Have you ever heard of serendipity? Those chance encounters or events which bring about a cool outcome? Well then. This will all make sense.
Meet Robbie. Robbie is a professional footballer. Having played with several clubs (Huddersfield, Leyton Orient, Coventry, Cambridge United and, MK Dons) Robbie has met a lot of sportspeople in his time, and from talking to them (he’s a sociable chap) he became very aware of two things. Firstly, a sports career can’t last forever. Through age, injury or just bad luck, most sportspeople’s careers won’t last all that long. Secondly, although there are thousands of sportspeople out there with all these wonderful, employable qualities, there are no (honestly, we’ve checked) NO recruitment platforms out there dedicated solely to helping them find meaningful, fulfilling careers after sport.
Meet Rob. Rob is a recruitment consultant (though he’s never been quite happy with that label, as he does a bit more than that.) Rob works closely with client businesses to help them recruit exactly the right people for them. And he noticed that more and more often, clients were asking him about recruiting ex-sports professionals. He also noticed that those sports professionals usually outperformed their colleagues and went on to have really quite impressive careers. This seemed to be a pattern. Now, hold that thought.
You see where we’re going with this. So Rob and Robbie got chatting, and suddenly LAPS was born.
Everyone at LAPS believes fully in the impressive qualities sportspeople have to offer in a huge range of careers after sport. We know what employers want, and we know that sportspeople are often uniquely suited to excel in business. Our job now is to connect the dots, and provide as much advice, support and technical wizardry along the way as possible.
So there you have it. That’s our story. And we’re sticking to it.
Professional Footballer, avid dog-walker, spicy food fan and fair weather golfer.
Robbie is a professional footballer. He’s played in all four divisions below the Premier League and graced stadiums such as Old Trafford, Wembley and Anfield. Away from playing, Robbie is co-founder of a players’ agency and an active alumni of Loughborough University’s Sports Science & Maths degree. He is a big fan of cooking and eating out, the spicier the better. On a sunny day he loves a game of golf or walking the dog, enjoys spending time with his nieces and nephews, and is a (self-professed) part-time film critic.
Recruitment Expert, music lover, sports fan and grower (and chef) of vegetables.
Rob is an experienced company Director, having held both Executive and non-Executive roles, and has been recruiting for over 20 years. He has worked with companies including William Jackson Food Group (Abel & Cole), Raspberry Pi, Focusrite and The Gap Partnership, as well as founding and running his own successful recruitment and consultancy business. When he’s not doing that he can usually be found listening to live music, watching or playing sport, fulfilling an ongoing challenge to watch one new sport every year, spending time with his family or, most often, a bewildering combination of all of the above.
Professional Footballer, cat lover, boxing aficionado and coffee connoisseur
Adam knows the north of England football scene intimately; growing up in Wallsend, he represented England up to u20 level and played his academy football at Newcastle United before spells at Carlisle, Hartlepool and Darlington. Now he leads the line at Crawley Town alongside his work at LAPS.
When he’s got the energy, you can find Adam refining his golf game. When he’s not got the energy he’s probably developing his future career as a reality TV critic, or indulging his love of the cinema which he tries to hit up at least once a week.
Footballer, sprinter, skeleton racer!
After a successful sporting career spanning 3 sports, Ronnie Wells joins the LAPS team as our member support manager. Ronnie will be the first point of contact for all the LAPS members, whatever stage of their career they are at.
After completing a YTS as a footballer at Bristol City, Ronnie then switched to Athletics as a sprinter, ranked 3rd in the world at under-17 after completing an unbeaten season at 100m. A second career change saw him move to winter sports, joining the GB skeleton team and competing on the Europa cup circuit for 2 years. A serious injury means Ronnie has now been able to join LAPS full time as he transitions out of sport.
Away from the track, and the ice, Ronnie is an avid gamer and a huge F1 fan.
Business and recruitment expert, sports fan, ex-cricketer and owner of the world’s laziest golden retriever
Terry’s wealth of experience with business partnerships and recruitment, coupled with a love of sport, made him an ideal recruit for LAPS in January 2018. He’s really invested in the LAPS missions of helping sports professionals to find new and rewarding careers after sport.
Since joining LAPS, Terry’s been a big part of fostering ongoing partnerships for LAPS and had a big hand in organising our flagship events. When he’s not working (which isn’t often, as he’s extremely dedicated!) he loves live music, mostly of an indie persuasion, watching his beloved Leeds Utd and attempting to make his incredibly lazy, rain-hating golden retriever go for walks.
International footballer, charity founder and mentor
Mustapha ‘Muzzy’ Dumbuya has played for clubs all over the UK including Doncaster Rovers, Portsmouth FC, Notts County and Partick Thistle; and then went to the States where he signed for Phoenix Rising and Tampa Bay Rowdies. In his time in the US, Muzzy won the Western Conference title with Phoenix and the Eastern Conference title with Tampa Bay. At Notts County, he was the Fans’ Player Of The Year.
Muzzy is the founder of MD24FOUNDATION which is a non profit organisation facilitating the well-being of children in Sierra Leone, his country of birth. We’re thrilled that Muzzy will be part of the LAPS team running our football academy workshops.
Badminton World Champion, Olympian and Speaker
Gail represented GB from 1995 until her retirement from professional sport in 2008. In that time she won Commonwealth, World and European Championships, and brought home a silver medal from the Athens Olympics. In 2009 she was honoured with an MBE.
Since retiring from badminton Gail has become a very popular motivational speaker, host and compere as well as regularly appearing in the media as a pundit and commentator.
Gail works with LAPS to ensure our events are even better!
Pro footballer and boxer, mental health advocate, PT, Presenter and part-time singer!
Former pro footballer and boxer Leon McKenzie is passionate about tackling the stigma around mental health, and works as an ambassador for mental health charity CALM, as well as being a part-time boxing coach.
He campaigns tirelessly to raise awareness of mental health issues, making regular appearances at academies across the country to share his experiences.
In what little spare time he has, he enjoys a game of golf, and loves music – especially singing, spending as much time as possible in the studio.