the ways of working by learning quickly and sharing my ideas and suggestions. I often ask "why?" to understand if the original reason still applies or things may be ready to change. I also try to keep reinventing myself, as when I learned to work with graphic-design programs to better understand my clients environment.
Adaptability & Global Mindset
Since an early age I have been able to develop a global mindset by being exposed to experiences from outside my comfort zone. Being able to study and work in different countries and to manage accounts from different environments played an important role in my development as a flexible person who can easily adjust to change, absorbing all types of cultural information. The experiences from having to quickly adapt to different realities have contributed to increase my awareness and inclusiveness.
Empathy & Diplomacy
Whether in family, friends or work environment I always try to put myself in other people´s shoes so I can understand, to the greatest possible extent, what they are experiencing and their points of view. This has helped me to connect with people and to effectively resolve conflicts. Always looking for the win-win solution, I try to be tactful and patiently listen before finding the areas where people can agree. By taking responsibility I´m able to commit to less than I actually wanted if it shows progress.
Self-Awareness & Self-Regulation
Observing other people´s behaviour has always helped me to understand emotions and how important they are in every human interaction. Particularly in Sports, emotions play a major role that distinguishes it from any other industry. I spend much time reflecting on how my behaviour affects other people´s emotions and if my emotional reactions are overriding my good intentions at times of stress. I try to be confident, positive and calm while managing impulsive behaviour and not make rushed decisions.
Results Driven & Resilience
Despite enjoying structured processes I tend to be practical to get things done. During both my sporting and professional career I´ve learned that it takes a lot of focus and hard-work to achieve our objectives and, therefore, it is important to take initiative, prioritize and be decisive. In today´s pressurised world, where we need to deliver high-level performance under fast-changing conditions, it is crucial to build resilience. I try to take time to stop, reflect and rethink, to make sure I work to live and not the other way round.
Critical Thinking & Analytical
Although I trust my intuition and instinct, I try to balance my decisions by understanding the logical connection between ideas. Whether for a work project, an academic research or simply to choose my fantasy players for the weekend I try to evaluate different sources of information objectively, reflecting on my own knowledge and questioning the information presented. I like to analyse the situation using reason and logic to get to the heart of the problem and then learn quickly the best way to the solution.
