Jay Semko & Colli Christante share new website for Inner Expression Productions

Jay Semko and Colli Christante of Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., are pleased to share their new website for Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., and so NOW you can check out the amazing projects we are working on!!! Please feel free to leave your comments.

Geopathic Stress Documentary

Eurythmics - Don't Ask Me Why

Inner Expression Productions is live - come check us out!!!

We are proud to announce our new website is live - come and check us out!!!

http://www.innerexpressionproductions.com

12 Ways To Fall Madly In Love With Life

Bradley Morris

By falling in love with life, we fall in love with ourselves (and vice versa). When we fall in love with ourselves, we can access our true potential because we become willing to give ourselves the experiences, practices and beliefs that allow us to succeed and give us the self-acceptance to rebound when we fail.

If we don’t fall in love with life and ourselves, then we fall into the perpetual wheel of self-sabotage, struggle and suffering.

I support people (starting with myself) to truly fall in love with life. Here are 12 ways we can all cultivate self-love:

ESTABLISH POWERFUL, SELF-SERVING DAILY PRACTICES

Our habits make us who we become.

BE CREATIVE & DO WHAT MAKES YOU COME ALIVE

This is the zest of life that makes our time on Earth worthwhile.

MEDITATE, BREATHE, AND EXPRESS YOURSELF THROUGH SOUND

This clears the mental fog, allowing us to focus on what we love.

LIVE WITH REVERENCE AND GRATITUDE FOR THE GIFT OF LIFE

Commit to becoming masterful at expressing appreciation for life and all your experiences, especially the ones that challenge you and force you to grow. This journey is a gift.

HEAL YOURSELF BY FINDING PEACE WITH THE PAST

When we carry pain from the past with us, it haunts us and blocks us from being free and fully expressed in our present reality. Deal with it to heal it.

GET CLEAR AND LIVE WITH INTENTION

Having a vision gives us the power to drive forward through the difficult times. We all need a bigger vision for our lives.

CONNECT WITH NATURE

Balance depends on spending plenty of time in nature, whether it’s sitting, hiking or sports. We all need nature time.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY

Putting powerful, clean foods into our body, exercising and doing yoga are some of the most important things we can do when it comes to self-care and loving life. We only have one body.

GROW THROUGH FEAR

Fear is a natural part of life. Because of this, I embrace it and honor it when it comes up.

TAKE 100% RESPONSIBILITY

Recognize that you are the creator of your own life and successes. By taking full responsibility, we allow ourselves the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, rather than blame.

CHECK THINGS OFF THE BUCKET LIST

Each year, we need to have at least one thing checked off the bucket list. This gives us something fun to shoot for.

MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES

This is one of the most fulfilling, energy-giving things we can do in life. It gives us purpose. Every day, try to make somebody else’s day. Big or small acts go a long way.

There is so much we can do to love our lives and blossom into the fullest expression of who we are… and unfortunately, many don’t. People make excuses, they say there’s not enough time or that blah blah blah gets in the way. Truth is, if you’re not loving it, then YOU are getting in the way.

If you want to know what it feels like to be wildly in love with your life, then you need to declare yourself willing and committed now.

You must be willing to change everything and embrace a whole new way of living — if that's what it’s going to take. What I find is, those who don’t love their lives now haven’t been living according to their own passions, dreams, authentic expression and agenda. They have been living to the beat of somebody else’s drum… and that path will always lead to unhappiness.

Here’s the thing. If you’re locked into some negative habits and patterns, then it’s going to take effort to get out. But it’s the fun kind of effort because you will be adding more and more awesome things into your life that you love (refer to above list or make your own), while allowing the other old stuff to fall away naturally.

As these awesome acts become awesome habits, your reality will take the form of an awesome life.

It is highly possible that you will be judged and questioned by the people closest to you who want you to remain a slug and slave to mediocrity, or who just simply don’t understand your new vision, but if you can avoid being deterred from your path and not take their remarks personally, then you will find yourself blazing a trail to freedom, growth and a never-before experienced love for life.

