Wide World of Sports

For the sixth year, sport management students traveled to Wroxton College in Oxfordshire, England, as part of the courses SPAD4000 International Sports Administration (undergraduate) and MSA6630 Global Sports (graduate).

On the grounds of Wroxton College are, from left, undergraduate students Michael Nowobilski, Santiago Jimenez, Shane Black, Jude Walker, Peter Lee, Jacob Grunt, Jonathan Kotlyarevsky, Taniaya Morris and Jake Nemcek; graduate student Johnny Plaut; undergraduate students Reese Jones, Tyler Denner, Jacob Novick-Maxwell and Connor Dillon; and graduate student Hector Torres, University graphic designer, communications (Metro).

The group was led by Jong-Chae (JC) Kim, chair, International School of Hospitality, Sports, and Tourism Management (ISHSTM). “Sports have no barriers,” he said, “so I designed this trip in the hopes that giving our sport management students the opportunity to study abroad will help them showcase their abilities on the international stage.”

The trip only accepts 15 students to ensure strong student engagement. This year’s group was composed of 13 undergraduate students — seven from the Metropolitan Campus and six from the Florham Campus — and two graduate students from the Metropolitan Campus. “This weeklong trip offers students the chance to experience a variety of sports settings in a different cultural context, meet academics and sports business professionals active in the United Kingdom and develop a business mindset that empowers them to create opportunities for themselves,” Kim said.

The group went around London and enjoyed the sights, from left, Big Ben; Chinatown in Westminster; and the London Eye.

This year’s trip featured the addition of Manchester, which gave the group the chance to visit Manchester United and the Manchester City Football Club. “Whenever a new city is added, it brings opportunities for our students, which is truly rewarding,” Kim added. Other sites visited included Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the University of Cambridge, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, the Chelsea Football Club, the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben and downtown London.

Among the students who joined the trip were Taniaya Morris and Jacob Grunt, both undergraduate sport management students (Flor); and Johnny Plaut, graduate sport management student (Metro).

For Morris, this was her first trip out of the country. “I actually got my passport just for this experience and it was so exciting to finally use it to travel to England,” she said. “I joined the group because it was a unique opportunity to experience another culture while also learning more about the sports industry on a global scale.”

This was Plaut’s second study-abroad experience after traveling to Paris, France, in 2020 during his undergraduate years at California Lutheran University. Knowing firsthand how remarkable it could be to study overseas, he could not pass up the chance to go to Wroxton College and “learn about how various sports are represented worldwide.”

All three agree, however, that studying abroad provides an invaluable experience that goes beyond academics. “The best lesson I learned about myself is that you have to be willing to go outside your comfort zone in order to truly experience what life has to offer,” Grunt said.

It also made them realize the vast number of opportunities that the field of sport management offers. “You can actually work anywhere globally,” Plaut added.

Left photo: In the changing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are, from left, students Santiago Jimenez and Michael Nowobilski; JC Kim, chair, ISHSTM; and student Peter Lee. Right photo: JC Kim, third from left, with some of his students at the Old Trafford Stadium, home of the Manchester United Football Club, in Manchester, U.K.

For students who may be on the fence about spending a few days or even a semester studying abroad, all three believe it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance that no one should pass up. “It’s an experience that helps you grow in ways that you can’t inside the classroom,” Morris said. “The memories, lessons and connections you gain will stay with you forever.”

“In the end, you will wish you could’ve stayed longer,” Grunt added.

To offer an interesting and evolving component to the sport management curriculum, Kim has plans to expand the trip’s coverage to other cities such as Birmingham, Oxford and Wolverhampton and to another country such as France.

The next trip is planned for May 19 to 26, 2026. For more information email jckim1@fdu.edu or go to Sport Management Study Abroad.