We have now completed this year’s Sport for Business PwC 30 Under 30.
It is a recognition of the talent we have coming through in the sector across areas as diverse as promotion, technology, sponsorship, media, administration and more.
These 30 individuals have been nominated by their peers and are making a mark on the business of sport.
They have the undoubted potential to become industry leaders of tomorrow.
2024 is the ninth year of publication and former ‘alumni’ are in leading roles not only in Ireland but across global sport.
We will shortly drop a new Podcast series talking to those who have gone before in the eight years leading up to this and on Friday, June 7th we will gather the 2024 cohort as a group at the offices of PwC in Dublin to meet up for the first time.
We were oversubscribed as ever with nominees, but there will always be another opportunity and next year will be special being the 10th anniversary of the listing.
Who do you think has the potential to join next year’s list? Nominate your colleague or peer here.
**********
Tye Adamson, Boylesports
Tye Adamson is a Sponsorship Executive at BoyleSports where he is currently preparing for the BoyleSports Irish National at Fairyhouse over the Easter Weekend.
He joined the company in June 2023 having worked with the GAA and at Croke Park as part of their graduate programme, for 14 months.
While there he worked on GAAGO live broadcasts – assistant producing events, and dealing with talent.
He graduated from the Technological University of Dublin with a Degree in International Business and German in 2020.
**********
Rob Browne, Sigmoid HQ
Rob Browne is a co-founder of Sigmoid Sports, an indoor golf venue, apparel and management company based in Sandyford in Dublin.
After obtaining his Degree in Sports Management, with a specialisation in Sports Marketing, Strategic Planning, and Event Management from UCD, Rob joined Five Iron Golf in New York, where he played a pivotal role during a significant expansion phase, experiencing the launch of three new locations in Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
As a key member of their marketing team, he spearheaded the development of diverse partnerships and activation opportunities.
In 2021, he completed an online course in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School Online and returned to Dublin with Platinum Sports management before establishing Sigmoid Sports with Dave Kearney.
**********
Lucy Byrne, KickStat
Lucy Byrne is the founder of KickStat, a sports technology company developing a fan engagement application for supporters of women’s football.
The application will provide real-time updates, in-depth analysis and exclusive commercial content tailored to the women’s game.
Through the use of artificial intelligence, the application will capture insights on fan behaviour and analytics, powering partnered football clubs with the ability to leverage such data on their fanbase and generate new commercialisation opportunities.
She has a Commerce degree from UCD and is currently working towards completing an MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Trinity College Dublin.
She is also currently Chairperson of the first official Ireland Women’s National Team Supporters Club.
She has recently completed the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Phase 1 programme in TU Dublin.
**********
John Conlon, CMS Marketing
John Conlon is an Account Manager at CMS Marketing, initially joining the company as an Account Executive in 2022.
He oversees projects for some of the agency’s most important client brands including Vodafone and Paddy Power.
Over the last year, he has successfully overseen sponsorship activations including the Men’s and Women’s Guinness 6 Nations, the IRFU Summer Series, Paddy Power’s Cheltenham Fanzone, and the Dublin Racing Festival.
John graduated with a Master’s Degree in Marketing Practice from UCD Smurfit in 2021, and also holds a BSc in Marketing from TU Dublin.
**********
Ellen Campbell, Sport Ireland
Ellen Campbell is a Diversity, Inclusion and Ethics Executive at Sport Ireland.
She started working in Sport Ireland at the end of 2022, having served an internship at An Garda Síochána.
She works with stakeholders across multiple sports to support the delivery of Sport Ireland’s commitments to diversity and inclusion.
She graduated from DCU with a Degree in Contemporary Culture and Society where she also completed an Erasmus placement at Charles University in Prague, one of the oldest universities in the world.
**********
Paul Carr, Basketball Ireland
Paul Carr is the Grants and Participation Manager at Basketball Ireland. He joined the Governing Body as a Development and then a Sports Inclusion Development Officer in 2019, moving down from his native Donegal where he had been working in schools and clubs to develop the sport.
He graduated from The Institute of Technology Tralee (now Munster Technological University) with a degree in Health and Leisure with Sports Development and returned to education in 2021 securing a Masters in Sports Management from UCD.
