Sports agents form an integral part of sports. No they're not responsible for the coaching team, medical staff or the board of directors, but they are responsible for something much more important...the athlete. That might sound like a bit of a stretch since the athlete's ability to do what they do is solely based on their fitness and skill, but think of it like this who negotiated LeBron James' lifetime deal with Nike? Who engineered Paul Pogba's move from Man United to Juventus and back to United? And who managed to get Jose Mourinho hired as Coach of Tottenham Hotspurs FC even though he was sacked by Chelsea and United within a Span of four years. Sports agents are the unsung heroes of sports, as the role they play will determine whether if our favourite team will get that new world class signing that will help bring trophies to the team, or if our best player will remain at the team despite interested from a rival team. To get more insights as to what they do I spoke to Alex Shahim, of Revolve Talent.
Revolve Talent is a sports agency based in, headquarters, South Africa. They offer assistance to their clients in terms of: contract negotiations, endorsements, PR and social media management, as well as financial management; helping players with retirement annuities, investment portfolios, and income protection policies.
A brief list of athletes they represent include: Oupa Manyisa, Wayne Sandilands, Nealan van Heerdan, Gerald Coetzee, Khulekani Khubeka and many more. Below is the Q and A session I had with Mr. Alex Shaim.
Athenkosi Tsotsi: Firstly Alex, what is a sports agent?
Alex Shahim: A sports agent is someone who represents an athlete off the pitch. They handle their contracts, endorsements and in certain instances life decisions.
A.T: What prompted you to move towards sports agency, how did it start and for how long have been doing it?
A.S: I have always been passionate about sports, I used to be a professional golfer, my career ended due to a car accident. Having had a lot of friends who are athletes, I saw there were a lot of players who weren’t being looked after properly, it seemed it was all about money and not about the person, so I decided to get into it. Around 2 years now I look after a few soccer players and cricket players.
A.T: How important is it for an athlete to have an agent?
A.S: I do think it is important to have an agent. The agent helps with contracts and things the player might not have access to, such as relationships with teams, brands etc. I do feel that players need to do research on sports agencies, as well as the agent they are considering going with. Don’t be in a rush to sign a contract, make sure he/she is a good person and cares about your career not just about the pay cheque.
A.T: In terms of contracts and endorsements, how do you secure, or know which is the best deal for your client as an agent?
A.S: For a young player its all about game time and less about money. The early years are for growth and learning about your game. That comes by playing, not by earning a nice salary sitting on the bench. As you get older, then both factors come into play.
A.T: Do you, as agents, get involved or assists in players personal lives and professional lives. We have seen players careers die due to home problems or bad lifestyle; do you guys intervene, professionally? When they are not getting game time, or having issues with a coach or management; what do you do when a client lays a complaint to you, how do you take it up?
A.S: My model and belief is that you need to help the player holistically from contracts, to endorsements, to financial management, to mental health and physical health. For me its all about helping them to find the balance in sport and life so that they can have a sustainable life after sport. At the end of the day players need to decide and make their own decisions, we can only supply them with information. Sadly, in our sport especially football the players do their own thing and don’t always make smart decisions. But if I’m honest my passion is to help them set themselves up for a life after sport. As far as a coach goes, I’m happy to get involved but again, I prefer players to take control and speak to coaches face to face when they have troubles.
A.T: Do agents move players to clubs for their own benefit, e.g let's say Club A is paying a better agent fee and club B is paying less, but the player wants Club B. How common is it in South African?
A.S: Well I guess both happens and in the agency space its known that sometimes people make money decisions. For me it’s different, I have never made a money decision. I’ve tried to make the right decision for the player and make sure that they get what they want.
A.T: Recently, you reprimanded an agent for trying to poach your client. How unethical is it, and what other unethical practices are there in your field?
A.S: It’s a dog eat dog world, which I don’t like at all. There are ethics and integrity that I feel we should all live by. It happens a lot that agents try and poach other agents players. I’ve built great relationships with my boys and they are always open and honest. Each time another agency tried their luck they call me straight away. I think if you do good work, people will see and be drawn to that. The reason I called that guy out was because sometimes we all need to be kept honest otherwise it becomes a free for all.
A.T: Things like transfer fee, agent fee, contact length, salary fee, termination clauses, are never revealed in South Africa but in Europe they make it public knowledge because the public is interested in those things, why is it not the same here. I found it that not disclosing those specifics leaves a player open to exploitation from the club executives and agents to a certain extent.
A.S: I prefer not to comment on this one ;)
A.T: Alex, Revolve Talent is one of the fastest growing sports agency in SA, can you tell me more about, its vision and where its heading?
A.S: Thank you for the kind words. For me, its not about trying to have the most players or be the biggest agency. For me it’s about being known as the agency that really cares about its players, not just on the pitch, but off it too. Not only cares about them, but gives them the best in all aspects. I often say to the boys, obviously I care about what happens on the pitch, but I care more about what happens off the pitch. The boys aren’t my clients, they are my family. I would like to leave a legacy of the Agency with a purpose beyond profit behind.
A.T: As an agent, you're human, what has been the most fulfilling moment in your career?
A.S: For me, I’m as happy as my happiest player, and as sad as my player who’s struggling. There have been so many amazing moments in my life and as a 30 year old, I hope to have many more. I would say two that makes me feel really happy was when Zakhele Lepasa scored the winning goal to beat Chiefs in The Nedbank Cup final. Purely, because I knew what he went through to get there. Another was Wandile Makwetu scoring 99 vs the Titans on his debut for the Knights, after being with the Titans and not getting an opportunity in a year. We managed to get him a move to the Knights and the rest is history. Again it’s not about the score, but about the fact that I knew what he went through before he got to that point.
A.S: All in all I’m a lucky guy to be mentoring and helping some of the most humble hard working athletes that are good people.
Sporting agencies, such as Revolve Talent, display that they are more than just a corporation focused on making a name for their clients and signing deals, but that they're a family whose values are anchored deeply in loyalty, trust and respect. Agents ensure that our, sporting, heroes are able to hang their capes up once done saving the day instead of staying long enough to turn into villains.
No comments:
Post a Comment