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UCFB Student Bradleigh Rubs Shoulders With Premier League Stars

UCFB student Bradleigh Cregeen rubs shoulders with Premier League stars at first Ellevate scouting tournament

 

 

The Ellevate App is causing waves in football. Described as the social network for players, the platform is designed for young and aspiring footballers to promote themselves, interact with like-minded players and potentially get scouted.

 

The first Ellevate football talent scouting tournament – hosted in Manchester on Wednesday – saw Premier League hotshots Rhian Brewster and Aaron Wan-Bissaka helping out in the search for the stars of tomorrow.

 

We caught up with Bradleigh Cregeen, a BA (Hons) International Football Business student at UCFB Etihad Campus, who was working at the event as part of his placement with sports marketing agency B-Engaged…

 

Can you tell us a little bit about Ellevate, what do you think an app like it could do for young footballers?

Ellevate is a brand new talent scouting app and is basically social media for football players. Anyone can sign up for an account and they have to upload videos of themselves playing. Scouts and agents can then search for the specific talent they are looking for. For this event, scouts selected some of the best players from the app to create dream teams, and along with some influencer teams they competed in a tournament watched by some highest level scouts to try and find the next top talent. I think this app is brilliant for young footballers as it gives those who believe they are talented and who may not otherwise be spotted the opportunity to be scouted.

 

You were at yesterday’s event with B-Engaged, can you tell us how you got involved with them and what your role entails?

This was the first time I’ve worked with B-Engaged and I found out about them from one of my lecturers who knew I had a keen interest in sports events. We had a range of roles throughout the day such as setting up and clearing away at the end of the day, checking in the teams as they arrived and then out again when they left, liaising with the teams/media for any support they may need, recording the scores of the games, and overall just being on hand to help to ensure the smooth running of the event. The team at B-Engaged were very grateful for the help and hopefully, this will lead to working with them again in the future. 

 

Pros such as Rhian Brewster and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were at the Ellevate event, can you tell us about the day and what it was like to rub shoulders with Premier League stars?

It was very exciting to meet them, particularly Aaron Wan-Bissaka given that I’m a massive United fan, and a good challenge to remain professional whilst working at the event with them. It was interesting to see what the role of a brand ambassador at an event such as this entails. I was surprised at how busy they were, and the strict schedule that was in place for interviews with the likes of Sky Sports and BBC. Overall, I really enjoyed the day and gained a fascinating insight into what it’s like to work at a high profile event.

 

Do you think educational programmes such as UCFB’s Football Coaching & Talent Development degree can benefit from embracing new scouting and analysis tech?

I think using tech such as this is beneficial to students as this app in particular, gives them the opportunity to monitor a large database of players without having to travel. Scouting and analysis tech is only going to become bigger so having experience of using it during their degree program will put them in a good position when looking for roles after they graduate.

 

B-Engaged are always at the forefront of pushing boundaries with the new generation of players such as Hector Bellerin. Coming from your International Football Business background yourself, how important do you think it is for brands and athletes to form business relationships like this?

I believe it’s vital for brands and athletes to form business relationships. Premier League stars such as Hector Bellerin have huge global reach across their social media platforms. Posts from athletes promoting a brand can have a massive impact on growing it, on a global scale, as it will reach new audiences that it has not done previously.

 

Appearances at brand events as an ambassador is also an important part of these relationships. Knowing that a well-known athlete is going to attend will attract people to an event, and with the way social media is today, people will post photos of themselves with the athletes with branding in the background, actually promoting the brand without even knowing. These relationships do not only benefit the brand, it also helps to grow an athlete’s personal profile, to the point where some athletes have now even created their own personal brands.