Paul took on the inclusion side of the governing body, ensuring a voice would be heard from everyone through a 4 year inclusion strategy while creating a new Club Mark in Basketball Ireland to develop clubs further.
In his latest role he continues to work towards developing the sport further.
**********
Sean Casserly, Australian Grand Prix Corporation
Sean Casserly is a Commercial Partnerships Account Manager at the Australian Grand Prix, Corporation and is fresh today from staging the race over the weekend.
Responsible for roles in Sales, Strategy, and Delivery and working with clients including McDonalds, Canadian Club, Diageo, Campari Aperol, TCL, San Pellegrino, Ford, and Shell among others he has been with the organisation since last January.
Casserly spent a year with Onside Sponsorship prior to heading down under and has also worked with Druid Sport and as a research assistant with AFL Europe.
A graduate of UCD’s Sports and Exercise Management Course and with a Masters from the Global Institute of Sport, he is a great example of talented young Irish professionals spreading their wings around the world.
**********
Emma Collopy, Pinergy
Emma Collopy is a Marketing Executive at Pinergy. She re-joined the team in 2023 after spending an internship with them in 2022.
She has brought fresh energy and thinking to the company’s sponsorship properties and was instrumental in the successful delivery of the Pinergy sponsorship of the Munster v Crusaders game in Pairc Ui Chaoimh in early February.
She graduated with a Primary Degree in Marketing from the University of Limerick in 2023 and is putting her education and her previous experience to good use.
**********
Daniel Culliton, Gymnastics Ireland
Daniel Culliton is an Event Executive with Gymnastics Ireland having come through the Sport Ireland Aspire Graduate Programme.
He gained his undergraduate degree in International Commerce from UCD but went straight into the UCD Masters in Sports Management Programme which he graduated from into the world of Covid lockdowns and the impact they had on sport.
He has now been at Gymnastics Ireland for more than 3 years assisting in the delivery and management of national and soon-to-be international events with the Northern European Championships coming to Dublin in September 2024, an event in which Daniel will be the main point of contact for competing federations.
He is a qualified Football Referee and was part of a group during his Masters Programme that established Backroom Sports Management Solutions, a not-for-profit group offering advice and guidance to smaller sporting groups.
**********
Rachel Cummins, GAA
Rachel Cummins is a Commercial and Sponsorship Executive at The GAA.
She works with some of the sponsors of the GAA Championships, including Allianz, AIB, Eir, SuperValu, Centra and Bord Gais Energy.
A native of Corofin in Galway, she graduated from NUIG with a degree in Business Commerce, which included an Erasmus in UC Santa Barbara in California. In 2023 she completed a Diploma in Sports Law from the Law Society of Ireland.
She worked in Electric Ireland for two years as well as on an internship with Supermacs, before joining the GAA in 2022.
**********
Michelle Davoren, Wilson Hartnell
Michelle Davoren is a Senior Account Manager with the Sports Sponsorship and Marketing team at Wilson Hartnell, and since joining the team last year, has been a critical member of the team helping to bring to life some of the most memorable sports content and campaigns in Ireland.
Playing a role in both strategic leadership, as well as part of client management and creative execution of campaigns, Michelle has worked closely with partners including Guinness, Carlsberg, Electric Ireland, and AIB and helped to achieve award-winning work in their fields.
Before joining Wilson Hartnell she was a Press and Communications Officer with the Green Party.
Along with her role on the sports sponsorship team, Michelle is also a member of the Wilson Hartnell DE&I committee.
An athlete herself, Michelle has represented Dublin at senior level in Ladies Football, and currently still plays for the senior women’s football team with Kilmacud Crokes.
She is a graduate of UCD with a Bachelors Degree in English and a Masters in Environmental Policy and public Policy Analysis,
**********
Craig Derham, Verve
Craig Derham is a Sponsorship Event Manager at Verve, activating sponsorship properties for Diageo and others across rugby, football, and music.
His journey started in the United States, where he studied Sport Management and Marketing at Flagler College, Florida, while also playing competitive soccer in the NCAA Division II.
Following his graduation, his career took him to the New York Red Bulls, where he served as a Community Relations Coordinator.
