ThirdEYE International Sports Consultancy: Empowering Youth and Students Through Football

Meet ThirdEYE: the student-led business making a difference to youth football

At times, for the many young people pursuing their dream career in sport, such a goal can seem impossible. For an aspiring athlete, there are countless obstacles to overcome such as the increasing prevalence of pay-to-play sports, the lack of safeguarding, and the myriad of mental health struggles that may take their toll. While the FA is devoted to its grassroot schemes, there remains a gap to be filled for many young people who still find themselves without the support they need.

Up steps ThirdEYE International Sports Consultancy, a company on a mission to provide career opportunities for young people in sport. Primarily, ThirdEYE gives funding and support to young people in sport, working with clients across the world in order to provide better safeguarding and opportunities. In the face of inaccessibility, ThirdEYE aims to support character and career development for youth both on and off the field.

“[ThirdEYE] gives young people the opportunity to shine,” said founder David Johnson-Rayner on The Business of Football Podcast, “I just got fed up with people slagging off young people… in general they have so much to give,” he added.

Focused largely on football, ThirdEYE is uniquely student-run, with roughly 30 students working for the company last year. Student CEO Ben Prior, a third-year student at UCFB said: “I want to do something alongside my studies… it’s a lot of grassroots football and its supporting people that are trying to help out those sectors.”

At a time when the graduate job market is proving difficult, ThirdEYE affords an opportunity for some students, Prior added: “There’s so many students out there and not many jobs, so you’re getting these students in who are willing to help, and the help is needed.”

Students are responsible for a large amount of the practical work, in this respect ThirdEYE is meant to mimic a real-life company in the way that its students interact. This has been a success, according to Prior clients see the positives of a student-led company: “they’re very keen to hear that we’re motivated and happy to help.”

Students involved across each university age group have helped ThirdEYE in its success of investing £50,000 into grassroots sports in 24 disciplines. Investment has reached far and wide, touching eight countries across three continents.

ThirdEYE was born initially out of community-interest group KOI Sports’ grassroots initiative. The aim was to initially drive income for clubs suffering during the COVID-19 lockdown period. “We wanted to support the grassroots and community sports sector,” said founder Johnson-Rayner. As lockdown slowly lifted and needs changed, ThirdEYE emerged, now more focused on the mental health of those in the sports sector and social mobility.

Looking to the future, ThirdEYE is looking to expand its operation, building more on its mental health support for young people and increase its student reach. “People from everywhere are trying to get involved,” said Prior as the initiative eyes up expansion beyond UCFB to involve students from across the country.

A company that works to incorporate the aspects of youth football while promoting student experience is only a positive thing in the midst of pay-to-play sports. The combination of modern and historic barriers, such as the long-standing FA ban on women’s football, all bear their consequences on the modern game.

Many aspiring athletes from lower socio-economic backgrounds still find themselves without access to a free, fair and safe playing field. What ThirdEYE seems to remember is that football is nothing without those that play it, that an investment into youth and grassroots channels is an investment into the lifeblood of the sport.