Since we began in 2016, the Sport for Business / PwC 30 under 30 has highlighted almost 200 talented young individuals working in or around the business of sport.

The 2023 list is taking shape with nominations coming in from a wide cross-section of areas across the Sport for Business network.

Those who have been selected before are a group that has since gone on to advance into serious positions of leadership, to create game-changing companies of their own, and to prove that age should never be a barrier to talent and ability.

As we build up to the naming of the 2023 list we thought it would be interesting to dive back into the lists and identify some of those that have moved onwards and upwards over the last few years…

Ryan Bailey (2018) was a sports reporter with The 42 when he was named on the list. One year later he joined the IRFU as a media and communications officer where he has since become a key figure in telling the story of Irish Rugby.

Scott Graham (2018) was an account executive with Teneo when he was named. A passion for cycling brough him to take on the role of Communications Manager with Cycling Ireland and he is now the interim Operations Manager and a key person in bringing the Cyclo-Cross World Cup back to Dublin again later this year.

Sarah Judge (2019) was a marketing and events coordinator at Horse Racing Ireland at the time of her nomination. She left there to become Marketing Manager at PlusVital and in August of last year she moved to join the Sponsorship and PR team at Irish Life where she is now an Assistant manager.

Carla Reynolds (2019) was Head of Communications, Social and PR at the Irish Ladies Golf Union in 2019 and carried that role through the formation of Golf Ireland. Last year she moved into the world of agency with Wilson Hartnell and only this month she has taken on a key role with our partners in the Irish Sport on Social Media report, Olytico.

Laura Byrne (2020) was Brand Strategy Manager at Liberty Insurance in 2020 having previously worked with Lidl. Since then she became a Brand Manager with Procter and Gamble and in November moved back into a more sporting environment when she became Sponsorship manager with Bank Ireland and a key member of the team behind one of the biggest sponsorship portfolios in the country.

Rebecca Evans (2020) was an athlete and sponsorship manager with Line Up Sports when she joined the list in 2020. In 2021 she decided to branch out on her own and establish VOS Sport in London and where she now represents a number of top athletes including Rachael Blackmore.

Mallorie Ronan (2021) was a Senior Sponsorship Executive at Navy Blue Sports when she joined the list. In November of last year she moved deeper into sport taking up a role as Marketing and Sponsorship executive with the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Conor Nolan (2021) was also working in the field of representation, as an athlete and sponsorship manager with Sport Endorse. In 2021 he moved to London for a position with United Entertainment Group and in January of this year he baceme a Partnerships manager with West Ham United in the English Premier League.

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So, who do you work with that has shone over the past twelve months or more and is deserving of recognition as they rise through their career? It could be someone in another company that has impressed you in their dealings with you or someone you have admired from a distance.

Over the coming weeks, we will be highlighting the moves that some of our ‘alumni’ have made over the past year.

In March we will drop a new podcast series talking to some of them and next September we will do likewise with a number of this year’s ‘intake’.

Criteria

The criteria for submission is that the person should be working within the sports industry, or in a sponsorship or agency capacity that is bringing sport to life, and that they should be born in or after 1993.

You are invited to submit names and a short precis of why an individual deserves to be recognised below.

Our ambition from the start has been to create a network of people making a real difference within our industry.

Who should we be looking to for the next wave of excellence?

This is an opportunity to put forward those you have come across that have struck you as having real potential, to be part of our next generation of leaders.

It’s not about where they are now. It’s all about where they could get to with the right breaks.

The list publication for this year starts on Wednesday, March 1st.