Alberto Talavera is the new manager of the AEGG, an association that brings together the directors of golf clubs in Spain. With a career of more than twenty years in sports club management, event organization, and more than ten years in research and university teaching in the field of sports management, Talavera faces this new professional challenge with enthusiasm, with the intention of helping the development of an association that aims to provide tools to club directors, facilitate their personal and professional development, give prestige to the profession and contribute, with all this, to the development of golf in our country.
Alberto Talavera has a degree in Physical Activity and Sport, AMP management program from IE Business School, PhD in Business Strategy, and a track record of more than twenty years in various management positions in multinationals in the sports facilities sector, prestigious sports clubs and sports-related associations.
This extensive curriculum has been one of his main assets when he was selected, through an external human resources company, for the position of manager of the AEGG.
He himself tells us how he is facing this new professional stage at the head of an organization that brings together nearly 300 golf club directors.
“I have been working and training for more than 20 years to help in the professionalization of sports management. I firmly believe in the importance of having trained and prepared managers, capable of adapting to the continuous changes that today’s society demands of us. In this sense, I believe that I fit in the project of this association that seeks to promote, develop and represent the profession of director or manager of golf clubs and golf courses. An association that, in addition, brings together great professionals and has a board of directors with very ambitious strategic objectives. It is, therefore, a perfect opportunity to link management and teaching, my two main areas of expertise.
-What do you think the Association and Spanish golf club managers expect from you?
What I can contribute, in addition to the illusion and the desire to make the project much bigger, is an experience of many years in the field of sports management, both in private companies and in other non-profit companies, such as associations and clubs, including the Valencia Tennis Club, a prestigious entity with more than 5,000 members and 115 years of history. In addition to teaching in several university centers in the field of strategy, business plan and human resources, a particularly important experience in this case, taking into account that training is one of the pillars of this Association.
I consider it very positive to combine this experience in companies and clubs with academic training, because I believe that the union between theory and experience is key to face the constant changes that globalization forces us to face.
It is essential to seek solutions for projects, listening to and working with other sports associations and other areas, putting into practice the model of generating opportunities through innovation, anticipation, adaptation and action.
-You have practically just begun your work at the head of the Association, where do you want to start?I believe that the serious health situation in which we find ourselves makes union and teamwork more necessary than ever in order to overcome this crisis. That is why it is important listen to all partners, and that is what I have started to do, in order to analyze their needs and expectations and therefore be able to provide the best solutions.
It is important to improve training opportunities, communication and the possibility of sharing experiences among associates.
Ultimately, we want to help managers to have more resources to manage the different stakeholders around them and to adapt to the changing and, right now, complicated situations in which they find themselves involved.
-You come to this Association at a particularly complicated time for many of the Spanish golf clubs, especially those more focused on tourism. Do you think that the Association can help the clubs to get out of this complicated situation? Are you considering any specific action in this regard?
-We are all aware that this healthcare situation has changed and will change many things. From the Association we are going to try to offer tools so that managers feel supported to face the complicated situation that we are facing from different points of view. The Association can and should be the place that serves as a support and a nexus of union for all its associates.
Communication, networking, sharing of solutions, support for digitalization, training in different aspects… are initiatives that we are already implementing for this purpose.
We have a great strength in this respect: I believe that there is no other sports sector in which management is in the hands of such competent and highly trained professionals.. Therefore, the possibility of collaboration among all is absolutely positive.
– Do youthink that the relationship and joint work with the rest of the associations and management entities in the golf sector will also help to overcome this situation?
I am fully convinced that the union of the sector is the best alternative and it is essential at this time that all members of the sector: players, clubs, associations, federations and administration work together.
Similarly, if we join forces with other sports and bring in the tourism industry to fight for common interests, we will achieve much more for golf and for each of its members.
-For those who are not familiar with them, can you summarize the Association’s fundamental objectives and your most imminent plans to achieve them?
-The Association’s main objective is to organize, promote, develop and represent the profession of director/manager of golf clubs and golf courses.
Some of its strategic objectives are training and professional preparationWe will work to promote a series of training seminars, congresses, educational programs, promote a job bank, etc.; improve communication between associates, and to communication among associatesThe new web platform, whose address is www.aegg.org, allows the management of all the needs of our Association and provides various services to each of the associates, services that we will also increase, both in quantity and quality, so that they feel the support of the association at all times.
There are many other plans, including collaborating with the best professionals(headhunters) to improve employment opportunities, both from thefrom the perspective of both managers and clubs, and to enhance institutional relations, strengthening the link with the Spanish Association of Golf Clubs, the Spanish Association of Golf Clubs, the Spanish Association of Greenkeepers, the PGA the link with the Spanish Association of Golf Clubs, Spanish Association of Greenkeepers, PGA, Federations,
Administrations, etcetera, to support the development of the golf industry.
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Alberto Talavera, a brief summary of his educational and professional background
Training
Degree in Sport Management (Universidad Europea de Madrid)
MBA (Fundación Universidad Empresa)
Advanced management Program (IE Business School)
Master in Sports Management (UCV)
PhD. in Business Strategy and Intelligence (UCV)
Executive Program: ABC of Strategy (EDEM Escuela de Empresarios)
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Career Path
Founder and coordinator of the Group of Managers of Major Sports Clubs (Valencia, 2012-present).
Managing Director of the Valencia Tennis Club (2008-2020)
Manager and organizer – BBVA Open Ciudad de Valencia (2016-2019)
Virgin Active Director (Valencia, 2004-2008)
Assistant Manager Holmes Place (Madrid, 2001-2004)
Store Manager at Decathlon (Madrid, 2000-2001)
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Teaching experience
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia – Professor of Master’s Degree in Management of Sports Entities (2010 – present)
Universidad Europea-Real Madrid – MBA Professor of General Management (2019-present).
ESBS-Valencia CF – Professor Master in Sports Management (2017 – present)
EDEM (School of Entrepreneurship) – Sport Focus Program & MBA Professor (2018 – present).
VIU (Inter. University of Valencia)- Professor Master’s Degree in Sports Management (2017 – present).
UCV-INEDE Business School – MBA Professor (2015 – present)
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About the AEGG (Spanish Golf Managers Association)
The Spanish Association of Golf Managers was born in 2009 with the aim of working towards the professionalization of the golf club managers sector, improving their training and joining positions. It has more than 250 members.
As a member of the Club Managers Association of Europe, it provides Spanish managers with the courses established by this association and by the Club Manager Association of America, in addition to facilitating networking and collaboration with other managers from around the world.
The consulting service and the sharing of information among associates is one of the main values of the AEGG.
Caption: Alberto Talavera, together with Enrique Gil Octavio de Toledo, president of the AEGG.
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