Two Aztec tennis veterans traveled back to campus from their native Germany in recent months and found a lively landscape well beyond the Aztec Tennis Center.
Indra Erichsen of Hamburg appeared before a business class studying management and corporate governance. Benedict Stronk of Berlin joined classroom discussions in sports management.
“The sports MBA coordinator put together a class of a couple of my classmates, alumni,” Stronk said, “so we talked to the current class of the sports MBA for a couple of hours.
“Oh, I loved it,” he said. “We all basically talked a little bit about ourselves, about our current jobs, about our challenges we may have faced in the past, what current topics are out there. And then, some of the classmates, prepared some cases they presented.“
Stronk played on the Aztec men’s team in 2005 and 2006. His name and the name of his doubles partner, Markus Dickhardt, adorn a high wall in the tennis center.
Stronk has made a career in the business world of sports.
“I work for a professional sports agency called SPORTFIVE. I work in partnership sales. I basically acquire sponsors for the assets we work with. So, basically with professional football teams, soccer teams, basketball teams, we have cooperation with the NBA too.
“So, many different assets all around the world. We represent athletes as well as German athletes like Manuel Neuer. He’s probably the best goalkeeper in the world right now in soccer.
“We also have Alexander Zverev, currently the best German tennis player. We have a sales cooperation with him, so we represent him and we are looking for sponsors for him. He’s top 10 in the world.
One of his early jobs after SDSU graduate school was with Aztec Alex Waske in Frankfurt. His ”academy was on the sport side pretty successful already, but on the business side not so much yet. So, I created the marketing strategy, built a new website and social media channels, and communication strategy,” Stronk said.
“After I did my bachelor’s degree here at SDSU, I went to the SDSU sports MBA program, which is basically a regular MBA program but with a focus on sports, so the topics were sports-related.
And the sports MBA coordinator put together a class of a couple of my classmates, alumni, so we came and actually talked to the current class of the sports MBA for a couple of hours.
Some of the classmates also prepared some cases they presented to us and that was also pretty impressive.
“This program has a very, very good reputation internationally as well and so it was definitely great to meet all these young people.”
Asked how he chose to attend San Diego State, Stronk recalled his first steps after completing his army service. “I was looking, because I just ended kind of my professional tennis career and was thinking, okay, what’s next? And I love tennis, so my friend told me, it’s Christian Groh who also studied here. He told me ‘Listen, Benny, I’m talking to Gene Carswell, the men’s head tennis coach here at SDSU. Maybe you’d be interested in coming.’
“And then I talked to Gene. This place is amazing, so that’s how I ended up here. And we have a long tradition here at SDSU with German tennis players.”
This year, with tickets from Carswell, Stronk attended the SDSU-New Mexico basketball game with former Aztec tennis teammate, Armando Carrascosa.
Back on campus after many years out in the world, Stronk had an endearing way of describing the game, calling it “one of the coolest sports experiences I’ve ever had.”