Thank you Rob Steed for inviting ProDataStack to our first ever LAPS: Life After Professional Sport event yesterday, and thankfully it won't be our last - we're already looking forward to being with you at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford Football Club.
The event gave us the opportunity to show the #football stars of the future, the role that #data should play in their lives as they develop - our objective for the event well and truly ticked ☑️
However more then that, it made me feel really proud to see so many organisations in one room - including Rob and his team - providing services and products aimed at ensuring young professional athletes get the support, mentoring, and knowledge they need so they can fulfil their on-field ambitions without losing sight of their off-field potential.
Shout out to just two of the many - Danny Elliott of Footballers Property Group and his brilliant plan to ensure young footballers earning their first "wad of cash" have an easy route to follow into the property world, and to Daniel Jolley and League Football Education, teaching me about the programmes they put in place.
I started learning about the support mechanisms professional athletes have around them four years ago when PDS was just an idea - now being in the thick of it, I'm heartened to see many other businesses doing the same, but I'm also aware of how much opportunity there is for many more.
Anyone currently in this space or moving into it, connect with Rob at LAPS - it's a great outlet for anyone trying to reach young professional athletes, particularly if your focus is genuinely on helping them navigating the many challenges they'll have ahead of them.
Genuine question to Rob Steed - there weren't many young female athletes yesterday: is it because the sector doesn't yet have the structures in place to bring them, en masse, to your event?
Pics: Craig Lawler demonstrating that he truly missed his calling as a teacher (but then again, isn't that we're all doing anyway, even without the job title and qualifications...teaching the next generation...)
