Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
The Conference allows members to take steps towards their second career.
The 2024 Futures Conference is only weeks away, so the PCA has provided you with five key reasons to attend.
Taking place on 6 and 7 November at St. George’s Park, the training centre of England’s national football team, the flagship event of the PCA Futures Week gives players the opportunity to hear from industry experts and put the skills they’ve learnt into practice.
Each year, the PCA organises the Conference to assist its past and present members with personal development opportunities to help them in their careers after or alongside cricket.
The two-day event, which is free for PCA members, including hotel and expenses at the venue, comprises a host of seminars and workshops which allows the attendees to indulge in learning and also aids them to find which area most interests them, be it outside the game or a role within cricket.
The Futures Conference also allows the participants to network within themselves which sees them get valuable learning experiences. These interactions with fellow professional cricketers combined with learnings from various career experts is vital for one’s personal development.
Transitioning from any professional sport can be a challenging task for athletes. Therefore, the PCA presents five reasons why you should sign up for the event to help simplify that change in to a second career.
1) Raise self-awareness
Understanding yourself is one of the best tools in professional development. Knowing your values, your motivations, character and understanding your emotions are all areas which allow you to strategically move forward with your next steps.
Futures Conference allows for time and space within this area for you to really have a think about the above. You’ll be able to hear from peers, speak to industry experts and gain a greater knowledge base to help you further understand where you would like to go.
PCA Chair and Glamorgan seamer James Harris wants to remind players that there is indeed no prerequisite that a player has to know all the answers beforehand. The Futures Conference will allow you to take a step further in your journey towards personal development.
2) Build confidence
The opportunity to work alongside the PCA, your peers and a wide variety of industries will aid in further development of your confidence away from playing the game. Being able to engage with like-minded people who are in the same scenario you find yourself in helps show that you are not alone on this journey, and you can be supported towards your next steps.
Being able to share stories, develop skills and qualities and learn from each other will assist in the building of your own confidence to further progress on your own personal journey.
3) Enhance your network
Attending the Futures Conference will provide the platform of meeting a whole range of new people. Players, coaches, PCA staff, industry experts, speakers and PCA Partners will all be there at the two-day event with the idea of helping you further enhance your knowledge, skills and qualities. Being able to work alongside these people over the two days will further strengthen your network and allow you the opportunity to reconnect with your new acquaintances down the line.
4) Plan for your future
Futures Conference’s overall aim is to support players in beginning their process of thinking about life after playing cricket. The event is centred around workshops, talks, sharing of knowledge and planning. Attending the event will provide a springboard for your next steps by allowing you to engage with a wide variety of people, further enhancing your skills and qualities and allowing you the time and space to create a plan of where you’d like to be and how you want to get there.
32-year-old Thunder bowler Phoebe Graham suggests her fellow cricketers should attend the Futures Conference as early as possible in their careers. This will allow them to get enough time to prepare for the future. She also said how various topics covered at the Conference like finance management and pension planning are vital to be aware of from a young age.
5) Develop your skills
Skill development is a key component for the two day Futures Conference with the aim of helping participants expand on key skills required for the world of work. Topics such as influence, feedback, presenting the best version of yourself and many more will help in educating you on how to further enhance skills such as communication, active listening, decision making, conflict resolution, negotiation and many more.
Former Northamptonshire batter Hassan Azad is a huge advocate of developing one’s skills for a smoother transition. He believes that a professional cricketer indirectly picks up a lot of necessary skills during their playing career. However, attending the Futures Conference helps in polishing those skills which will be of benefit in the corporate world.
PCA Futures Conference is open to all past and present players.
Please register your interest by clicking the button below and filling in the form as there are limited places available.
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Name of Author: Professional Cricketers Association
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.