Upon returning to Ireland in 2018, he earned an MSc in Sport Management at UCD. Since then, he has worked with various National Governing Bodies including Athletics Ireland, Swim Ireland, and the FAI.
He joined Verve in September 2023.
**********
David Evans, Sportfive
David Evans is a Senior Account Executive with the international sports agency Sportfive.
His primary focus is on the activation of Golf sponsorships across the world. He is the lead on Genesis’ naming partnership with the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in Edinburgh this summer, as well as for Fortinet on their partnership with the DP World Tour.
Having interned with Teneo in 2017, he spent time working with Cricket Ireland after completing his degree in Business Studies and Spanish from Trinity College, he went on to secure a Masters in Sports Management from Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid Universidad Europea.
He spent time with Real Madrid before moving to London and working with the Right Formula agency on Loch Lomond Whisky’s partnership with the Open Championship as well as on projects in Formula One, Football, Sailing and Formula E.
He has been with Sportfive since August 2023.
**********
Áine Hollywood, Sport Ireland
Áine Hollywood is a Science Officer in the Anti-Doping Unit at Sport Ireland.
After completing an internship with the organisation back in 2019, she took up a full-time role in the Participation Unit in 2023, and has most recently taken up her new position as Science Officer within the anti-doping unit.
Aine completed her primary degree in Science at the University of Leeds before completing a Masters in Science and Sports Management at UCD.
She served internships with EY and Deloitte giving a business perspective and has played a key role in the internal evaluation of the Community Sport and Physical Activity hub model and played an integral role in the delivery of the Sport Ireland Sport Development Conference in 2023.
**********
Lizzie Hurley, Three Ireland
Lizzie Hurley is a Sponsorship and Brand Activations Manager at Three Ireland.
She joined Three in July 2022 and works across its primary sponsorship assets of the 3Arena, 3 Olympia, Electric Picnic and Chelsea Football Club.
Three has been absent from the sporting scene for a while but recently demonstrated with the Chelsea x Aware partnership in the #TalkMoreThanFootball campaign with Andy Townsend, that they have not gone away.
Hurley graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Marketing Innovation and Technology from Dublin City University spending an internship with Paddy Power before moving on to Press Up Hospitality Group ahead of the switch to Three.
**********
Emily Hyland, Clubspot
Emily Hyland is the Digital Marketing and Events Manager at ClubSpot.
Having started in a marketing role when she joined the company in September 2022, she played a pivotal role in the launch of a new area of the business and for the first 6 events helped customers of the club software system raise over €1 million.
She is now leading that team and has a target to help Irish sports clubs raise over €5m in 2024 through fundraising events.
She graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a primary degree in Business, Management and Marketing before gaining a Masters in Digital Marketing from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
**********
Kieran Jackson, Olympic Federation of Ireland
Kieran Jackson manages the Team Ireland social media accounts and has been key to creating a vibrant online presence for the team as the Olympic Games approach this summer.
As a current elite athlete, he combines his insights as an athlete with his professional and academic experience to bring social media followers along with the team on the Olympic journey.
Prior to joining the Olympic Federation of Ireland in June 2022
Kieran graduated with a Master’s Degree in Digital Marketing from the University of Galway and also holds a primary degree in Exercise and Health Fitness from the University of Limerick
**********
Dara Keenan, Core Sponsorship
Dara Keenan is a Client Manager at Core Sponsorship. He joined Core in August 2021, starting in Spark Foundry and then moved to the Sponsorship practice in June 2023.
He works across several sports and sponsorship clients for brands and property owners, including all four Rugby provinces and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
He holds a BCL in Law with Politics and an MSc in Sport Management, both from UCD and is currently studying for the European Sponsorship Diploma.
In 2017 he was a winner in The Irish Times Debating Competition, won previously by Dara O’Brian and Marian Finucane, with Mary Robinson and Michael D. Higgins as previous finalists.
**********
Sarah Kerrigan, TroubleOnAPegLeg
Sarah Kerrigan is an advocate and trailblazer for inclusion working across several different voluntary committees including the SportsAbility Forum in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, the Carlow Local Sports Partnership and the National Sports Executive Committee of the Irish Wheelchair Association.
She has worked with Swim Ireland and many other Local Sports Partnerships creating more awareness and visibility of people with a disability being physically active.
