This month, we feature Felipe Bertazzo Tobar, Assistant Professor in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management Department at Clemson University. His research interests explore sports’ relationship with tourism, heritage, events, politics, coaching, and virtual and mixed-reality tools. he holds a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from Clemson University, a Master’s in Cultural Heritage and Society and a Bachelor of Law and Social Science from Univille University in Brazil. He is a Research Member of the Clemson University’s Virtual Reality and Nature Lab. He is also the founder of Football Studies YouTube Channel and the Head Coach of the Clemson University Paralympic Soccer Program (Since August 2021). Felipe was Assistant Coach of Daniel High School Soccer Varsity Program (January 2021- May 2024), 3 times state champions.
How long have you been at Clemson and how did you get here?
I have been a faculty member at Clemson since the Fall of 2023. However, my professional journey started a couple of years before that. From 2018 to 2023, I completed my doctoral studies here, which made me well-acquainted with the university’s campus, resources and community. So, when I received the offer to be a tenure-track member at the PRTM Department, it was an easy decision to stay “home.” As an interdisciplinary scholar, Clemson has been an ideal environment to launch my faculty career. I have been fortunate to build collaborative relationships with colleagues across different departments, such as Communications, Bioengineering, Athletic Leadership, Geography, History, and Marketing, to engage in research around soccer. Equally important in my decision was Clemson University’s growing commitment to internationalization. The opportunity to expand my research globally and contribute to initiatives like study abroad programs and institutional partnerships to offer students unique experiences was also crucial.
Tell us about you your work with at Clemson, and what aspects are you most passionate about?
At Clemson University, my work in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) is divided into three core areas: research, teaching, and service. I am equally passionate about all three, as each provides unique opportunities for learning, connection, and impact in my life. My research explores the intersections of sport (mainly soccer) with tourism, heritage, politics, and virtual and mixed-reality tools. Since joining the faculty in 2023, I have developed three primary lines of scholarly activity. The first focuses on critical sport heritage studies, particularly how European football clubs promote or marginalize their difficult pasts linked to 20th-century authoritarian regimes at their museums and stadium tours. Recently, I published my first academic documentary on this area, “The Match That Not Every Club Wants To Play,” which takes viewers to Spain and Germany, focusing on the cases of Real Madrid CF and FC St. Pauli, currently available on my Football Studies YouTube Channel. Moreover, this semester, in partnership with colleagues from Clemson University and North Carolina State University, we launched a research collaboration to uncover the difficult heritage of Southern football college stadiums, specifically to understand how and why universities and athletics departments promote or suppress their difficult heritage linked to the Jim Crow Laws Era (1877-1960). A second focus of my work is influenced by critical tourism studies and sheds light on the touristification of European football clubs, including understanding the socio-cultural and economic impacts tourists bring to locals’ match-day experiences. This work highlights the tensions between global tourism and local football cultures. The third strand of my research centers on soccer coaching and player performance. I am a fellow of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, which supports an interdisciplinary project I lead in collaboration with Dr. Tyler Harvey (Department of Bioengineering) and Dr. Lucas Ayres (Princeton University), titled “From Virtual Pitch to Performance: Developing More Effective and Inclusive VR Soccer Training Experiences.” The project involves four Creative Inquiry undergraduate and master’s students and is conducted in partnership with both the Clemson University Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams. Together, we integrate virtual reality technology, EEG monitoring, and AI to examine how athletes engage with VR training tools. Our ultimate goal is to understand how cognitive and perceptual skills developed in virtual environments can transfer to on-field performance, helping players get better and soccer coaches to consider more effective training methodologies.
In terms of teaching, I currently work on a 2-2 load and am responsible for two core undergraduate courses: Sport Tourism and Events (PRTM 3470) and Perspectives on International Travel (PRTM 4470). Since my appointment, I have also taught several other courses across different levels, including Global Soccer, Climate Change, and Environmental Sustainability in Spain (PRTM 3500), The Profession and Practice in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management(PRTM 2000), Program and Event Planning in PRTM (PRTM 2220), and Creative Inquiry: VR/EEG/Soccer (PRTM 3890/3891). At the graduate level, I teach Understanding the Discipline of Tourism (PRTM 8420). My teaching philosophy defends that teaching is a collaborative partnership between teachers and students, where learning flourishes through dialogue, critical inquiry, and shared experiences. Inspired by psychologist John Flavell’s metacognitive approach and the pedagogies of Experiential Learning, Critical Thinking, and Kindness, I strive to cultivate independent critical thinking while constantly facilitating active engagement and real-world experiences beyond the university walls.
