Alumnus of the Month: June 2022

Carlos Sabugueiro is our Verulam School Alumnus of the Month for June 2022.  Carlos left Verulam School as a student in 1984 and is now retired.

Please tell us a little about yourself – where do you work and how did you get into this role?

I am currently the co-founder and co-owner of a Padel tennis business called Game4Padel ( www.game4padel.com ). Padel is the fastest growing sport in the world at this time, and we are looking to develop and launch as many clubs/courts as possible across the UK, so we catch up with the rest of Europe where it has already exploded. Padel is a mixture of tennis and squash – it is easier to pick up quickly and accessible to all ages. Having resided overseas for nearly 20 years, when returning to live in the UK I wasn’t ready for full retirement; I had become a Padel fanatic in Dubai and sought to indulge my passion and bring the sport to the UK, where it was relatively unknown still.

What are some of your proudest achievements since leaving Verulam School?

I guess I am proud of what I achieved in my corporate life, being the CEO at various companies and leading/launching businesses across the world, managing many people from different walks of life, culture and religion. These experiences have shaped me and I will always look back proudly on how I developed as I worked and lived across Asia and the Middle East.

What advice would you give someone looking to follow a similar career path?

Two things that I have always held as critical in life are:

1 – believe in yourself; don’t worry about if you are liked by everyone, as that will always create situations where your natural tendencies are compromised. If you are happy with who you are, then be that person to the best of your ability, no matter if it isn’t always popular or if it might make others dislike you.

2 – Always go for it – I applied for many jobs/promotions that were 2/3 levels above where I was at the time; I didn’t often get them, but occasionally I did ! Even when I was unsuccessful, I learned and improved my ability and I was better the next time; it also made HR and/or the bosses, know that I had the confidence to try and ambition to achieve and progress. Your name is your brand; market it, develop it get it out there so people know what it offers.

How have your experiences at Verulam School contributed to your life and successes since leaving school?

I look back fondly on my years at Verulam and am proud to have schooled there. I still have a group of friends from my class/year and some of us meet up regularly, with our kids becoming friends now. We organise annual get-togethers also, which is always so much fun.

What House were you in at Verulam School and can you describe one of your fondest memories?

I was in Churchill, the best house obviously.

I have two great memories. One was the day that ‘Bullet’ retired and he made the whole school shout out his nickname

The other would be the fact that in the latter years, Mr Clayton made us call out our names as we did the register each day and we would try to do it as fast as possible. This led to us all knowing the register off by heart, and I am sure all of us could still do it now – check this out: Adams, Ashton, Barnard, Barnes, Berry, Berryman, Bullock, Crompton, Deane, Dodds, Doran, Fisher, Henry, Humbert, Jackman, Kent, Lucock, Martyn, Maslin, Newton, Parsons, Pocklington, Sabugueiro, Salter, Shepherd, Souch, Townsend.

What’s next?

I am loving being back home and living close to where I grew up. St Albans is a lovely City. Semi-retirement is fun and it gives me the freedom to follow and support my kids in all they do, in and out of school.

I am becoming a Magistrate, to use some of my time to help the legal system cope and hopefully we can continue to bring Padel tennis to as many venues as possible and see it enter the Olympics in 2028. That would be a great achievement.

We love hearing what our alumni have been doing since leaving Verulam School. Each month, we are inviting a member of our alumni community to share their story of life after Verulam. If you’re an alumnus who would like to take part, or you’d like to volunteer an alumnus that you know, then please drop us an email at alumni@verulam.herts.sch.uk.