When I meet negative people like that, I try to see them as mirrors of myself or reflections of my own consciousness. When I hear them being negative or pessimistic about my choices I say to myself (and sometimes them), “Wow, I still believe that? Well that’s just silly and definitely doesn’t serve. I let that one go now {while smiling}. Thanks or the reflection, friend, but I choose to believe ___________.”

Bottom line: if you take 100% responsibility for yourself, your dreams and your life, then you will create a reality that you love, a body that feels like your temple and incredible relationships that last into infinity over time.

Jay Semko of the Northern Pikes and Colli K Christante form Production Company in Saskatchewan

Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., is proud to announce Mr. Jay Semko Jay Semko as co-owner and Vice President of Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc. 

We at Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., are looking forward to working with Mr. Jay Semko on many great projects. 

For more information on projects that Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., are currently involved in please contact Colli Christante at 306-716-9218 or Jay Semko at 306-251-2030.

Toller Cranston, figure skating innovator, dead at 65

Toller Cranston, figure skating innovator, dead at 65 Pj Kwong

It is somehow fitting that of all days, Toller Cranston would die on the same day that a new Canadian men’s champion is going to be crowned.

Cranston, who won bronze medals at the 1974 world championships in Munich and the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, died at his home in Mexico from an apparent heart attack, a Skate Canada spokesperson said Saturday.

Cranston was a champion and more importantly a legend. International Skating Union vice president David Dore considered Cranston a "living legend."

"I was shocked by [Cranston's death] based on the fact that he was one of the few living legends in any sport. He was the perfect living legend," said Dore. "His legacy will be that he gave the sport a stamp that exists to this day. Even though he was always going uphill, he never lost his focus. The sport won. We all won."

"He was one of a kind," said Brian Orser, a former Canadian and world champion, Olympic silver medallist and now in-demand coach. "Nobody will ever be like him. And such a great contribution to figure skating but me, personally, (it was) just his sense of humour and his outlook on life and (his) free spirit ... (he was) somewhat of a rebel. Always spoke his mind, wasn't always so accurate but he spoke his mind."

In the media room we all looked at each other in shock when we first heard the news via Jeanne Beker’s Twitter account.

His artistry was considered to be one of the driving forces behind the move from strictly stiff athleticism to more expressive men’s skating. I believe that without Toller Cranston, there would not have been the generations that followed which included Patrick Chan.

Toller admired Chan’s skating and that he was glad not to have had to compete against him.

"I'm on another planet watching Patrick Chan with binoculars and applauding along with the rest of the world," Cranston said from his Mexican hideaway in 2012.

Cranston, who was born in Hamilton and grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ont., and Montreal, never won an Olympic or world title but his dramatic showmanship had a profound impact on figure skating.

The legend won national titles from 1971 to '76 and placed second at the 1971 North American championships in Peterborough, Ont. He won Skate Canada International events in 1973 and '75. He finished fourth at the 1975 world championships in Colorado Springs, and was fourth again a year later in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Cranston was 26 when he reached the Olympic podium at the 1976 Winter Games. He was later inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1977.

Toller remembered

I knew Toller. I remember him well from when I was a skater. He was older than I and maybe the most uninhibited person I have ever met. With all that freedom though, this was still a person whose vulnerabilities and sensitivity could make him challenging.

1964 Olympic bronze medallist and 1965 World champion Petra Burka was in the coaches’ room at the Cricket Club when she heard the news by email. It was her mother, Ellen Burka, who coached both of them.

1964 Olympic silver pair medallist Debbi Wilkes remembered Toller this way: “I think in many ways, Toller represented everything we admired in an artistic sport. He was brave, uncompromising and determined to take the sport where it had never been before. He had no patience or tolerance for people who couldn’t see the sport’s potential.”

