From Rugby to Union
From Rugby to Union
It’s fair to say that things have changed a little for me over the last two years. At the start of May 2019, I was walking off the field from my 217th and final game for the Worcester Warriors. At that exact point and for a little while after, I found myself in a stake of limbo, with no real certainty as to where life would take me. Yet here I am, writing my first blog entry as a Lifestyle Financial Planner and business owner. Quite a change I hear you say! Well, let me start filling in the gaps by going back…
Change on the horizon
Back to January 2019. I’d just touched down overseas to make the most of a rare and much needed mid-season break. I was in the middle of my 12th season with the Worcester Warriors, a place where I had played rugby since the age of 7. Mental breaks and recharging the batteries away from the game were hugely important. It gave the body and mind a rest from the relentless stresses and pressures of professional sport.
Not long after I had landed, the phone rang. It was Alan Solomans, Director of Rugby at Worcester Warriors. A phone call from Solly at this time brought with it an uneasy feeling. This was not going to be a pleasant call, I thought to myself. The call was short and Solly didn’t give much away, only that he wanted to see if I was available to come in for a meeting. Being thousands of miles away, the meeting would have to wait but I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out what it would be about.
Up until this point, the Warriors had been announcing their resigning’s for the forthcoming season. With the rumour mill gathering apace, it was becoming clear who was going to be apart of the Warriors next push for Premiership stability. It was becoming pretty evident that the odds of me being on that journey were slim.
Fast forward 7 days, and I found myself sat in Solly’s office ready for the inevitable. And in the matter of minutes, seconds in fact, at least one part of my future was clear. For the first time in as long as I could remember, my future would not be as a Worcester Warrior.
Opportunity knocks
My immediate feelings were mixed. Yes, there was the initial sense of disappointment. This had been more than a place of work to me. It may sound cheesy, but, it was genuinely like home and I was now putting the for sale sign out on the front lawn. Put into simple terms, I was told I was no longer good enough, and that’s a tough pill to swallow. Yet, the decision also seemed to lift a huge weight off my shoulders. Whilst I didn’t know at the time where it would take me, change was on the horizon and that brought intrigue and excitement.
I set about finding another professional club, but the next couple of months didn’t go as planned. The transfer market was playing out in a peculiar fashion and I was not alone finding a new club hard to come by. What made it stranger still was fans and players approaching me congratulating me on who I’d signed for. “News to me”, I would often say, the rumour mill was rife with speculation.
But a scary reality was now setting in. In a matter of months, my pay slips would stop coming in. There was still no new rugby club and I could no longer assume one was going to come in and sweep me off my feet. It was time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Rugby has always come first, and I believe it must if you want to forge a career at the top. The commitment and effort required to get into a professional side and then stay there is immense. I was very aware, however, that a career would never last forever. I’d done more than some to prepare the ground for life after rugby - a First-Class Degree in Leadership and Management and a Postgraduate Certificate in Building Surveying still rank in some of my highest achievements to date. Yet I still had no idea what I wanted to do for a career.
Time to get my head in the game
I decided that it was time to create my own luck. For the next few months, I met as many people of possible from a range of different careers and professions . I never turned down the opportunity to meet someone new. And ultimately, these conversations led me to the world of financial services. A meeting with one individual in particular, changed the course of my future and having never previously considered a career in financial services, it soon became apparent that it would be a great fit for me and my skillset.
What stood out for me even then, was that financial planning is all about building meaningful relationships based upon trust. Add in a level of expert knowledge and I believe you have the recipe for success in this profession . One of the greatest parts for me of being a rugby player was meeting and engaging with new people, – teammates, supporters, sponsors and local businesspeople, and this happened on a frequent basis. I always felt comfortable and enjoyed this side of rugby. I knew, I would benefit from the client engagement aspect of an advisory role.
With a new goal established, I combined my studies with a part time playing role at Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club. I went onto sit seven exams over the next year and became a fully qualified financial planner as well as starting Union Lifestyle Financial Planning, most of which occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Together everyone achieves more
So that’s how I arrived at my new destination, having felt a little lost along the way. Our journey through life is never linear. There will be ups and downs and major changes throughout. The ability to adapt to change is an important part of any financial plan. Looking back, I had established strong foundations within my own financial plan, which allowed me to navigate through this turbulent period of my life with a little less stress and worry.
From a financial perspective, the reality of leaving professional sport when I did meant that my income reduced by around 80%. For most, this would be catastrophic, yet with a little foresight and planning, it has been entirely manageable.
Everyone in life will go through periods of change. Working with Union, you will become part of a team and together we can help you navigate the stormy seas when they arise. Financial worry can be the worst worry of all but that does not mean you cannot adopt a plan and set a new course to steer your way through. On the rugby field, I was next to useless on my own, but surrounded by others I had the tools to succeed. The same has never been truer today.