The Studying Abroad Sports Experience

By: Alana Meraz

In October 2019, I took a chance on myself and my career. I packed up my belongings and moved 5,000 miles away to Barcelona, Spain. 

But how did I get there? 
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It was my sophomore year at Arizona State University. I had never studied abroad. Between family, not wanting to miss sorority events and my friend’s milestones, I never had the chance. Here it was; a semester-long course about sports, politics and culture in Barcelona that ended with a trip over spring break. Sign me up! It was my first time going on a trip alone anywhere let alone Europe. I was fortunate enough to have made a friend in the class and we booked our flights together, we almost boarded a plane to Berlin during our layover in Texas, but aside from that it was easy breezy. From the moment I landed I was in love with the city, the food, and the people. We were even able to attend the second leg of the Champions League game against PSG where FC Barcelona won 6-1, INSANE! Once I got back home, I knew that I wanted to return long term. 

Two years passed, I was about to graduate and it was time to pick what was next. I knew I wanted to go to grad school and that I wanted to go outside of Arizona. But it didn't stop there, I remembered how badly I wanted to experience living in a different country. So I started researching sports management masters programs in Spain, particularly in Barcelona, and along came ISDE, Higher Institute of Law and Economics. One student visa, no predetermined place to live and three flights later, I was back in Barcelona. 

It was the first day of school and we were asked to meet at Camp Nou for orientation. I walked in and all I saw were boys, thinking maybe my female classmates might be running late or missing the first day for unknown reasons, I kept my cool. When we were instructed to sit down for the presentation, I realized I was the only girl in the program. The first couple months were hard, I had always been around girls, both in my social and work life. Adding this with the usual feeling of missing home, my family and friends, this was going to be interesting. Then again, I prided myself on forcing my friendship on just about everyone in my life. A few dinners after class and a lot of coffees before class later, I had a group of 5 guys that I would consider some of my closest friends. As time went on, I basically became one of the boys. In regards to school, my classes changed every day. Each class was taught by a different professor who was involved in the sports industry. Most were lawyers, some worked for teams or leagues, and a few were even from the U.S. I learned a lot in the six months I was there, both in education and in life. Some of my main takeaways were how different the sports industry is outside of the U.S. From the lack of youth athletic programs in Europe and the way trades take place to stadium rules and supporter culture. 

The highlight of my time spent in the program was our week long trip to Switzerland. During our time there, we were able to visit FIFA headquarters as well as FIBA. As a kid who loved to watch the FIFA World Cup every four summers, this was surreal and definitely my favorite part of the trip. The FIBA headquarters even had a basketball hoop outside and a lot of odes to the game, the building is shaped like a hand when looking from an aerial perspective. We also visited the Court of Arbitration and the International Olympic Committee. The overall trip was great. I got to visit a new country and experience snow for the first time! This was one of the last things we did together as a class… a few weeks later we were all going home due to COVID-19.


I had a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Barcelona will always have a piece of my heart.

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