Two UCFB students had a weekend they’ll never forget by attending the finals weekend of the French Open in Paris.
UCFB Wembley BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing students, Joe Enright and Joe Thompson, joined UCFB academic Deepak Trivedi at Roland Garros and watched first hand Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in the men’s final to make history and become the first player to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time since Rod Laver in 1969.
The pair were also there to see Spaniard Garbine Muguruza upset Serena Williams and win the first Grand Slam title of her career.
But they weren’t there just to watch the tennis. The purpose of their visit to the second Grand Slam of the year was to analyse the culture of the event and how it’s organised, as well as assess the event’s sponsorship, marketing, and fan experience.
The experience for both students came about thanks to Deepak and his role outside of UCFB as an international tennis consultant.
Over the weekend the students were also chronicling their experience via Snapchat, and saw one of their posts reach an incredible 3.5million people after Snapchat posted it on their ‘Novak Makes History’ story.
Joe Thompson said: “My experience at Roland Garros was special and something I have to thank Deepak and UCFB for. From it I have gained a better understanding of future technologies that are being introduced into sport, and ideas that could also be transferred to different sports. It also gave me a great chance to see personally how a major sporting event runs and the amount of organisation that has to go into such events.”
Joe Enright added: “A loyal tennis supporter may go a lifetime without ever experiencing a Grand Slam event, let alone finals weekend. With the help of Deepak and UCFB, Joe and I are now able to tick this historic event off of our list. To attend a Grand Slam event is one thing, but to be able to experience first-hand the fan engagement activities around the Roland Garros grounds prior to the tennis was a great insight, and offered an alternative way of thinking. It was extremely inspiring and motivating to experience such an iconic international event alongside Deepak, who gave Joe and I an amazing insight into the industry which we are aspiring to work in.”
Speaking on the weekend in Paris, Deepak said: “This was a successful event in which the students were able to speak to some industry professionals and further their knowledge in areas like fan experience, social media and international event management. They were also able to soak up the Parisian culture and of course had an amazing time watching the finals.
“They were both fortunate and appreciative to receive this experience and did UCFB proud. The fact that their Snapchat video had three and a half million views was astounding!”