1962 World champion Donald Jackson was in the stands watching skating at the national championships when I caught up to him: “He changed skating because he was willing to push the boundaries out and he didn’t give up; and that’s what changed skating all over the world. It’s a big loss,” said Jackson.

Truth be told, we all have our memories of Toller – mine was trying to chase him down for an interview for my book. He blew me off the first time and then I phoned him to see if I could catch him. We had the most magical conversation that went on for a couple of hours as I frantically took down notes. We connected.

The next time we spoke was in a podcast at Worlds in 2013. 

Artist. Skater. Visionary. Genius. There is only ever one ‘Toller’ in a generation.

With files from The Canadian Press

Connecting with great people

Inner Expression Productions and Development Group Inc., agree … The best thing is connecting with great people along the way. This is going to be so much fun!!!

http://www.synchmediafilms.com/#!portfolio/c1p39

For Immediate Release

For Immediate Release:

Inner  - Expression is excited to announce that Inner Expression Productions Development Group Inc., is now an International Film, Television, Music Production Company, Encompassing International Management, Training, Consultancy in Entertainment & Peak Performance Company

President: Colli K Christante www.inner-expression.com 
Vice President: Jay Semko www.jaysemko.com 

What Champions know!!!

Reality Check on difference between world class performers and average /mediocre performers - Good Read !!! The World Class Operates From Objective Reality "I’ve discovered most amateurs suffer from mild to severe delusion in relation to their efforts and competencies. In other words, most people delude themselves into thinking they are working harder then they are, and that they are more competent than they actually are. 

The middle class that is most in-congruent with reality. They are operating at a high enough level to understand that higher levels exist. Although they don’t expect to get there, the thought crosses their minds from time to time. Because of their low expectations, their actions are incongruent with their desires. In other words, they want to live the life of the world class, but are unwilling to pay the price. Since this reality is too harsh to bear, they delude themselves into thinking they are doing everything in their power to get ahead. Of course, they’re not. They’ll tell you they’re putting in far more time than they are. They’ll swear they are thinking about their vision all the time, but they’re not. The world class is brutally honest with themselves, and they tend to look reality in the face. They err on the side of over-practicing and over-preparing.

Champions know that, to ascend to the top, you must first be operating from a mindset of objective reality. Self-deception and delusion have no place in the professional performer’s consciousness. " - Steve Siebold

Top Ten Most Influential Women in Sport

What qualifies a woman as influential in the sports world? Is it her athletic ability, verbal skills, looks or her ability to lead into new frontiers? Does influence require years of training, bold new ideas or both? Below you will find our opinion of the top ten most influential women in sports.

Women in Sports Media

Christine Brennan

Brennan is a best-selling author, renowned columnist and commentator. She was the first female sports reporter for the Miami Herald before another first as the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins. Her figure skating book, Inside Edge, was named one of the top 100 sports books of all-time by Sports Illustrated. Brennan also broke the story of the pairs figure skating scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Linda Cohn

Almost 20 years into a TV sports reporting career, Cohn excels at versatility. Whether it’s baseball, basketball, hockey, racing or golf, Cohn covers the sport with ease. In 1987, Cohn became the first full-time female sports anchor on a national radio network (ABC.) She is the author of Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys’ Club. Cohn’s Twitter profile exhorts her followers to “Go after dreams.” It’s not uncommon for Cohn to make a fan’s dream with a retweet or mention.

Laura Gentile

Gentile is vice president of espnW. As a collegian, Gentile led Duke to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary field hockey team.

Jemele Hill

Hill is an ESPN columnist and TV analyst with previous stints at the Detroit Free Press and the Orlando Sentinel. Her Twitter profile reads: “I average 36 tweets a day. This makes me awesome.” Well, then.

Georgie Thompson

Thompson is Sky Sports presenter and A League of Their Own panelist. She has better than 378K Twitter followers and is on the first page of leading Twitter directory, Twellow.

