History

From 19.08. to 01.09.2013, the first international sports management summer school took place in the capital of Russia. This event, sponsored by the DAAD, was organised by the Chair of Sports Management and Health Economics (University of Jena) in cooperation with the Financial University of the Government of the Russian Federation (Moscow). Two weeks of summer school turned into an unforgettable event for both the participants and the lecturers. A total of 22 business and economics students and graduates from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Vietnam took part in it.

The programme of the summer school consisted of several components that were coordinated in terms of content: On the one hand, there were courses that combined theoretical lectures with practical exercises. These lectures and practical seminars were held by an international team of lecturers consisting of leading scientists from various German and Russian universities. Besides, there were exciting lectures dedicated to the current practice of Russian sports management. The highlights include, for example, lectures by well-known experts such as Alexander Dzhordzhadze (Head of the Organising Committee FIFA World Cup 2018), Anatoliy Vorobiev (General Secretary of the Russian Football Association RFS) and Valentin Balakhnichev (President of the Russian Athletics Association).

In addition to the theoretical content and practical exercises, the summer school also included numerous excursions to sports organisations in Moscow and the Moscow region (e.g. National Olympic Committee of Russia, FC Lokomotiv Moscow, Arena Khimki, Olympic Stadium Luzhniki, etc.). In addition, a cultural program with a focus on “Germany” was offered to the participants in the summer school. The highlights of this program were the excursion to the German embassy and the visit to the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce Abroad.

In May 2014 and 2015, a total of 14 students from Niagara University in Lewinston (New York, USA), accompanied by Dr. Rachel Madsen took part in the Jena Summer School. This gave them a comprehensive insight into the various areas of sports management in Germany. After several days in Jena, during which the students attended theoretical courses, witnessed a football game and visited local attractions, they drove on to Berlin and Frankfurt in 2014 and to Nuremberg, Munich and Frankfurt (in 2015), where more sporting, cultural and historical sites were visited.

The highlights of the summer schools include the following stops in the excursion program: 

• Visiting the Olympiastadion Berlin, Commerzbank Arena Frankfurt and German Olympic Sports Confederation
• A lecture on personnel development at Adidas
• FC Carl Zeiss Jena vs. Rot Weiß Erfurt: During the Thuringia derby, the students experienced the unique stadium atmosphere and became fans of the FCC themselves.
• A visit to the office of the handball club "Füchse Berlin", Olympic Stadium in Munich and the Allianz Arena in Munich

The cultural program also included a bicycle tour and a walk around Jena, a city tour of Erfurt and a Segway Tour of the Old Town of Nuremberg, a visit to the Palace of Sans-Souci and the Bundestag, a tour of the Berlin Wall, and much more.

The Chair of Sports Economics and Health Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena carried out the project of the international summer school in cooperation with the State University for Physical Culture of the Ural region in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The project was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). A total of 90 participants from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine took part in the two-week educational project.

During the three summer schools in Chelyabinsk, the participants received extensive knowledge in the fields of sports management, sports marketing and sports economics under the guidance of an international team of lecturers. The theoretical classes in those three fields covered the topics that, firstly, contained fundamental knowledge and, secondly, were highly relevant in science and practice. In addition to the theoretical part of the course, excursions to the most important sports facilities in the Ural region were carried out. For example, the Summer School delegation discussed management issues as part of the guided tours to the "Traktor" ice arena, the "Rifej" equestrian center, the Olympic judo base and the sports school of the Olympic Reserve Taekwondo "Koreo".

Lecturers from Germany and Russia led the teaching process. From the German side, the following lecturers were present in Chelyabinsk: Prof. Dr. Frank Daumann (University of Jena), Prof. Markus Breuer (SRH University in Heidelberg), Prof. Dr. Peter Thuy (Bad Honnef International University) and Prof. Dr. Christoph Rasche (University of Potsdam). Some of the teaching units were also given by Russian speakers. Two lecturers from the State University of Physical Culture of the Ural region, Efim Zhidelev and Maksim Karpov, were involved. Furthermore, there were special practical lectures by Russian sports managers: Kristina Putilova, Olga Schreiber (both HK Traktor) and Elena Kolossova (2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships). In addition, Kora Maurer, lecturer at the DAAD in the Ural region, presented Germany as a location for education and research as well as the activities and scholarship programmes of the DAAD in a separate event.

