Freshly Signed

This week we chat with Pieter Muller, the South African rugby legend who thrilled Springbok fans with his direct style of play. Pieter wasn’t just a Springbok fan favourite, he also thrilled crowds in Europe playing for the Cardiff Blues and French side, Toulouse. 

Pieter talks us through his career highlights and what it was like playing abroad in the 90’s. Join us as we get the inside story of pro rugby and the brilliant work being done by The Rugby Legends NPO that has become something of a developmental talent factory right from grassroots level. The work is paying off with an amazing 40 000 kids now playing rugby, kids who have never played rugby before.

If you want to get behind this incredible organisation, you can reach them via the SA Rugby Legends website.


This episode is brought to you by BDP Attorneys

In today's show, we chat with retired Ipswich pro, Simon Milton.  Simon spent 11 years playing for the club before he transitioned into management, still with Ipswich. But today's story isn’t about his time there. It’s about his efforts in Ghana and why he needs your help now. Take a listen as Simon explains how he became involved in an incredible charity that is using football as a means to keep kids in school and keep them fed. 

This is no thinly veiled talent spotting mission for English football clubs, although Simon says there is a fair bit of talent there. Simon has a firm rule: if you don’t attend school, you cant come to practice. Simon’s story is one of hope and upliftment as he uses his skills both on the pitch and in the boardroom to build children’s lives in Ghana.

But he can't do it alone. The Futurestars Scholarship program is looking for volunteers to help coach the kids. The trip is surprisingly affordable and will not only change the kids lives, it will change yours too. Take a listen.

For more info check out: www.futurestarscharity.org.uk or mail Simon directly on [email protected]

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The retired pro footballer has set up his base on Malta and every year he takes ten promising young footballers under his wing. With a sharp eye, not just for talent, but for work ethic and mental agility, Denis grooms his protégés for their shot at glory in a European club through his Talent Eleven Academy.

He is also on a mission to help kids living in Brazils notorious Favelas break free of their challenging backgrounds. Denis has written a successful book on Leonardo Da Vinci (Rebus Da Vinci) in his native Italian, and the English version of this book is being published next month. All proceeds of the sale of the book will go to Denis’ Favela charity.

If you would like to reach out to Denis to find out more about his football academy DM him on Instagram, or via his LinkedIn page here: or email him directly here: [email protected]

Take a listen to the fascinating Denis Guerra story on Freshly Signed.

Clubs keen to sign the next big football talent are eager to spot them young. But how young is too young? Join us for a fascinating chat with Italian sports lawyer Lucio Mazzei as we dissect the fine line between exploitation and a footballer’s dream career.

If you have enjoyed this episode, please forward a show link to someone you care about? Thank you, it means a lot!

This episode is brought to you by SportsLawAfrica  

Can you really turn Flow on at will?

Bradley Kohn helps sports and business clients find flow. Bradley himself finds flow competing in extreme sports and publishing poetry. We caught up with him in a castle in Germany and asked him how his interests in extreme sports, doing movie stunts and screaming around a race track on his high performance BMW reconcile with the gentleness and introspection required to be a published poet. His answers may surprise you.

Take a listen to the Bradley Kohn interview. Reach out to Bradley via DM on Instagram if you think hacking flow is just what your sports career needs right now.

If you have enjoyed this episode, please forward a show link to someone you care about? Thanks you, it means a lot!

This episode is brought to you by SportsLawAfrica  

Bodhi Eira Jones founded the London-based KAIFLOW organisation fifteen years ago. A steady stream of high performers have used the unique KaiFlow techniques to not just get into ‘flow’ during sports competition or boardroom battles, but to question the very roots of why they compete in the first place. 

The staggering results speak for themselves, from world champion surfers to business moguls finding their purpose, the KaiFlow coaching methods stand apart in what is a crowded space. 

Join us as we discover how to achieve ‘flow’, that state of grace where an athlete, or business founder, is ‘in the zone’ - every muscle twitch and brain neuron firing in complete harmony elevating play to, quite literally, the next level. 

The not-so-stunning revelation that the outdated training methodology of ‘win at all costs’ is not all its cracked up to be: being in flow, individually or as a team, elevates the state of play to a zone where winners win because of excellence, not because they have had to resort to gouging an opponents eye with their thumb. 

Bodhi has a gift for our listeners this week.
Unlock some of the KaiFlow training by following this link: http://www.kaiflow.com/guidingprinciple

If you have enjoyed this episode, please forward a show link to someone you care about? Thanks you, it means a lot!

This episode is brought to you by SportsLawAfrica  

We wade into the Lewis Hamilton / Max Verstappen incident, talk about the role influencers have in empowering racism in sport and discuss why black players have to work twice as hard to get half as much.

This episode is brought to you by SportsLawAfrica  

Football clubs have a duty of care toward their players. A spate of injuries could see the clubs out-of-pocket and out-of-players in short order.

Luckily there’s insurance for that. Premiums are easily budgeted for and clubs have access to cash when they need it most. This all makes a lot of sense.

But what exactly can be covered and where does the player’s duty of care to him or herself start and the club's end?

And what about concussion, accidental death or injury off the pitch?

We were lucky enough to catch up with Guy Bonwick of AXIS who is a leading expert on sports insurance.

Player’s Unions and club management take a listen. This is for you.

For any queries you can contact Guy directly:
[email protected]
AXIS

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In this week's show we chat with powerlifting and karate champion Antoine ‘Papa Tony’ Mallia about discipline, the learnings from pro sport that could carry over into corporate life, and what it was as a small boy with big ambition growing up on the small island of Malta. 

Antoine tells a fascinating tale of finding his way through the minefield before sports nutrition and supplements were mainstream. He speaks of depression, and how his strict Jesuit and home upbringing were instrumental in helping him to build the mental toughness required not only to succeed in sport but in the corporate world. Antoine hustled gym space at a local hotel (the only decent gym on the island) and cajoled friends to train with him. But his frenetic drive and push-the-limits training schedule soon left him alone with his weights, unable to compete with the attraction of girls and surf. Today, outside of his day job, Antoine trains sportspeople from a variety of disciplines. He also trains their trainers. 

Take a listen.

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Coke, Heineken and professional player pushback in this week's episode of the Freshly Signed podcast. 

Professional Sport Sponsorships are evolving. Cristiano Ronaldo shaved £4 billion off Coke’s share price this week when the health-conscious professional football player removed bottles of the sugar-laden fizzy drink from the interview desk moments before a press interview. A day later French pro, Paul Pogba, a devout Muslim, removed a Heineken beverage from the table in front of him during post-match interviews. Obtaining and managing sport sponsorships is a tricky business. The organisers of the French open fluffed the opportunity to manage crisis communications properly when tennis ace Naomi Osaka, who suffers from depression, declined to participate in a press conference. The infuriated organisers fined her and threatened to bar her from Ronald Garros and other grand slam events if she does that again. 

Unfortunately for the French Open organisers the world has sided with Osaka and it is the organisers themselves who have sullied sponsors names by association. 

One thing is for sure, professional players brand equity lies with their millions of fans and not with event organisers or sponsors. Take a listen to this week's show and please share it with someone you care about. 

And if you subscribe you won’t miss an episode. Your subscription really helps us and our professional African athletes out very much!

This episode is brought to you by SportsLawAfrica