Having played rugby for many years, I knew I wanted to continue during the year I was taking off work for my MBA. Spare time is precious and I knew I wouldn’t be able to commit to a new club. When looking at different schools to attend, other than being the top-ranked school in Ireland, the Smurfit MBA programme stood out because of its fantastic rugby club. The club has an enviable reputation, winning the MBA World Cup a record 11 times in its short 16-year history, competing against and beating some of the most well-known b-schools in the World like Harvard and Stanford year-on-year.
I currently sit on the executive committee with four other MBA students. Beyond playing each week with the team, we work on the successful organization of the club which includes recruiting new members, fundraising, finding corporate sponsorship and training a men’s as well as a women’s team. Currently we have over 220 members made up of students from the college and we can have anywhere up to 60 students training with us at UCD on Wednesdays. We have the makings of a great team this year and preparations are well underway for this years MBA World Cup hosted by Duke University in Virginia, USA.
Being part of the Rugby club is giving me an avenue to test some of the skills I am acquiring during my MBA. Managerial accounting helps us build better budgets and forecasts, negotiations helps us when we sit down with companies to discuss sponsorships, and leadership and personal development programmes have given me insights into my own leadership style when working with the other committee members, coaches and players. The MBA is an intense academic exercise, but applying the skills is where you get the real value.
To help us reach our fundraising goals for the trip to the US, we are running a raffle until until the 4th of March. If you are interested in helping out with our fundraising efforts, we are selling 2,000 tickets with the price corresponding to the number on ticket you commit to purchase (if you pull ticket number 1 you pay €.01, if you pull ticket number 676 you pay €6.76 all the way up to number 2,000, so the maximum you can pay for a ticket is €20.00 but it might cost only 1c!).
Prizes:
1st place is a framed, signed Irish rugby jersey from the 2015 Rugby World Cup Team including Paul O’Connell (generously donated by the IRFU)
2nd place is €500
3rd place is €250
To purchase a ticket, or if you would like to contribute to the club this year, email us at ucdsmurfitrugbyfc@ucd.ie
Dan Kinsella ~ Full-Time MBA