Service is also an important and meaningful component of my role, involving a variety of positions and commitments. At the University level, I remained the voluntary coach of the Clemson University Paralympic Soccer Program, a position I have held since 2021. Furthermore, I am the “Academic Advisor of the Para Soccer Organization,” supporting their efforts to raise awareness about disability inclusion on campus through soccer. I also serve as a voting member of Clemson University’s Commission on Latino Affairs and a Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute fellow. At the department level, I serve on both the Graduate Student Committee and the Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee. Beyond Clemson, I contribute to the academic community as an Associate Editor for Leisure Sciences and as co-editor of the upcoming special issue Sporting Venues as Tourist Attractions in the Journal of Sport & Tourism, alongside Dr. Greg Ramshaw (Clemson University) and Dr. Sean Gammon (University of Central Lancashire). Finally, I played a lead role in helping establish a new academic partnership between Clemson University and Universidad Europea Real Madrid. This collaboration allows students to study abroad in Madrid and enables joint teaching and research initiatives between faculty at both institutions.
How do you manage your time to balance teaching/research/service with your personal life?
Learning how to balance work and personal life is definitely not an easy task, but a necessary one. A particular challenge is that I built my career around my biggest passion: soccer. Because my research, teaching, and service revolve around it, it is often easy to lose track of time. I would be lying if I said that does not sometimes mean late nights in the office or giving up a few weekend hours. I have developed a habit of intentionally prioritizing what is truly urgent and important to manage this. At the end of the week and the end of each day, I plan what is coming next in terms of priority. I have disciplined myself to carve out space to recharge, especially after long writing sessions, fieldwork, or back-to-back meetings. I have a television at my office to watch live soccer, which is turned on when I need a break. Finally, and perhaps even more importantly, when my wife gently reminds me that I have been working too much, I take it for granted. It is clearly a sign to change my routine and decisions around what is indeed a priority.
What advice would you give to first-year assistant professors?
While I have no regrets about my decisions until now, I would advise every new faculty member to follow opportunities that align with their core values and life passions, learn how to say no and decline collaborations when those will not be fulfilling work.
What resources, tools, and programs at Clemson facilitate your success as a faculty member?
I found support from the PRTM Department to implement experiential learning opportunities for our undergraduate students, such as study trips to stadiums and museums, and to bring industry leaders as guest speakers into the classroom. The Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation (OTEI) has also been helpful through its workshops by promoting intentional spaces to become better teachers and reflect upon our pedagogies. The Office of Career and Global Engagement has also been a great partner, especially when implementing the international collaboration with Universidad Europea Real Madrid and organizing study abroad programs. The library constantly supports my work by granting access to publications from all over the world. Finally, the Athletics Department has also been extremely helpful in opening its doors for research activities.
How do you see your department, college, or university evolving in the next 5 years?
Clemson University’s new motto of “Fiercely Forward” reflects, in my view, a commitment to becoming both a globally engaged and locally grounded institution while keeping students’ growth and success at its core. At the college and departmental levels, there is a genuine effort to grow our research numbers and impact while enhancing the student experience. Within the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, I am especially excited about the growing enthusiasm for sport-focused coursework and the meaningful partnerships we are building with professional sports organizations, both in the U.S. and internationally. Looking ahead, I am optimistic that over the next five years, we will see Clemson’s Tiger Paw increasingly visible at major sporting events worldwide, not only through high-impact research collaborations but also through our alumni making their mark in the global sports industry.
More information about Dr. Tobar
Want to know more?
If you have any questions regarding this post, please contact:
DR. CARLOS D. GARCIA
Faculty Fellow, Best Practices in Faculty Reviews
Office of Faculty Advancement
cdgarci@clemson.edu
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