While Roy Hodgson put his England squad through their paces on the training pitches at The Football Association’s St George’s Park complex, this time last week 1,000 young players were quietly ushered into the 2013 Create Your Legacy event held a stone’s throw away at the National Football Centre.
Hosted by LFE and the DKH Legacy Trust, the event challenged the players and other elite athletes to invest in their futures by speaking to the 65 exhibitors representing employers, universities and training companies.
Momentary glimpses of Ashley Cole, Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney added to their enthusiasm but in a fiercely competitive industry around 60 per cent of the youth-team players will be released by their clubs as 18-year-olds. Even then half of those who do win a full-time contract are likely to have dropped out of the full-time game by the age of 21 with just 15 per cent remaining.
“Footballers live in a bubble,” said former Aston Villa and England defender, Ugo Ehiogu who spent his afternoon mentoring dozens of those at the event. “It’s nice for the lads to see the senior boys (England) training outside but in here it’s more realistic. The statistics speak for themselves.”
“When I finished after 20 years, I didn’t know how to put a CV together or what to do at an interview but The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses and I realised that I had plenty of transferable skills.”
“Leadership, problem solving, communication, working as part of team are all pretty common to footballers but the hardest thing about the day is making them understand that they need to prepare for the future.”
“Even when I was playing for England I was thinking what happens if I get an injury and have to retire – I made sure I had other options and a Plan B,” added Ehiogu who now runs a record label.
Matt Holland hosted the panel discussion with Dougie Freedman, Dame Kelly Holmes, Tom Rees and Sarah Hunter
Current Bolton Wanderers Manager Dougie Freedman and owner of exhibitors Focus Fitness UK, echoed Ehiogu’s sentiments:
“In my late twenties I started to think about what life might be like when I finished playing. I looked at coaching and went away and got experience and qualifications. I coached youth-teams every Sunday morning and then I would be back at work as a player every Monday morning.”
“I always had a vision that I wanted to coach and strongly believed that it didn’t matter how well I was doing as a player – I needed to plan ahead.”
Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes who has made the evolution from full-time athlete to working across a number of roles in the media, sport and voluntary sectors said:
“I know how hard it can be to transition from being a full-time athlete to entering normal life. We hope that by providing a day like this, our elite sport performers will take advantage of the contacts they make and improve their knowledge, self-belief and understanding of the opportunities that are open to them,” added Holmes.
Visit the Create Your Legacy Gallery to see more pictures from the event.
Having travelled for five hours with his team mates to St George’s Park, Plymouth Argyle apprentice Colin Watson makes the most of his time with the exhibitors.
