Managing a young athlete’s career from start to finish is a bit like building a house.
First thing you need is a blue print. An end vision of what you want to achieve with the athlete.
The sad thing is, most managers don’t have a blue print. They make things up as they go along.
The next you thing you need is a solid foundation that will protect the house from all kinds of weather.
I’m talking about good morals / personal values. Not always easy to teach but important if you want to build a great house.
The next stage is to build the house in steps. E.g. you don’t build the roof without first building the walls.
The ‘walls’ can be sporting results or growing the media profile of the athlete. This comes before the big endorsements.
Next thing you need to do is surround yourself with specialised handyman. A painter is not a tiler. A landscaper can’t do the plumbing.
You need to align your athlete with specialist people such as a sports lawyer, a financial planner etc. If I’m an athlete, I’d much rather have 3-4 specialists around me then one manager wearing multiple hats. This allows my manager to solely concentrate on one thing – bringing in the money.
Lastly, you need to communicate effectively with everyone to get the house built on time and within budget.
This is much easier if you have a blue print. Show the athlete this. Explain your strategy. Keep them updated at every step along the way.
At the end you will have a magnificent house that is worth a lot of money.