She runs social media campaigns using her Trouble on a Peg Leg handle and is an engaging speaker.
She is a graduate of UCD with a Degree in Sports and Exercise Management and is certified in S&C Training for Special Populations from Setanta College.
**********
Mark Loughman, British Olympic Association
Mark Loughman is an eCRM Executive at the British Olympic Association.
He has played a key role in reshaping Team GB’s engagement strategy since joining the Association at the end of 2022. His implementation of Salesforce has led to a remarkable 140% increase in Team GB’s database size during non-Olympic periods.
Having gained work experience with Triathlon Ireland and Bray Wanderers, he gained a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and Linguistics at Trinity College.
The draw of sport was strong though and he completed a Masters Degree in Sport Business and Innovation from Loughborough University London before working in data analysis at Surrey Cricket and then joining Team GB.
**********
Regan McFarland, Irish FA
Regan McFarland is a Marketing and Commercial partnerships Officer at the Irish FA.
She works collaboratively with some of the biggest brands in the world – McDonalds, Adidas, EE, Chase Bank and more.
Her ability to navigate and manage complex partnerships is evident daily and she has built a great professional rapport with clients.
She also implements marketing plans across various projects including the M&S holiday camps, Electric Ireland shooting stars programmes and Irish FA Tours.
A graduate of Ulster University with a Bachelors Degree in Marketing and a Masters in Business in Technology, she joined the Irish FA in August 2022
**********
Meabh McGovern, THP
Meabh McGovern is an Account Manager with Thp, she has been working with the business in a full-time capacity since 2021, but before that, she had worked as part-time staff since 2016 at live events.
It has been and will continue to be a busy period with her playing a key role in delivering hospitality across the events at the Aviva Stadium from the Guinness Six Nations to the FAI matches coming up.
Popular among her peers and customers, Maebh is 25 years old and has been promoted multiple times since starting in the business.
She is a key player in managing Official Hospitality for the IRFU and FAI, the two largest sports hospitality offerings in the country.
Over the last 12 months, she has managed accounts such as Vodafone and Diageo, as well as delivering Guinness Six Nations, Bank of Ireland Summer Series, 2024 UEFA Euro Qualifiers, the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and Amgen Irish Open, the Rugby World Cup, and more.
She is a graduate of the University of Galway where she earned a Law Degree.
**********
Naomi McGregor, Movetru
Naomi McGregor is the Founder of Movetru, a multi-award-winning start-up in the Sports Tech and Physiology sector. The wearable tech allows individuals or teams to monitor and customise their biomechanics to prevent or rehabilitate injury.
McGregor is a graduate of Queens University Belfast with a Masters Degree in Engineering.
Her inspiration for injury prevention came from a knee injury that stalled a promising ballet career but was difficult to diagnose and then heal.
It is an inspiring story and she is an impressive storyteller.
**********
Catherine McKeown, Sky Ireland
Catherine McKeown is a Media Manager at Sky Ireland and is closely associated with Sky’s partnership with the Women’s National Team.
She started in the Sky Marketing team working on social media, with a large portion of her role dedicated to creating content to profile the Women’s National Team players, telling their stories and building fandom. She then moved into a Media Manager role, and became responsible for planning campaigns across Sky Sports, Sky VIP and the Football Sponsorship.
These have included the Women’s World Cup and the current Women’s Euros Qualification journey. Most recently she was responsible for planning the media for the launch of Sky’s new partnership with the Men’s National Team and our Belief. Doubled. campaign.
After graduating with a Marketing Degree from Ulster University she worked with the Mulholland Social Agency and Wolfgang Digital.
**********
Luke Minogue, LineUp Sports
Luke Minogue joined the Line Up Sports Graduate programme in 2023 where he has progressed to an athlete management role and currently supports over 10 athletes in their off-field lives.
He also manages all the company’s communications including a newsletter with over 1300 subscribers, and Line up Sports social and digital channels which continue to grow with industry-relevant content and showcasing the work they do in sponsorship and brand consultancy.
He is a Graduate of UCD’s Sport and Exercise Management Degree course.
Luke is a scratch golfer and has a desire to further grow the commercial side of the game for Irish players including his partner Lauren Walshe who plays on the Ladies European tour.