Influential Sports Executives

Jeanie Buss

Buss is the Executive Vice President of one of the world’s most popular franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2010, she authored “Laker Girl.”

Wendy Lewis

Women in Sports & Events awarded Lewis with one of its three Woman of the Year Awards in 2011. Lewis is Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of diversity and strategic alliances. She explained some of her job responsibilities to espnW: “It’s more than just having more representation of a particular race or women, but making sure that we are working more toward achieving sort of the ultimate balance. We are doing that by taking a real, very strategic and very micro look at each one of those establishments and the pipeline of folks that they actually have coming in…”

Circe Wallace

Wallace followed a pro snowboarding career by representing similar stars at the Wasserman athletic management group, where she is a senior vice president. Wallace was also the force behind action sports shows on MTV and BET.

Pioneers for Women in Sports

Billie Jean King

King received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2009. She captured a record 20 titles at Wimbledon. Her Battle of the Sexes in 1973 against Bobby Riggs was a catalyst for the women’s movement. King is the Founder and Honorary Chair of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Pat Summitt

Summitt’s career has spanned almost four decades. Summitt’s Tennessee Lady Vols have made 30 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She was named Naismith Coach of the Century. Her teams have a 100 percent graduation rate for all Lady Vols who have completed their eligibility at Tennessee. She earned a spot among “America’s Best Leaders for 2007″ published by U.S. News & World Report.
Don’t miss following women these, either! Lisa Andersen, Aimee Mullins, Amanda Rykoff, Annika Sorenstam, Sarah Spain, Dara Torres, Venus Williams
Whether the ladies are seasoned professionals or relative newcomers in the sports business, the industry’s future looks bright, thanks to them and other leading ladies.

Post-Career Athletes and Money: How Athletes Can Protect Themselves from Financial Ruin

We’ve all heard the grim statistics about broke post-career athletes – 78% of retired NFL players are broke or experiencing severe financial stress after just two years. The NBA isn’t much better with an estimated 60% broke within five years.

Most athletes, when they’re just starting their sports career, say that fame and fortune will not affect them – they swear they will remain the same humble, lovable darlings as they were during childhood when they played on obscure mud fields.

What happens on the journey from obscure to stardom? One must take into account inflated incomes and egos, and the fact that athletes trust unscrupulous, suited up, slick-talkers without doing due diligence. Blind investing and irresponsible squandering of financial resources lead to post-career athletes’ demise very rapidly.

Although pro athletes make a good haul in multi-million dollar incomes, they are all just one play away from a career-ending injury. Just ask Joe Theisman. One snap…one tackle…one wrong fall…career over. Some blame the hectic demands of the season schedule and naivete about financial planning while others point to players believing there will be just one more contract extension to fund their exorbitant lifestyles.

Post-Career Athletes can Find Solutions

I asked one of my NFL Player Development contacts where he thought the disconnect lies. Here’s what he had to say,

“I really feel like some of the players think, “That won’t happen to me.” Some have relied on what they do on the field to define them so that when it comes to something off the field they may feel like, “That’s not me” or “I’ll be that guy when I’m done playing.” Reality as we know it is that one day ALL players will be done playing.

One of two paths then has to be chosen… the athlete has to ask, “Do I rely on who I was on the field to define me or do I create a new me from here on out?” Both can be successful but I have found that the player who continues to redefine himself does much better. Go forward and create the new you and along with the old you, you will be successful.

So utilization of Player Development resources tends to come too late. We are not the enemy but can be seen as a nagging voice who constantly is reminding them of the inevitable. I have not yet met a Player Development Director who doesn’t want the best for his/her players, during and after football.

So, what’s the answer? One viable way is to hire a reputable financial auditor to make regularly scheduled checks of financial accounts and investments to make sure money is allocated where it’s supposed to go. And, it’s not supposed to go in Uncle Elmo’s pocket or Mr. Slick Word’s vacation resort in theBahamas.

