Chance meeting results in tennis internship and FIFA job for GU student
Published: April 25, 2025
Author: Dave Bell
For Santiago “Santi” Jaimes, a tennis internship in 2024 and an 18-month job with the worldwide governing body of soccer began with a chance meeting on the Greenville University campus.
The affable junior from Morelia, Mexico, was walking through the staging area for GU’s homecoming parade in the fall of 2023 when he spotted a woman with the same hat he was wearing.
“I like to talk with people, so I struck up a conversation with her about the hat,” Santi said.
It turned out that the woman was Jana (Tidball ’74) Spencer, wife of GU alum and board of trustees member, Dennis Spencer ’75, who was then the senior vice president of SPORTFIVE, an international athletic marketing company.
“We talked, right there by the alumni float, and he told me to send him my resumé and other information about myself,” said Santi, a double major in sport management and marketing, and a three-year member of the GU tennis team. “With his help, I got an internship at a tennis tournament in Washington, DC.
“Then, last fall, I contacted him for advice on moving ahead in my career,” Santi said. “The next thing I knew, a representative from FIFA reached out to me and asked if I was interested in talking about a job.”
He was. They did. And, after a series of interviews, Santi moved to Miami, Florida, in April, to begin an 18-month job with the Federation Internationale de Football Association, the global governing body for soccer.
As senior coordinator of client group management accreditation, he will work with other members of the association’s credentialing team to ensure that all non-ticketed individuals involved in FIFA events have the appropriate credentials.
Though Santi will be based in Miami, he will work on FIFA tournaments throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. His duties will focus on soccer clubs this summer and then national teams for next summer’s World Cup tournament.
Due to the job’s early start date, Santi had to collaborate with his professors and the GU’s records office to complete his academic work and stay on track for graduation. He plans to return to GU in the fall of 2026 for his senior year.
Santi’s path to Greenville University was blazed by his older brother, Juan Carlos, who graduated in 2022 with a degree in ag business. Following graduation, he worked in the wine business in Napa, California, and is now in France pursuing an advanced degree in the wine field.
“I’m excited,” Santi said this spring as he prepared to move to Miami. “I don’t fully know what the job will be like, but it’s a huge opportunity that came my way. My father often said that blessings are presented as friendships. Ultimately, all the glory goes to God for opening this door for me, but my friendship with Dennis Spencer played a crucial role in connecting me with the right people.
“My advice to other students is to be prepared, always do your best, and look for opportunities that God brings your way. Who knew what would come from a casual conversation about a hat!”
