Summer
2014
ate into my valuable cricket-playing time.
Harry was not only a great coach, he was
a great friend to anybody who was lucky
enough to be coached by him and he always
looked out for us. I feel incredibly fortunate
to have spent so much time with him over
my five years at Taylors’ – not only on the
cricket pitch and in the nets but also on the
golf course. I wish I could have taken his
advice on board a little better than I did with
regards to my batting, but the temptation
to smack a bowler across the line down to
cow shot corner was often too great for me
to pass up. There were the odd occasions
where it paid o though and scoring 3
half centuries in a week including 70 odd
on the main pitch (before going for another
big shot leading to my bat breaking and
looping the ball up to gully – it still haunts
me) were very special memories. It was
great to see Harry get such a good
send-o last year and I hope he’s enjoying
his retirement.
I left Taylors’ with the grades I required
to read Sport and Exercise Sciences at
the University of Birmingham and as I
approachedmy graduation I applied for
the Summer Graduate scheme at IMG. The
scheme is run every July and August and
it is one of the most applied for graduate
schemes in the country so I was fortunate
to get an interview and evenmore fortunate
to get a place – I think my meeting John
Simpson certainly helped. For the duration
of the eight weeks I worked in a division
called European Tour Productions –
IMG’s 50/50 joint media venture with the
European Tour. At first I was disappointed
not to work within the golf clients division,
biggest perk to the job was to attend up
to 15 European Tour events each year to
manage the onsite commercial aspects of
the TV production. My travels took me from
Augusta to Kuala Lumpur andmost places
in between.
Following six mad years travelling the
globe I took up a new role within IMG
in April 2012, managing the commercial
strategies for Wimbledon, The Open
and the RugbyWorld Cup. Being on
Henman Hill withmy colleagues to
witness AndyMurray’s victory at last
year’s Championships was certainly one of
the highlights of my career so far. Whilst
there are some obvious perks, there has
beenmore than a bit of hard work along
the way. Being involved in sporting events
with a global interest brings about certain
pressures but I am fortunate to work with a
great group of like-minded individuals and
somehow, more often than not, everything
comes together as was hoped.
For those of you reading this that are still
at MTS, or just about to embark on your own
careers, then I can’t recommend pursuing a
career in a field of personal interest highly
enough. For me, going into work every day
knowing I amgoing to be doing something
that I love makes getting out of bed in the
morning far easier. If you would like any
more information on IMG or have any
questions then I would be more than happy
to help out. In the meantime, good luck with
the rest of your time at Taylors’. You are
incredibly fortunate to be at such a fantastic
school so please take advantage of every
opportunity that is presented to you and
above all enjoy yourselves!
as my goal was still to manage golfers;
however, it was not long before my goals
changed. Whilst the management side of
the sports industry looks appealing from the
outside the reality can be dierent. On call
24/7 to some of the most demanding sports
stars on the planet isn’t easy and it requires
a certain kind of patience that I amnot quite
sure I possess.
Once the eight weeks were complete I
had planned to take my summer holiday as
I had gone straight fromuniversity to IMG,
however, I was oered a permanent position
in ETP that I couldn’t turn down. My
primary role was to manage the commercial
aspect of the European Tour’s website but,
being a relatively small commercial team,
my role varied greatly. Undoubtedly the
Michael with TimHenman
Whilst I have fond
memories of the
educational side
of Taylors’ it is the
sporting aspects
that really stand
out; my closest
friends to this day
are those that I
met playing sport
at MTS.
