PCA Futures Week explores career progression

PCA Futures Week has explored career progression stories from the PCA membership, as players look to enhance their personal development.

In the weeks leading up to the event, the PCA spoke to players about their personal development journeys and any advice they could pass on to fellow professionals looking to go through transition. You can find out more about these stories here: Hassan Azad, Phoebe Graham and James Harris.

The flagship event of Futures Week is always the PCA Futures Conference, where players are given the opportunity to learn from industry experts and put those skills into practice.

Professional cricketers from across the country and of all ages attended the conference, including 20-year-old Scotland international and the youngest ever Futures Conference Olivia Bell, alongside 36-year-old former Nottinghamshire bowler Luke Fletcher and 25-year-old Dillon Pennington.

Members took part in 13 sessions throughout the conference which included workshops, activities and discussions aimed at helping players find their future career and make the transition process run smoothly.

The two-day event held at the England football team’s training base, St George’s Park, took place on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 November as players gained vital expertise from guest speakers.

On day one, PCA Personal Development Manager, Jas Singh, took the players through the ‘Planning a Career Pivot’ seminar followed by a ‘Presenting the best version of you’ session with former player and coach Paul Shaw.

In the afternoon, the players heard from the PCA’s Official Financial Wellbeing Partner, Brooks Macdonald, and took part in an ‘Influencing Skills’ seminar, also facilitated by Shaw.

Day one finished with a ‘Journey of a Player’ session in which Phoebe Graham, Rich Morris and Will Jefferson shared their own stories, offering advice on how to elevate your personal development, before the players were taken on a tour of the facilities at St George’s Park.

As part of Futures Week, the PCA explored transition stories of from current and past players with the PCA speaking to former Yorkshire and Northamptonshire bowler Moin Ashraf on his inclusive coaching business MACC Academy and newly appointed Warwickshire Rep Abbey Freeborn, who is working towards an Investment Management Certificate.

Exploring personal development is of paramount importance considering the average age a player is released from the game is under 26. In the last 12 months, Personal Development Managers have recorded 4,870 meetings with 785 current and former players, personal development being one of the key topics discussed.

On day two, Personal Development Manager, Martin Cropper, led the ‘Working with Transition’ session and Tim Clancy from LinkedIn delivered a seminar on how to best utilise the platform.

The Official Partner of the PCA Futures Awards, Lodders Solicitors, delivered a session on the world of work and skill development, before Rob Geraghty facilitated an engaging workshop on ‘Presenting and Networking’.

The event concluded with a ‘Networking Carousel’, which included PCA Tax / Accountancy Education Partner Clay GBP, where attendees put into practice the skills they’d learnt over the two days with speakers from different industries and PCA partners.

Taking place between Monday 4 – Sunday 10 November, PCA Futures Week encourages cricketers to consider their second career as early as possible and start preparing as they look towards the future.

PCA Personal Development Manager, Jas Singh, said: “It’s been great to have a group of really engaged players for the two days. The key with personal development is that it doesn’t matter if you’re at the start, middle or end of your career, you can develop everyday and it doesn’t matter what age you are.

“We create this conference so it’s very player centric and they have to engage to get something from it. The players should know that the fantastic transferable skills they’ve accumulated from cricket will stand them in good stead for when they go into the world of work. We’re always here to help the players through their career and beyond, but the earlier they can prepare for the future, the better.”

Former Nottinghamshire bowler, Luke Fletcher, said: “I’ve found it really valuable and getting to know other players’ stories has been great because you realise others are in the same situation. I’m looking to go into coaching and I’ve been working a lot on that and putting myself in the best position to transition. Paul Shaw was very interesting with his sessions on influencing people and his giving and receiving feedback workshop.

“I’m really grateful to the PCA for putting this event on over the last few days, they always look after former and current players really well, we’re lucky to have them. It’s been great that the younger players have come too.”

Lancashire and Scotland off-spinner, Olivia Bell, said: “I’ve been thinking about what I could do alongside my playing career, I watched some clips on the PCA’s social media from last year’s event and lots of the players said it was really engaging for people at all stages of their career and I thought I would learn a lot, which I have. There’s lots of things people can do alongside their cricket career to prepare for the future.

“The PCA always get brilliant speakers and put on fantastic events, I may have only been at Rookie Camp this year but I’m already looking to future development. Futures Conference has been exceptional the experts have delivered a breadth of knowledge across a multitude of sectors.”

Surrey all-rounder, Cameron Steel, said: “It’s been a very insightful couple of days and nice to network with likeminded people. I’m exploring different options at the moment and casting one eye on what I might like to do in the future but I’m very happy playing cricket at the moment. I think there is something different to take from each session and it’s been great to discuss where everyone is at.

“It’s the first PCA event like this that I’ve come to and I’d implore anyone that is in the country for the winter to come to Future Conference.”

PCA Futures Conference 2024 attendees: Ed Barnard, Olivia Bell, Luke Fletcher, Phoebe Graham, James Hayes, Fred Klaassen, Beth Langston, Katie Levick, Tom Loten, Liam Norwell, Dillon Pennington, Cameron Steel.

Futures Week shines a light on the area of personal development and career transition among PCA members. The two-day Futures Conference forms the centrepiece of the initiative and both are part of the PCA’s Personal Development and Welfare Programme (PDWP). Click here to find out more.