Lawal Group plans holistic development for athletes

LAWAL GROUP of Companies, which has Jamaican roots and is based in the United States and Europe, is stepping into the market to provide expertise that will drive the career development of sporting talent.

Jamaica’s athletic potential, however, is not the only focal point of its thrust and the Lawal Group will work to generate growth and marketing opportunities for entertainers, whose practice has also served to likewise promote the country.

Given proof of their exceptional standards – by those who are now experiencing global recognition because of their world-level performances, and others who paved the pathway – one of Lawal’s lead partners, Eroll Walters, is convinced that Jamaicans are fully deserving and should also benefit from businesses with, along with up-and-coming brands seeking, worldwide appeal.

Declaring that “our initial target is Jamaican athletes”, Walters says “we’re up and ready”.

“Essentially, what we’re doing is coming to talk to athletes and find out if they want to partner with us,” he said about opportunities that lead to better marketing, better financing and better resources for training.

“For me, it’s not only seeing the world of sports and how it transforms lives, but more importantly, how affiliations look after athletes. Also, one of the fundamentals is ensuring that they make the right decisions because a lot of athletes make money from endorsements but squander it because of bad advice and later on don’t have a pension,” Walters explained.

“Because of my background in finance, I’m able to help them navigate the world of investments,” he continued, noting his involvement in accounting for over 37 years and the expertise of business partner Dan King.

King is a venture capitalist, founder and CEO of Florida-based Close Reach Consulting, which advises business owners, CEOs and boards on growth acceleration and business value acceleration. His 30-year career also includes executive roles in Fortune 500 companies and high-growth, mid-market enterprises.

Walters, for his part, rose from humble beginnings in Kingston’s Greenwich Farm, and has experienced much in and around sporting and entertainment circles along the way, including the Reggae Boyz’s historic France ’98 journey and numerous other football, plus global track and field events. He believes many talented individuals have not benefited in the way they should.

“It’s about those who participate and represent their country, it’s how we can ensure that they get some kind of reward. It’s not just about athletes who are at the top, but any athlete who has served his country,” he reminded.

Walters’ inspiration, and Lawal’s Group for making this move to market local talent, was spurred by a situation faced by Elaine Thompson Herah, who won the Olympic 100-200 double back to back, but has seen a reversal of fortunes since severing ties with long-time coach Stephen Francis and his MVP camp.

“What really brought it home for me was Elaine Thompson’s situation. And I’m not criticising anybody. But when I saw Elaine’s situation I just don’t feel she has all the right people doing the right things,” he observed.

“Somebody of her calibre must have a team that is able to bring on specialists for all the areas of her life. So you have the coach, you have financials, you have mental well-being because when she mentioned recently that on many occasions driving home from training she was always in tears, I felt she was let down.”

Continuing, he said: “For me, any individual that we’re responsible for, under our management, we will find the right individuals to assist them.”

Fundamental to that assistance, Walters analysed, is being widely connected. This, he says, redounds to a host of benefits, which is in keeping with their ideal of providing holistic development.

“What we have is an international reach,” he noted. “I’ve seen our big international athletes not engaging with international sponsors and I think that’s a big injustice to the athletes. We feel that the local market is saturated and there’s only so many resources available locally and if all the athletes locally are pulling on it, then the pie when shared, the slices would be rather small.”