Former Lancashire seamer Liam Hurt is thriving in his new career just months after leaving the professional game and is one of the latest success stories from the PCA Futures Conference.
The 29-year-old attended the 2022 event following his release from his boyhood club and is now forging a career in the plumbing trade whilst pursuing options to extend his skillset for a long-term career in the trades business.
The Futures Conference is full of seminars and workshops is the centrepiece of PCA’s Futures Week, aiming to promote and showcase the positive work being done by members to enhance their own personal development and career transitions.
Part of the PCA Personal Development and Welfare Programme, the annual two-day event is aimed at supplying members with information, advice and guidance on continued personal development and opportunities available to supplement their playing career and prepare for future employment.
In the lead up to this year’s Futures Conference, which takes place between 1 and 2 November at the Loughborough Elite Athlete Centre, the PCA will be telling member stories on their experiences of Futures Week. The Conference allows players to interact with one another as well as leading professionals, allowing them to network and grow their skills base.
This week, read how Hurt attended the 2022 Futures Conference at the FA’s elite training centre, St George’s Park. With 32 professional appearances under his belt, the fast bowler – who has not closed the door on a return to county cricket – shares his story on his perceptions and experiences of the Futures Conference event and reveals what it was like for him to attend, what he gained from it and advice to those considering taking part.
- What were your motivations behind attending Futures Conference?
- Hurt: My motivations behind attending the PCA’s Futures Conference were centred around looking at what options I had available to me moving forward. I am a qualified plumber but I also wanted to explore what else could be out there for me. On top of that, I wanted to interact with other professionals and business personnel who attended to see what they could offer and what information and guidance they could share. Building that network could help me not just in the near future but also in the next five to 10 years.
- What did you learn from the experience?
- Hurt: The key one for me was just knowing that I have more to offer than I originally thought and understanding that being within the professional sporting environment builds your skills and qualities to a point that you are able to transition into the world of work successfully. As a player, you feel as if you don’t have much to offer outside of cricket but that can’t be further from the truth. Being at the Futures Conference gives you an understanding that the skills you’ve developed through your playing journey – e.g. mixing in changing rooms, being around a variety of different players and coaches, committing to schedules etc. – really are great skills which will help you within the workplace. I learned that you don’t necessarily realise the skills you have and I came out of there knowing I have a lot more to offer than I originally thought.
- Where are you currently with your personal development?
- Hurt: I am now into plumbing full-time. It is different from being involved in the game but it’s a solid career and something that is going very well. I am also looking to do a gas course in order to be certified, which the PCA are able to help support with.
- How are you finding that?
- Hurt: The transition has been very different. I don’t have many days off or times where I can chill. Back when I was playing, you were able to play a four-day game and two of those days could be quite relaxed but it’s not like that now. It can be full on, however I am motivated to make the business a big success and network as much as I can in order to do that so it keeps me busy in a good way. The skills I learned in cricket really have helped me with the transition. For example, cricket is great for networking in terms of meeting new people, teammates, coaches etc. Having this experience led me to being able to speak to customers, build those relationships fast and gain their trust. This ultimately helped me sell my services which then continues my trade through word of mouth and positive reviews.
- Any advice for those thinking about attending this year’s Futures Conference event?
- Hurt: Don’t consider it an option and just go. At first, I was in two minds on whether to go or not but I don’t regret going. I spoke to one of the lads who was attending and he said the worst case scenario is you don’t take anything in. But I think even if you only take one thing from those two days, whether it is a contact you’ve made, learning something about yourself or discovering a potential interest, it is all worthwhile in your journey post playing career. It’s a no brainer really.
PCA Futures Conference is open to all past and present players.
Please register your interest by clicking the button below and filling in the form as there are limited places available.
