Who knows if Bill Gates can slide tackle, or if Steve Jobs can stop a penalty kick. Warren Buffet may be able to bend it like Beckham, but we’ll probably never get to find out.
For some in the business community, however, soccer skills go hand in hand, or rather, foot in hand, with management and economic training.
This past weekend, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management hosted the seventh annual Anderson Club Soccer Tournament, featuring 16 teams from business schools all across the nation at the Intramural Field.
The tournament included teams from the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, New York University and Stanford University. The host Bruins were represented by two squads from the Anderson School, as well as additional teams from both the UCLA Law School and School of Medicine, the latter of which fell 1-0 to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in the championship on Sunday.
The tournament matches carry a considerable amount of intensity, as many of the players have histories in the sport.
“I played soccer all the way through college, as did many of the other players out here,” Tony Duynstee of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, said. “That makes the competition out here really strong; you’ll even see some of the classic collegiate rivalries start to manifest themselves.”
The players’ ages range significantly in age, and as Duynstee said, “It’s a great chance for older guys like me to go out there and keep playing.”
In addition to the competitive aspect, the tournament is extremely popular because of its locale.
“Teams love coming to play here at UCLA. The weather is great, and the facilities are great as well,” UCLA graduate student Deniz Kutlu, one of the event’s organizers, said.
Kutlu said that one of the major reasons the school chose soccer as the sport to host was because of its democratic nature.
“Anyone can play, regardless of size or nationality or anything,” Kutlu said. “Soccer is the most democratic game, and the most international.”
Kutlu himself is from Turkey, and many of the tournament’s other participants also hail from other countries.
Graduate student Guilherme, who is originally from Brazil and now attends the University of Chicago Booth School of Business was another of the participants from a foreign country.
“This is a very good opportunity for me to stay in shape and keep playing the game competitively,” said Guilherme, who played extensively in his native country. “The event is very well organized and it’s nice to have referees and so many other teams.”
Although the tournament is always tightly contested, there is more to the event than just claiming the championship trophy.
“The tournament is a lot of fun to play, but it’s also about networking with people from all over and meeting others in a similar field who love to play soccer also,” Kutlu said.
In times of economic turmoil, it is encouraging to know that so many future leaders of the business world are on the ball.