One of my clients, MH Silverman, is one such auditor. Marc Silverman is a former Big 4 Audit Partner and specializes in protecting athletes from being financially exploited. His firm provides the checks and balances needed so current and post career athletes are not defrauded of their fortunes. Some of the services he offers athletes are:

-          Pre-investment due diligence

-          Portfolio audits including investment verification and valuation

-          Cash receipts and cash disbursements audits

-          Royalty audits

-          Contract compliance examinations

Marc states, “Waiting until there is a suspected problem is waiting too long.  The money is already gone.  It’s essential that athletes take a proactive approach with the checks and balances to ensure everything stays where it should – in the athlete’s hands.”

If you’re an athlete or you know an athlete, you can contact Marc Silverman at 908-794-5881 or silverman@mhsilverman.com to discuss how they can put auditing practices in place to make sure post-career athletes don’t say, “I never thought it would happen to me.”

Michelle Hill 

7 Ways to Use Resourcefulness in the Sports Industry

Are you seeking a career in the sports industry or are you already steeped in it? No matter where you find yourself, I have highlighted seven helpful ways to use resourcefulness so you can gain an advantage in the sports field.

1. Preparation Is Everything. It’s always a good idea, whether in your career or in life, to be proactive instead of reactive. The more resources you have prepared ahead of time, the better equipped you’ll be when life gives you a present; expected or unexpected. If you’re seeking a sports career, be proactive by making sure your resume, cover letter, and reference list are polished and ready to go.

If you want to take your current sports career to the next level, prepare by taking relevant classes or workshops to increase your industry knowledge – your professional accomplishments will shine bright. Remember, prevention is better than cure. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Seneca

2. Make Time Work For You. Write down how you spend your time; during the week andon the weekends. Just like a food or financial diary, keep a time diary for one week to pinpoint exactly where your time is going. Assess what pockets of time you can capture and re-direct toward your career goals. If you need to enlist the help of others, don’t be shy.

Think about who you know and trust and ask them if they’d take on a temporary “assignment” to help you with a task or just to exhibit an extra dose of patience while you laser-focus on your career. Don’t take advantage of the good nature of your family and friends and always show your utmost appreciation. “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay

3. Clarify And Define Your Challenges.  Use your resourcefulness to find solutions to specific career challenges that arise instead of wasting precious energy worrying about them. How severe is your challenge? Do you have a career crisis on your hands that needs an immediate solution or just a minor setback that allows you some time to develop an appropriate response?

4. Creative Thinking Is Your Friend. Brainstorm for logical, non-logical, and just plain crazy ideas. Make a list of companies you have only dreamed of working for. You might want to take some time and create a vision board of your ideal career. Choose pictures of what you want your ideal career to look like. Letting your brain travel outside the box is the perfect location for inspiration and workable solutions. Perhaps you simply need a temporary fix if you’re in an intolerable situation so don’t limit yourself by thinking you need a permanent solution this minute.

5. Don’t Repeat History. The saying by Sir Winston Churchill says, “Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” No truer words were spoken when it comes to your sports career. If you continue making the same career mistakes, you will stall your career progress. Use your resourcefulness to make sure you don’t repeat your mistakes.

6. Access Your Current Resources. Resources come in many forms. Think about how you can utilize and leverage the following:

• People in your immediate circle
• Social Media
• Information
• Former bosses, co-workers, and vendors

7. Don’t Think, Just Act. If an opportunity presents itself, don’t overthink it. An opportunist takes advantage of open doors before they close tight. This doesn’t mean you take haphazard, unwise risks, but rather take one giant step through an open door instead of allowing indecisiveness to create a career stalemate. Take to heart the famous words from Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Also, listen to the words of Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time, “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

This article can serve as one resource to help you take your sports career to the next level. Use the steps I’ve outlined to assess your current position and to forecast where you want to take your career. Inactivity breeds inactivity. Instead, implement what Wayne Dyer has said, “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your decison.

