Diego Fernandez
MSc Project Management, 2008
Country of origin: Spain
Employer: Everton Tigers Basketball Club
I completed my MSc Project Management degree at Lancaster in 2008, and am now a coach at Everton Tigers Basketball Club. The club was formed in 2007 through the 'Everton in the Community' charity and the team is second in the British Basketball League, the equivalent of football’s Premiership.
I'm responsible for coaching, training and scouting for the men’s professional team. I'm also head coach for women’s basketball, and project co-ordinator for Everton Tigers’ Hoops 4 Health initiative.
I originally trained as a basketball coach in Seville and got involved with Toxteth Tigers (now Everton Tigers) when I was taking my undergraduate business management degree in Liverpool. When I started my postgraduate degree at Lancaster, I would come back every weekend to coach the Tigers. Now I’m a full-time coach, and am working with some of the game’s highest-profile players as well as children aged 10 upwards, while also having the opportunity to expand our work with schools and the community. Basketball has embraced race and diversity – it’s more socially inclusive than football – and Everton now has the UK’s largest programme of basketball development.
My MSc Project Management degree really opened up doors for me. I wanted to study project management because the modules we cover, such as project planning, scheduling, stakeholder management and reflective practice, can be applied anywhere – at home, or in a £100 million project. Everyone I spoke to said that if I got the chance to go to Lancaster than I should take it, and I’ve been able to apply the skills I’ve learned directly to my job at Everton Tigers.
Time management in my current job is particularly important. I work 9am-6pm most days, plus weekends. I can be coaching the men’s professional team in the morning, then talking to local school children about healthy eating, no smoking and the importance of fitness and exercise in the afternoon. It is a great job, but you do need organisation.