**********
Billy Morris, Bohemian FC
At the age of only 23, Billy Morris has been working at Bohemians since November 2022. In just over a year, he has been promoted from Club Administrator to Operations Coordinator.
He is a crucial component of the off-field team and is essential to the smooth running of game-day operations, ticketing and membership.
In addition, he acts as a key manager for the academy and senior women’s team.
After graduating with a degree in International Relations from DCU he completed the UCD Sport Management Masters programme in June 2022.
**********
Cathal Mullaney, RTÉ and Off The Ball
Cathal Mullaney is a freelance sports broadcaster working with RTÉ and Off The Ball.
He got his first break in the national media when he joined Off The Ball on a freelance basis in the autumn of 2019 as a sports news reader. the role includes reading sports bulletins across Newstalk, Today FM and 98FM and also contributing to flagship shows such as Off The Ball, Newstalk Breakfast and The Last Word.
In 2020 he started as a commentator and reporter with RTÉ Sport predominantly covering Gaelic Games and football, on both radio and television.
He has been part of The Sunday Game team since 2021, covering Gaelic Football and Hurling through commentary and reporting each week through the league and championship seasons, both live and for the highlights programme each week.
He has commentated on live matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the Women’s World Cup in 2023, as well as on the League of Ireland and the Champions League.
He graduated from NUI Galway in 2017 with a degree in Journalism, Irish and Sociology and Politics, before completing a Masters in Government and Public Policy from UCC in Cork in 2019.
**********
Ash Quinn, Team Taca
Ash Quinn is the co-founder and CEO of Team Taca, a ‘podcasting as a service’ company for youth soccer clubs in the USA to have their own private and localised professionally produced podcast.
In addition to local content, each episode contains exclusive inspirational and educational interviews with the game’s biggest names, bringing big locker-room thinking into every grassroots dressing room.
A law degree from UCD and internships in Beauchamps and A&L Goodbody could have led down one path but instead, she went into business setting up MoShoppa and fitness company Sweat 25 and working with Thriftify disrupting fashion before joining forces with her Dad Niall to establish Team Taca in January 2023.
“Ash is the powerhouse conduit between product development, podcast content, the podcast hosts and guests from Geoff Shreeves to Gary Neville and Tobin Heath, club sales, customer experience, strategic partnerships, business development, finance, legal and strategy,” read her nomination, outlining a very hands-on approach.
Team Taca is based out of New York and now employs a team of 20.
**********
Cathal Rafferty Walsh, Swim Ireland
Cathal Rafferty Walsh joined Swim Ireland in 2021 as Education Support Officer and was promoted to Qualifications Manager in 2023.
This year already he has led on the implementation of a new Learning Management System to support the further development of digital learning in Swim Ireland.
On a day-to-day basis, he manages the Education team in the delivery of teaching and coaching qualifications, Continuous Professional Development and Safeguarding courses.
In his spare time he is Head Coach of Rathcoole FC Senior Ladies Team.
Having graduated from SETU Waterford with an Honours Degree in Recreation and Sport Management in 2021, he has more recently completed a Professional Development in Leadership and Management with UCD.
**********
Jeff Scollard, ForeFront Sports
Jeff Scollard is a Partnerships and Commercial Manager at foreFront Sports.
He joined the company as an intern and has proven his worth stepping up to a full-time position in 2023 as the company experiences significant growth.
Working in a small team, he has been a key team member at the 2023 KPMG Women’s Irish Open, the Irish Legends; the UCI Cyclo-cross at the Sport Ireland Campus as well as numerous VR Golf activations both in Ireland and abroad.
Originally looking towards Estate Agency he switched to do a Level 8 course in Marketing and Event Management at the Dublin Business School
Who do you think should join next year’s list? Nominate your colleague or peer here.
53Six | The Connections Agency for Sport are one of more than 20 creative agencies that are full members of the Sport for Business community.
The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations including all the leading sports and sponsors, commercial and state agencies.
Find out more about joining us today.
Be part of the biggest community of sporting and business organisations in Ireland by becoming a member of Sport for Business and enjoying a host of benefits.
Get ready to join us for some of these forthcoming events…
