Natalie Barlow has graduated with the highly esteemed UEFA Certificate in Football Management, becoming the first African woman to successfully complete the management course.
Barlow is the marketing brand manager at Cape Town City Football Club (CTC FC).
She began her journey over a year ago, in August 2019, with an induction at The UEFA academy followed by an official seminar in Nyon, Switzerland, where UEFA is headquartered. A series of seminars and lectures came thereafter at Wembley and London stadiums, both in England.
They were not spared by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and for the first time, UEFA introduced a 100 percent virtual UEFA champions league match day requiring all participants to come together and run a complete match day.
Barlow graduated on Sept. 26, joining the UEFA Academy alumni family, with a certificate that provides her with “skills, tools and techniques to take my off-field skills to the next level. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and experiences with everyone at our club and the rest of the South African football fraternity,” she said to Germistone City News.
She also acknowledged that for soccer stars to shine on the field, there is a team that works tirelessly to make things work on and off the field, and they should be appreciated
The UEFA Certificate in Football management class of 2020 had participants from 22 different countries, coming from varying positions in the football industry. They had an online e-graduation.
Phoebie Shamiso Chigonde is a journalist passionate about gender equality, social development programmes and grassroots-based solution seeking initiatives. She has a passion for women and community development. Phoebie is also a radio personality at a regional commercial radio station, a platform that enables her to network with like-minded women, journalists and activists as she continues to document and tell the story of the ordinary woman from the lens of that very ordinary woman.