The Sport for Business / PwC 30 Under 30 In Person

There is something special about getting back to in-person events, previously known as just events, and that feeling was doubled down on this morning when we gathered the Sport for Business / PwC 30 Under 30 looking out across the city of Dublin from North Wall Quay.

The 30 Under 30 group has now been running for five full years after an initial 10 back in 2017 and now stands at 160 strong.

The individuals from this year’s cohort were joined by some of those from 2020 and 2021 who we had only been able to host before on Zoom.

There was a real sense of excitement about bringing such a diverse but also immensely positive group together. A short survey we distributed before the event asked about their levels of optimism about sport in 2022 and across the group the average was a 9.26 out of 10.

They came from across the sporting spectrum and the business family that supports the sport. Some had worked with each other on projects without ever meeting, two played against each other in Ladies Football last night without realising it!

We were welcomed to PwC by managing partner Feargal O’Rourke who spoke of the importance of sport in all our lives and in creating a shared experience which did no harm in business and career development at the same time.

We then went ‘around the tables’ giving everyone one minute to introduce themselves to their peers interspersed by two catch up chats with previous ‘graduates’ Jonny Madill from Sheridans in London and Pippa Doyle, Had of Brand with Whoop International.

We spoke of overcoming imposter syndrome and being bold enough to step out of comfort zones. Towards the end, we split into groups to get a youthful perspective on short-form content, Women’s sport and the Metaverse.

There is something really refreshing to one who has been there and retained his joy of discovering new thinking to see it as the default position and we are confident that the industry of which we are a part is in very good hands.

Among those who were with us today and who shared their personal stories were:

Shairoze Akram GRG Sports
Colin Armstrong Paralympics Ireland
Paul Byrne DCU
Blánaid Carney GAA
Ryan Clarke StatSports
Michael Collins Sport Ireland
Lorna Danaher Energia
Pierce Dargan Equine MediRecord
Oisin Foley Sport Ireland
Nicole Fowley Clubforce
Fergus Grimes Score Beo
Lauren Guilfoyle
Enya Hand KPMG
John Hyland Clubspot
Alan Keane Teneo
Marisa Kennedy Pundit Arena
Gus Lewis FAI
Patricia Lynch
Kate McDaid NutriKate
Kristina Miller Vision Sports Ireland
Sarah Moloney Vision Sports Ireland
Paddy Murphy William Fry
Stephen O’Dwyer TrojanTrack
Gráinne O’Neill Tennis Ireland
Michael O’Rourke Rowing Ireland
James O’Sullivan Beacon Medical
Alison Sheehy Gym + Coffee
Sara RoseShelley Golf Ireland
Niamh Tallon HerSport
Rory Traynor Future Ticketing
Cillian Walsh Just Eat
Darren Watters Clubspot

To those others who could not make it today, you were missed but we will be connecting again and watch out in the coming weeks for a new Podcast Series we will be launching to go deeper with these leaders of the future.