Michelle Hill

The Beautiful Game goes Scientific

The beautiful game, football (soccer), has been undergoing a quiet revolution in the land of its birth – England.

English clubs have always sent football talent scouts the length and breadth of the country and further afield too. Decisions on footballing matters and transfers were once based on nothing more than a hunch, a gut feel, and an ‘eye’ for talent. Admittedly there have been numerous success stories from these unsophisticated methods – I think of the late George Best being plucked from Belfast at the age of 15 by Manchester United scout Bob Bishop. Best went on to become a successful player winning several team and individual honors and was notably the European Footballer of the Year in 1968.

As for today, across England a data revolution is taking place as various top Premier League clubs are starting to realize the benefit of data and statistical analytics. You could say that football has finally embraced the premise of Moneyball (now a movie with Brad Pitt, which is set to be released in September). English football has become scientific.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, written by Michael Lewis, proved that data does matter in sports and can often be the difference between winning and losing.  Lewis’ book focuses on the Oakland Athletics baseball team of the early 2000s, who, under General Manager Billy Beane, assembled a winning team by focusing on an analytical approach to evaluating player performances. Beane concentrated on statistics like on-base percentage as an indicator of offensive success, going against the conventional thinking and trusted player performance measurements of the time.

Much like at the Oakland A’s, number crunchers at various English Premier League (EPL) clubs are now playing a vital role in footballing strategy. Player statistics that truly matter have been isolated. Presentations you’d expect to be given by a “quant” at an investment bank are becoming the norm. Nearly every minute aspect of a football match can be recorded and analysed. The ‘nerds’ are ‘over the moon’, as pundits and players like to say in England. Numbers are beginning to give clubs an edge.

There are numerous advocates of the data revolution.

Arsene Wenger, manager of Arsenal FC, an Economics graduate and keen mathematician, was an early pioneer of using data to make decisions on player transfers. Even at Monaco in the late 1980s, before his success at Arsenal, he had realized the importance of data and was collating and using factual evidence on players. Manchester City now has a performance analytics division, while Chelsea has a performance director – Mike Forde.  The role of a performance director, like Forde, is to support the coaching team by looking at all facets of performance outside of coaching and bring structure, policy and procedures to it.

In a recent Financial Times article, Forde, who studied Psychology in Beane’s hometown of San Diego and has studied American sports, illustrated the staggering amount of data at his disposal:

“We’ve somewhere around 32 million data points over 12,000, 13,000 games now”.

Other clubs, such as Bolton, have also adopted the more scientific approach. Former manager Sam Allardyce is an old school football man and is somebody you’d probably expect to favor the more traditional methods – like intuition –but he too is a disciple of data. The approach certainly worked for him at Bolton. Not a historically fashionable or wealthy club, Bolton enjoyed a period of unprecedented success under his management with the team never finishing outside the Premiership top ten from 2002/2003 – 2006/2007, as well as qualifying for the UEFA cup in 2005/2006 and 2007/2008. This was an extraordinary achievement for a club of its size and limited financial resources.

Allardyce’s signing of Welsh international Gary Speed, aged 34, for Bolton is a prime example of how he used data to evaluate a transfer decision. Many would have expected Speed to have been a dud at an age when most players have hung up the boots. However, Speed’s physical data compared favorably with younger, more celebrated and, more importantly, more expensive players such as Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard. Allardyce had no hesitation in signing Speed, a relative bargain, who went on to play until he was 38 at Bolton. Speed incidentally is still playing today for Sheffield United. It is little surprise too that Mike Forde, now at Chelsea, was at Bolton with Allardyce.

So what are the numbers and statistics that really matter for football success?

