eBusiness Weekly
Back in 1996 Channel 4’s “Cutting Edge” documentary series followed Paul Gascoigne for a year as he considered a move away from Rome.
Gazza’s undoubted talents had never really flourished with Lazio where injuries restricted England’s mercurial star to 40 matches in three years.
Guided by his solicitor Mel Stein and accountant Len Lazarus, a £15 000 a week move to Glasgow was negotiated and during the sojourn at Rangers his brand of football helped bring in silverware.
While Gascoigne’s capacity for sometimes unwise tomfoolery was never far away, neither was his propensity to press the self-destruct button.
A quarter of century later we have seen how the life of one of the game’s high earners of the 90s has sadly spiralled downward aided by alcohol addiction, depression and highly publicised personal problems.
While watching “Gazza’s Coming Home”, the signs are there to be seen.
In the programme Gascoigne, during a break from filming a potato crisp commercial with his former teammate Gary Lineker, jokes; ‘‘I think I spend more on other people than I do on myself.
‘‘My mam never asks for anything. My dad’s great. He never asks for anything apart from a house, a 740 BMW, a boat and a canny wage. My dad’s been alright.”
However, the look of desperation and insecurity in his eyes reveals that it is no laughing matter. Gascoigne tells the interviewer, “People have to make money while they still can.
“I’m in the same boat. I make sure the work I do, I enjoy. You know you will have money for the rest of your life.”
Battling against young
candidates for jobs
In this present era where sport has developed into a global industry laced with multimillion dollar endorsements, sponsorships and contracts, there remains the dilemma for some full-time sportsmen and women that like it or not, their careers will come to an end and they will not be in the financial comfort zone.
‘‘The change for sports people when they step away from the elite level can be profound,” says sports psychologist Gary Longwell.
“Age can be a problem for those in their mid-30s who start to look for a job and are up against somebody 10 years younger. Many go from having a high to a low income earning stream. That can be hard to adjust to.”
Longwell knows all about the hazards that they face. Following a successful rugby career with Ulster and Ireland, the former second row was in charge of the Ulster Academy for eight years preparing players for the professional game before taking his wealth of experience to the Sports into Business programme at Sport Northern Ireland.
“Our role is to make them aware that if they sort out their lives ahead, then they can focus better on performing in their sport,” says Longwell.
“They all have incredible skills that they can adapt to other situations.”
A partnership was developed with retired business leader Alistair Pollock and since 2018 they have been helping athletes make the transition away from sport with potential employers keen to tap into the talent pool of a highly motivated group.
“Over the years, I have come across people who were totally committed to their sport,” says Pollock.
McCay’s 30-second speech “most powerful I’ve heard”
“However, no one was preparing them for life beyond sport or showing them how they could exploit their sporting success to further their career.
“On the programme, we get athletes to ask questions about themselves and apply the same principles that made them successful in their particular sport to the next stage of their life,” adds Longwell.
“Time management, lifestyle choices, and decision making are some of the challenges they have to consider. Some are good at making the transition which needs to be smooth.”
Katie Mullan, Ireland’s 26-year-old hockey captain, who has successfully dovetailed her sporting career with a medical engineering degree has first hand experience of the Sport Institute’s Business into Sport programme which is akin to an amalgamated version of a speed dating session and the television series “Dragons”.
“Some of the squad preparing for next year’s Olympic Games went along to different meetings which gave us the platform into the business world,” says Mullan.
“People were there because they wanted to be. Hockey isn’t a full-time sport in Ireland so the squad is used to combining work commitments with the different aspects of sporting life.
“We tried to show how our drive and determination could be used in work. Hopefully employers would see the long term benefits of having Olympians on board. Most seemed supportive.”
Include business investor Paul Rothwell on that list.
“I’d only heard of the hockey women after Ireland did so well at the World Cup,” admits Rothwell.
“I met Katie and Shirley McCay. They were impressive talking about leadership and about the highs and lows of a seven days a week commitment to their sport.
“At the end, Shirley told the gathering that any athletes they chose to employ could do as much in two days as others might achieve in a week.
“It was the most powerful 30 second pitch, I’ve ever heard. I nearly got up on my feet and cheered.”
Scheme is “no old boys network”
Rothwell’s response was to connect Katie Mullan with the medical company Axial3D where she is now employed a few days a week as a medical visualisation engineer.
“I convert scans into 3-D printed medical models which assist surgeons who have the dealing with complex difficult traumatic injuries. My work is so fulfilling helping in patients recovery,” says Mullan.
Alistair Pollock is quick to dismiss any suggestion that the Sport into Business scheme is some kind of Old Boys network.
“It’s about opening doors and putting together two things — business and sport — that don’t sound like bedfellows,” adds Pollock.
‘‘Sport is exciting. Business can be seen as dull and boring. It can be as simple as having a chat with someone who knows someone who may provide useful advice.
‘‘Imagine a successful sportsperson who thinks they would like to become a chief executive but has no idea what that means or entails. That chat can prevent someone making the wrong choice.”
Smyth dips toe into
sports administration
Making the correct choice of what to do next with his life has not been a quick decision for Paralympic sprint champion Jason Smyth, who has made use of the Sport into Business programme.
‘‘To be honest, I don’t know where I want to go after my running career finishes. When you are competing at that high level for a long time, everything else is pushed to the side,” says the 32-year-old, who has stepped inside the board room to get a feel for that world. — BBC.
