Mathew Cole CEO & Co-founder of Sporple was as sports agent for a decade and director at one of Australia’s most prestigious sports agencies The Blaze.

Mathew gives his top 5 tips to athletes looking to sign with a sports agent.

If you’re an athlete and have been approached by an agent, you need to think “why have they approached me?†and you have to look what’s in it for you as the athlete. So what is the benefit for you getting an agent and why have they approached you?

Find out who is the agent that approached you or find out what professional agents are in your market and do your research on them. Make sure the have they have the correct accreditation, make sure they have relationships with the the provinces. Go around, ask other players, other clubs – If they have other clients that you know, go and have a chat to them. Find out what’s good about them, what’s bad them so that you have all the information that is humanly possible before you sign that contract.

There’s often misconception that if you go with an agent that has a few clients that they won’t be able to look after you, and that maybe the case if they have hundreds of clients. But if they have a couple of clients in your position, what often happens is if there is a movement with those clients then your agent is likely to know about an opportunity or that a contract is available before any other agent because he has enough market knowledge. Also that agent will know what is going on in Australia, New Zealand, France Japan, they’ll know what is going on all over the world and therefore they’ll be able to give you better advice.

Your agent is going to give you good news, your agent will give you bad news, but you have got to be able to deal with them professionally. Go get a coffee with them, go get a meal with them and make sure that you guys have a really good honest open relationship. One of the top things my clients always used to say and why our relationships worked so well was because we could always be open and honest with each other. So it’s very important that you’re comfortable with your agent before you sign with them.

Your job is to be a professional athlete that is your goal, your goal is not to sign with an agent. Once you have signed with an agent that is not the end game, the end game is to become a professional athlete. Your agent is not going to help you become a professional athlete if your performances are not justifying the contracts. The hard work doesn’t stop when you sign with an agent, it only gets harder, and that’s when the competition for those professional contracts get even harder. Make sure that you’re very realistic of your agents role in your overall career.

The post Top 5 tips when signing with a sports agent appeared first on Sporple Newsroom.