Athlete Management for Extreme Sports
Athlete management can be bit of a grey area, especially when it comes to extreme and action sports.
The Initial association is sports management or representation. The Jerry Maguire style sports agent who is just there to sign big deals and take a cut of the pay check. While this is definitely true in some sports and cases, there is also a different style of management.
At ESM Australia, we are focussed on the more holistic style of athlete management. One that blends coaching, mentorship, representation, management, and support for the long term growth of the athlete.
In this article, I want to break down a bit of this process to help you understand what management means when we talk about it, and how it can help your career.
What Does An Extreme & Actions Sports Athlete Manager at ESM Do?
To us, the role of an Athlete Manager is to help support the core goals and dreams of the Athlete. We aim to help build them as an athlete as well as a person. Supporting success in their sport as well as emotional and financial peace.
To create an effective program and support system to help skaters, surfers, snowboarders, and other extreme sports athletes develop and build a long career we need to be covering a number of areas:
Technical Skills & Tricks
Mindset& Performance Psychology
Fitness & Strength Training
Goal Setting and Structure
Recovery & Downtime
Branding & Partnerships
Finance and Future Planning
With that overview of the 7 areas we help to cover, let’s dive a little deeper into what each of them might include.
1. Technical Skills & Tricks
One of the most important parts of being an extreme sports athlete is being good at your sport. Obviously. So a big area of focus is on ensuring athletes have the knowledge, support and coaching needed to help them improve their skills.
2. Mindset & Performance Psychology
The way we think during contests or performances and the way we think before and after them can make a huge difference on not only our mental wellbeing but our actual results and physiology. Creating a strong mind that can handle pressure, setbacks, stress, and energy is a huge factor in a successful athlete. We focus on helping athletes get the right support to overcome hurdles and setbacks as well as find flow so they can learn and compete and higher levels.
3. Fitness & Strength Training
Extreme sports are very demanding and gone are the days of ‘the best practice for surfing is to surf’ mentality. Fitness and strength training is as much about injury prevention as it is about performance improvements. The goal is always to work in a way which suits the personal movement patterns and activities of the athlete. Building the body to the optimal strength required for longevity in their sport.
4. Goal Setting & Structure
What get’s measured get’s managed and when we visualise our goals we have a better chance of achieving them. We are big believers in goal setting as it gives us structure, motivation and a measurable target. It helps us clarify not only what we are doing, but what we need to do in order to get where we want in life. We work with athletes from the macro life goals right down to the weekly goals with regular check ins to help with success.
5. Recovery & Downtime
Muscle is not built in the gym but in the time outside the gym. Just as our body needs time off to recover from hard physical activity as does our mind, passion and motivation. We believe in fostering a culture of down time and hobbies outside of our core sport. It is in these downtimes that we can grow the most and come back stronger.
6. Branding & Partnerships
Sponsorships are the cornerstone of the professional extreme sports athlete. At ESM Australia we are focussed on fostering stronger partnerships between brands and their athletes and properly matching the values of each. Our Athlete Managers are there to help Athletes enhance their value to sponsors which will help them build their finances and future opportunities.
7. Finance & Future Planning
The career of an extreme sports athlete is a bumpy road. Financial planning is hard to do and money management is vital for long term success. As an extreme sports athlete, 90% of the time you are an independent contractor and so work under your own ABN (Business). This means you are responsible for your taxes, expenses, and superannuation. Our Athlete Managers provide help and resources to ensure your finances and future plans are well organised.
What next?
If that all sounds like pretty useful and important information but a bit too much for you to manage, check out our Athlete Management packages and services or get in touch to find out how we can help you and your individual situation.
We’re here to help you grow your career.