We’re thrilled to welcome on board our new Head of Marketing, the Olympic, World, European and All England badminton champion, Gail Emms MBE.
Gail’s love of badminton began at the age of four, and saw her represent her country for the first time in 1995, and go on to become an Olympic silver medallist in 2004, European champion in Geneva the same year, and World Champion in Madrid in 2006. She played both mixed doubles with Nathan Robertson and women’s doubles with Donna Kellogg, and retired from the sport in 2008 after the Beijing Olympics.
Alongside an active career as a commentator, broadcaster and TV panellist, Gail has also worked as a motivational speaker, working to promote the positive impact sport can have on life and wellbeing, inspiring young people to be more active and healthy in their lifestyle choices through her work as an ambassador for the Youth Sports Trust and Badminton Sport England.
Gail is well aware of the challenges and issues facing sports people when they retire from sport and has worked extensively to raise awareness, support and funding. Depression, financial issues and a loss of identity are all common concerns, and Gail hopes her work with LAPS will be a big step in helping to provide practical, life-changing support and guidance for as many sports professionals as possible.
In her role as Head of Marketing, Gail will be working with organisations, businesses and governing bodies to form ongoing partnerships and create as many opportunities as possible for LAPS members. Raising the profile of sports professionals as an invaluable and uniquely talented pool of prospective employees is an important part of it, helping to spread the word about the assets and attributes that sportspeople tend to possess innately that are so highly sought after in a huge range of industries and environments.
“Having been through it myself and seen what so many fellow athletes go thorough once the time to stop competing comes, I’m really passionate about working with governing bodies and organisations to make this point in an Athlete’s life a wonderful opportunity, not a struggle.”