Student-Athletes in the Spotlight: Nationwide Support Through the add-victor Club Sponsorship Programme
add-victor further engages with Student-Athletes across the UK through its Club Sponsorship Programme. Focused on providing professional development services, graduate opportunities, and financial support to university sports clubs; the initiative is in full swing this year. We are supporting exciting clubs from a range of leading academic institutions, with more to come as we are continually looking to widen our talent pool with the most exceptional individuals.
We started the 2022/23 academic year by visiting universities across the UK, where we delivered workshops and participated in welcome and career fairs. Looking to further educate Student-Athletes on the value of their skill transferability and supporting them in their first career steps, the Club Sponsorship Programme is beneficial for us all. The scheme allows members of sponsored clubs to access the add-victor career support and professional development opportunities, including resources available on the Knowledge Hub, all while the clubs receive financial aid to grow and develop.
We are constantly innovating to support all of our Candidates & Partners in their performance journey. Through our ever-growing university engagement -from Russell Group through to socially-inclusive universities-, and excellent ties to NGBs and Military Bodies, we are able to capture the burgeoning aspirations of tomorrow’s workforce.
Furthermore, with an initial emphasis towards female based sports & ethnic groups, the sponsored clubs feed a continual flow of the most exceptional talent championing Diversity & Inclusion. In this way, we empower employers to address gender imbalance and assist individuals with disabilities, alongside championing ethnic minorities and first-generation attendees to make the corporate world more accessible.
The growth in our talent pool with driven Student-Athletes coincides with the opportune moment for recent and future graduates, due to the increasing number of organisations valuing the skills developed through hours of devoted sports. Even more encouragingly, the Institute of Student Employers summarised the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)’s recent study called Graduate Outcomes, concluding three key trends:
- Graduates are less vulnerable in a recession
- More graduates were employed in 2020 than in 2019
- Most graduates get good jobs
- 74% graduates in the workplace within 15 months
- The need to work harder to ensure that all graduates have equal chances regardless of their backgrounds or characteristics
These findings should provide reassurance and encouragement to upcoming graduate cohorts. We are convinced of the Student-Athletes' strong potential in getting a job post-graduation despite the difficult period we are in. In addition to smashing industry levels of diversity, they fulfill the missing soft skills Employers actively look for.
The Club Sponsorship Programme is welcoming interest from sport clubs across all UK Universities; for more information please contact Alex Turnbull, Head of University & NGB Partnerships at aturnbull@add-victor.com.