An exciting cultural programme was also provided for the participants in the summer schools. Several guided tours to the places of German history in Chelyabinsk were carried out. Furthermore, the programme included visits to several museums: the Skoblikova Museum of Speed Skating, the Museum of History of UralGUFK and Olympic Glory, as well as the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals, where the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite is exhibited. In addition, when visiting some sports facilities, participants also got to try curling and horse riding. Especially memorable events were an introduction to ethno-national sports in the Ural region and visiting the opening game of the Continental Ice Hockey League, which took place in Chelyabinsk in one of the most modern sports arenas in Russia.

In Kazan (Russia), where the 2018 World Cup came to an unexpected end for the German national team, the Summer School project of Friedrich Schiller University Jena "Sports Economics & Management"was accomplished twice (2018 and 2019) in cooperation with the Volga Region State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism (Kazan, Russia). 

During the two-week course, an innovative teaching concept was used, successfully combining theory and practice and providing access to the latest standards in sports management. As in previous years, both summer schools in Kazan were held with the financial support of long-time partners: the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Over two years 60 students from different cities of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Germany and Italy took part in the summer schools.

The summer school program included many new topics such as sports betting, digitalization in sports and economic analysis of the fitness market with exciting practical assignments. The summer schools in Kazan were also attended by Russian specialists in sports management. In addition, numerous excursions to Kazan's sport venues played an important role. The participants visited the "Kazan Arena" football stadium that hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup; rowing and swimming center of Kazan; Ice sports complex "Zilant"; Kazan Tennis Academy; gymnastics association of the Republic of Tatarstan; Badminton Center; the office of WorldSkills Kazan 2019External link, Red Bull Air RaceExternal link and many others.

The participants also traveled to Innopolis. This city, which focuses on information technology development, was founded in 2012 and is a special economic zone in Russia. It is called the "Russian Silicon Valley" and a place where many modern sports facilities and sports startups are based. During the tour, participants were able to discuss all questions they were interested in with experts and try out many innovations in practice. Besides, participants of the course had an entertaining evening in a German bakery in Kazan. During the evening they were able to socialize in an informal atmosphere and get acquainted with the peculiarities of German cuisine.

After a year's break, the DAAD Summer School of the Department of Sports Management and Health Economics (the University of Jena) in cooperation with the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism took place for the third time in Kazan from August 16-29, 2021. As the epidemiological situation did not allow the participants to come to Kazan, the summer school was held on the online platform Zoom. The score: 14 days, 5 lecturers, 24 participants from 10 countries and 3 continents, 9 online excursions, as well as a lot of new knowledge, contacts and various impressions.

The learning process was led by five renowned German lecturers: Prof. Dr. Frank Daumann (the University of Jena), Prof. Dr. Christoph Rasche (the University of Potsdam), Prof. Dr. Benedikt Römmelt (SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg), Dr. Norbert Schütte (the University of Mainz) and Dr. Gerald Fritz (Director of the German Olympic Academy). It is thanks to their theoretical knowledge, practical experience and creative approache that the bridge between theory and practice was successfully built despite the difficulties of the online format. In addition, the participants took part in a total of nine virtual excursions in Germany and Russia! They got acquainted with a number of Kazan sports facilities and visited several sports organizations in Germany, where they exchanged views on the organization-specific aspects of sports management with their leaders and staff:

• Nürburgring (Germany)
• eSports performance center (eSport-Rhein-Neckar / TSV 1895 Oftersheim e.V.)
• University Complex of the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism (Kazan)
• Kazan Tennis Academy and Badminton Center
• Deutsche Bank Park and Eintracht Frankfurt Museum (Frankfurt a.M.)
• Federal sports and training center for rowing sports (Kazan)
• Palace of Water Sports (Kazan)

The participants also visited Berlin and Bonn and learned about the eventful history of these two cities. Our guides provided particularly exciting impressions when they showed the 17th century Bonn city guard and the remains of the Berlin Wall at the 'East Side Gallery'. As part of the 'German Evening' at the end of the summer school, the participants took part in a virtual cooking class, where they not only learned to bake a delicious Thuringian onion tart, but also talked about German cuisine and culture and tested their knowledge of Germany in a quiz.