Entrepreneurship, A Team Sport

High school students spent the week learning the fundamentals of starting a business during a FIFA World Cup soccer themed camp hosted by the No. 1 ranked Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and C. T. Bauer College of Business Undergraduate Business Programs.

Nearly 30 students from across the Houston area attended the four-day business camp. For the week, the participants are treated like entrepreneurship students in the prestigious undergraduate cohort, experiencing similar lessons and projects.

In addition to identifying dreams and values, students were assigned soccer-themed products to transform into businesses. From eco-conscious team scarves to an AI match predictor app, students worked in small teams to develop business plans and presentations.

“We want to expand entrepreneurship within the city of Houston,” Director of Community Outreach Danna Ceron (BBA ‘20) said. “The goal is for high school students to learn what our Wolff Center students do: to take an idea, turn it into a business and take it to market.”

During the camp, student attendees heard from a panel of FIFA World Cup – Host City Houston representatives. Ceron said it’s valuable for students to understand the business components that go into running one of the world’s largest sporting events, and to have the opportunity to network with its leaders.

“It changed my perspective of soccer hearing about all that goes into it, as opposed to just watching as a fan,” camp participant Dennison Vallejo said. “They told us about how it takes up to 10 years for a city like Houston to get ready for the World Cup. There's a lot of preparation to make sure everything goes right.”

After their first meeting with FIFA, the students got an exclusive early look at the FIFA Fan Festival Houston and a tour of Houston Stadium. In between practicing some soccer and exploring the museum-style displays in Houston Hall, they learned about the logistics behind the Fan Festival.

“What surprised me was how they designed the Coca-Cola benches,” camp participant Jasmine Jimenez said. “They were originally blank, but they found creative ways to work with the contract.”

On the last day of the camp, students combined all that they learned in their final team business plan presentations. The winning team consisted of David Bolanos, Angel Delgado, Ahmad Islam, Rayshawn McCray and Daniela Rodriguez.

Students Freddy Milton, Daniela Rodriguez and Aanika Varma were named the camp’s best presenters.

After finishing the camp, students said they feel more inspired toward a future of entrepreneurship and see it in a new light.

“I feel like what we learned could be applied to life outside of business,” student Mishti Sutaria said. “We learned if you write down your dreams and you remind yourself of them, it sets you apart from the crowd and you can more easily achieve them.”