After the announcement of ‘The Second Half’, Adrian Farina explains how Visa’s new initiative aims to encourage more young girls to take up the sport
“For female footballers, you don’t make enough money while you play to last your whole life. You are faced with reality when your career is over. What do I do next?”
That’s the question that Visa are trying to help players answer, as they launch their new initiative, ‘The Second Half’.
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After becoming the biggest sponsor in global women’s football, with a whole team of elite athletes behind them, Visa is now working with current and former professional footballers to develop a programme that helps their transition into life after football.
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Former England star Karen Carney, who 144 caps over a 14-year international career, is serving as a consultant, having recently hung up her boots and moved into a new career.
The ex-Chelsea and Birmingham winger now does media work across both men’s and women’s football and is using her experiences to aid Visa in developing ways to make life after retirement easier for players in the future.
“We kept looking at other ways in which we could help,” Adrian Farina, Visa Europe’s chief marketing officer, told Goal.
“Speaking with Team Visa players, we spoke about how a football career is wonderful but with, as with any sport, the lifespan is limited. It’s not something you do for all your life, just a few years.
“It’s unlike men’s football, where you’re in a good position financially. It poses a difficult question for young girls who dedicate time to football rather than career or university. What can we do to change that situation?”
One of those Team Visa athletes, Arsenal captain Kim Little, has already started in her role as a pilot for the programme.
The Scotland international midfielder has been visiting Visa’s offices to speak to departments across the business, trying to find out what her passions are and what future employment would interest her.
Visa, with its connections all over the world, then looks to help provide the experiences – in training, internships and other methods – to complement the interests and skills of these players.
It’s a programme similar to what they have launched in the United States with Olympians, with the company having that prior experience in helping athletes transition into the next chapter of their career.
After testing the pilot with Little in the United Kingdom, the aim is to roll it out to the wider continent, in keeping with its support of women’s football in Europe.
“If you are a pro, you have a lot of trades that we all need – you’re organised, committed, focused, know all about delivering expectations. It’s harder to translate that in a resume unless someone helps you,” Farina explains.
“We at Visa have a network so that more players around the world can take part in programmes like this.
“But we’re working with players as we can’t come up with this on our own. We’re catering to real people.
“Karen has created her new career, but wishes she had that support years earlier.
“Kim is extremely excited, a mixture of humble and thankful to have the opportunity. She said, ‘I’ve never had this approach before, with a big company opening doors up’. It’s funny because we feel so lucky to have someone like her!
“She sees how this can help those behind her and younger girls. If you’re a young girl and you have talent, but you have to make a choice. Commit to playing professionally, or you finish studies and get a full-time job.
“Today, the rational advice would be not to choose playing. There are no statistics, and I wish there was, but you can only imagine the thousands of girls that could have come up and been a professional footballer.
“Players who could make the sport better, by bringing their quality, more numbers, being a role model, bringing in more fans, sponsors, and so on. A lot is stopped at the beginning because of the lack of sustainability while they play and after they play.
“If this programme can help in some way, to make someone like Karen Carney a rule, not an exception.
“If someone goes on to work in human resources in a big company, that can also be inspiring.
“Today it’s an ‘or’ – playing or a career. We want it to be an ‘and’. Kim is excited about the effect it can have beyond herself.”