Hibs' Paul Hanlon could not turn down degree opportunity as doors open for when retirement comes
So it is understandable that Paul Hanlon is, quite rightly, proud of his achievements in graduating from Edinburgh’s Napier University with a BA in Business and Enterprise in Sport, and collecting the class medal of recognition to mark outstanding academic performance.
But, it isn’t the immediate gratification that matters most, it is what the course offers him when considering a future beyond his playing days.
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Hide Ad“In terms of the modules, I liked a leadership one and one on stress, performance and behaviour as well which was really interesting,” said the Hibs captain. “There was a lot I could relate to in my job in football just now and those were the ones I thought would relate to the coaching side of it. And then there were the modules like accounting which focused on the business side and opened my eyes to the other side of sporting organisations.
“One of the modules was performance, stress and behaviour. I learned a bit about how different people behave, how it can effect you. I really enjoyed it because you can relate it to the pressure environment of playing in football. I’m not sure if I’ll adapt the way I behave, too much, but it was nice to learn about it. There are a lot of high-pressure environments in football, playing against the top teams, getting to the latter stages of cup competitions – it does become stressful and obviously being at a big club like Hibs brings its own pressure, so it’s something you have to deal with.
“I think I now have more respect for everyone, more awareness about different roles in the club. It’s easy to just be in your own bubble as a player. But this has opened my eyes to the whole way the organisation works, from the football department out to the wider club.”
It has also opened up various career routes after he hangs up his boots. Admitting it has piqued his thirst for knowledge, after leaving school aged 16, he is already in the midst of the Applied Football Management course at Napier University as football coaching remains his primary aspiration looking forward.
“I kind of split the course in half, with half on the coaching pathway and half on the business side but I want to give coaching a bash to begin with,” continued Hanlon. “I’m doing it one night a week in the academy. Until you practice it enough, you’ll never know if you’re any good at it – so I’ll give it a bash and see how it goes.”
But, graduating with distinction, he has proved to himself and others that he is willing and able to learn and improve. And, even if the graduation ceremony did not quite hit the levels of a cup presentation at Hampden, the joy, pride and relief of such an occasion were echoed. “It wasn’t quite at that level but it was a lot bigger than I expected. I was quite oblivious to it all, I thought I was just turning up to a presentation but it was more grand and a lot more formal. My wife and my mum were there, so it was nice to celebrate with family.”