Schillings sports conference 2011: Education, Education, Education
Sport
Comment | 23 March 2011
Today our sports stars are sending Tweets directly to tens or hundreds of thousands of sports fans, and journalists, on a daily basis. Newspapers with slashed budgets are filling their copy with information lifted directly from social networking pages. The Daily Mail’s website returns over 250 results for the exact phrase “according to his Facebook page” and Rio Ferdinand’s Twitter feed appears to have become a direct supplier for news stories to sports and news journalists alike.
The power of technology is exciting but dangers do lurk.
During the first track session of the Schillings Sports Conference Umbro Director of Football Simon Marsh gave the opinion that clubs, agents and associations have a “duty” to educate players about the pitfalls of life as a professional sportsman and Matthew Himsworth of Schillings spoke about the educational sessions which the firm has worked with Premier League football clubs to deliver to players.
Honesty is crucial. Players need to be aware that failing to upgrade security settings on Facebook or ignoring club rules on use of Twitter can seriously damage a career. Similarly, blackberry pin messaging, the fashionable tool of young sportsmen and women, has led to a number of invasive and damaging articles in recent weeks. There now appears to be a weekly Twitter scandal over an inappropriate Tweet and some individuals are seemingly making a career out of eliciting indiscreet pin or text messages or photos.
The key is to show players the voracious interest in young sportsmen and women – a recent scandal involving an amateur footballer in the Scottish Women’s Premier Football League is a prime example – and to show to them the information which they are making publicly available. Damian Hopley, the Chief Executive of the Rugby Player’s Association, an organisation who Schillings have worked closely with, spoke passionately about the need to support players and provide education – an activity which the RPA works tirelessly on.