EI Case Study – Chris Bullock
Chris Bullock is the co-founder and Managing Director of Opus Sports Consultancy Agency, a FIFA Licenced Football Agent, currently living in Cape Town, South Africa.
Originally from the UK, he ran a Premier League football club in Lesotho, which also included developing women and youth footballers and was attached to a charity which used football as a tool to empower the lives of youth
He worked for two years as the Deputy CEO of the Lesotho Football Association before moving to South Africa.
He also runs a Sports Consultancy Agency that focuses mainly on Football and cooperates with UMBRO amongst other partners for the African market.
Quite a busy agenda Chris!
Chris talked about the importance of the psychological and emotional realm of players, how this is influential in terms of the final performance on the pitch, and the role of the professionals supporting the players in achieving remarkable performance results and successful careers.
What could be the benefit for Agencies, Clubs, and Federations in having a Sports Psychologist or a Mindset-Emotion training expert working with individuals and groups has been another interesting point discussed.
We delved into and talked in-depth about those moments of Transition for the players, especially when a player moves to another country, to a new reality, to a new culture and how the psycho-emotional spectrum is influenced by the new environment, consequently their performance.
Chris stated in those moments, providing support to the players is of vital importance.
Being football the same in all countries […], all the other factors will change and the capability of Adapting to the new reality is critically crucial for the athlete’s success.
I met Chris at the African Football Business Summit 2023, in Kenya, which he attended as one of the valuable voices in one of the Panels of Discussion sharing his expertise gained over decades.
Personally, Chris is a very nice man, easy-going and very acknowledged about the football industry all-around.
From the Federation’s point of view to the Consultancy and across Scouting and supporting the Athletes to find a valuable path for their career and sports success.
Most importantly he shared his vision as an educator, providing and empowering these young talented guys with the tools they will need, holistically, not only technical or tactical during their sports career but also equipping them with those psychological and behavioural vital tools that will sustainably enable them to be successful in life as well.
Thanks Chris, it has been a nice and insightful conversation!
Enjoy the video!