There is probably no holy grail and if there is, it hasn’t been found. Possession doesn’t necessarily win matches in football (unlike in, say, rugby) and finding a relationship between distances covered by midfielders and winning has not been proven either. Most of the key statistics now being used by top clubs have not been shared, which isn’t surprising. We do at least know that clubs are focusing on the distances covered by players at high speeds which they term ‘high-intensity output’.  Another approach is to measure a host of data on a player, including the number of passes, tackles and distances covered, and then monitor those data sets over a number of years. This at least reveals when a player regresses and is comparable to a risk management methodology by clubs. Another challenge for the number crunchers is comparability. Can you realistically compare a striker scoring a heap of goals at the top of the Championship with a striker plying his trade in the  basement of the Premier League?

Is data really making a difference?

It is probably too early to conclude whether or not the number crunchers in English football are holding the keys to the unlocking of sustained success. At times talent is so obvious that you don’t need data analytics to support a decision in football. I doubt whether Barcelona FC needed any statistics to support their decision to sign a young Argentine  by the name of Lionel Messi when he was just 13. You might also argue that statistical analytics has hardly been working at Arsenal recently as the North London club last lifted a trophy in 2005.

However, surely anything that gives you an edge in football – a multi-million dollar industry where the margins between success and failure are so slim – is worthy of embracing. It is for that reason that data analytics in football is here to stay.

Chris Conway

Finding a Sports Agent

This article is for all the young athletes who depend on Sports Networker to provide resourceful tools for your future sports career. You’ve got hustle, talent, and on your way to the pro level. How do you find a sports agent who has your best interest in mind? Here are some tips to help you find the right agent who will represent you, the athlete…and you, the person.

1. Ask fellow athletes and professional level personnel for referrals.

Word gets around quickly and good agents come highly recommended, based on experience and a stellar record of matching athletes to the right team and the best package.

2. Hold out for the best.

Many will attempt to woo you to sign with them. They will offer money, LOTS of it. Don’t just sign with the first agent you talk to. Interview many agents and ask a ton of questions. Believe me, they’re used to it.

3. Perform a background check.

Do your homework! Ask for references of peers and a list of former clients who obtained successful contracts through that agent. Take time to call and check out the agents’ credibility. If they’re reputable, they will not have any problem with you doing a little investigation.

4. Utilize the Sports Agent Directory.

This is a comprehensive listing of agents and their contact information. Still – do yourhomework. Just because an agent is listed in a directory, doesn’t mean he or she is reputable or the right match for you and your sports goals. Don’t do any business with an agent unless he’s an educated, certified agent.

5. Don’t sign on the dotted line just yet.

If you’re planning to play college ball, signing with an agent will wipe out your eligibility. Don’t let an agent tell you they might not be available when you’re ready to sign. There are enough good agents in the world to go around.

6. Make sure the agent is adept at CBA’s and is well connected.

A great agent is well connected in the industry. He has thousands of phone numbers of coaches, general managers, scouts, and athletic managers. He’s on the cutting edge of proposals and he’s at the top of his game with negotiation skills.

7.  The agent must be a master communicator and networker.

The agent you ultimately decide on must have top-notch communication skills and be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. After all, he’ll need those skills to successfully negotiate with team owners, coaches, and sponsors. He must be able to build honest rapport with virtually anyone and his networking skills must be unsurpassed.

8. Honesty, integrity, patience, determination, and drive must dominate the agents’ entire persona.

The agent you decide on HAS to be driven by these qualities in all areas of his life.

9. An agent should meet and exceed your needs as a client.

An agent will excel in all areas of client requirements such as endorsement deals, restructuring of contracts, doing your taxes, or simply providing an ear to you, your significant other, and perhaps even family members who have concerns. He sincerely cares for you, the individual.

10. Only the 100% committed need apply.

If you’ve narrowed your choices for an agent, put each to the test. Call at various times of the day to see if the agent picks up the phone or how long it takes him to call you back. The agent you want is the one who is available 24/7/365 and responds with enthusiasm, a can-do attitude, and stats to back up what he’s promising.

Michelle Hill