Under Armour are looking to provide young athletes with a platform to fulfil their goals of becoming professionals in their sports. As such they have set up the UA Next programme in the UK, whereby three youngsters will receive a year’s contract with the brand. Replicating an elite performance programme, there’s potential Under Armour could unearth the next big talent - and it’s available to anyone aged 16-20…
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00:00UA is kind of perfect for getting you linked up to the right people, especially as we're all young here.
00:04It's good that we're all here together actually trying to work and push each other to do something
00:08productive with our lives. I think it would be really beneficial because it'll kind of get your
00:11name out there because it's kind of difficult to spread awareness about yourself as a player
00:16regardless of what sport you play if you're not in the right context.
00:19The support they'll give me to making it pro, all the facilities and everything, I want to work hard for it.
00:26For me, especially being young, this is something that you always dream about,
00:30one day to be sponsored or get a contract from a big brand like Under Armour or any brand in
00:35general. It'll change my life, it'll build my profile even more as an American footballer,
00:40bring that unique story of, you know, American footballers can also do this and kind of bring
00:44more awareness around the sport and just to be able to motivate the young generation to show them
00:48if I can do it, so can they and whatever you set your mind to, you can achieve.
00:52When you're hitting like 18, 19, 20, you want to grab every opportunity you have, so it's like
00:57if you finish in top three and you see yourself in the world, that's crazy, that's insane.
01:06This is new Under Armour coming, you know, to London and everything, they just opened a store
01:10there in Battersea, so the opportunity to be one of the first ones to be put out there and
01:15full support, you know, because you know they're new, they of course don't invest in you, you know,
01:19and to do great, so we're doing a lot in here. Being around a good group of boys all similar
01:23ages, like if we're all able to improve each other, even if there's only three people able
01:27to get the contract, the rest of the seven still have the links and that gives the opportunities
01:31for, you know, the rest of seven to keep working and actually bring other people in, so it can
01:36become like a growing community rather than everyone against each other. If I wasn't, you
01:40know, to get a contract, I would definitely come back because, you know, I'm more experienced now,
01:46I mean, that would be my second time, I know exactly what I need to do and well, I came here
01:51with little knowledge, I know exactly what's going to happen, so coming back again, I'll prepare,
01:56I'll know exactly what to work on, my strengths, my weaknesses, capitalise on them and yeah,
02:01I'll definitely be back because this is just a great opportunity.
02:06Elite athletes, they say like failure is steps to success, so even if I fail, I'm just building
02:13blocks to becoming better. I'll go again and again and again and again until I actually get
02:17what I need, so if you say you wouldn't come back, then that's well to me, so I'm not thinking about
02:22it right now because I do feel like I'll make that top three and I think it's a mindset thing.
02:29I feel there's not really much pressure because everyone's here for a reason, so there's no
02:34real need to feel pressure, like everyone's good in like their own domain, like some people are
02:38really strong, some people are really fit, like everyone has that little bit about them.
02:43I feel like I was just in my own zone, I've always been a person where you know, obviously similar to
02:46what the other guys were saying in their interview, like I'm happy and I'm here for everyone as well,
02:50but then it's kind of, it's unique to me to know that my story is separate from everyone else,
02:54like when they hear there's one guy that does American football, they're going to be intrigued
02:57to think, you know, let's see how this guy does, like he has a whole different sport to everyone
03:00else, so it kind of gives me that unique story in a way, like you know what, you do American football,
03:05all right, cool, let's see what these guys can do and then it kind of brings that awareness to,
03:08you know, American football guys can actually compete and then that brings in the other
03:12American footballers all over the world in the UK to say, you know what, if Tashane can do it,
03:16let me give it a go as well. We're all different here, we all play a different sport, we're all
03:21people different, so your best might be different to someone else's best, you know, and in terms of
03:25pressure, we all came here, but then we all support each other.
03:34You can still feel that support from everyone, so it didn't really feel like a competition,
03:38it just felt like, you know, we're just taking a test and the best one's just going to get
03:42signed, it didn't really feel like a competition, but yeah, you have to give your best because
03:46everyone else is going to give their best. I think everyone struggled with the bike,
03:50the bike was tough, like really, really tough, but I feel like with that, it's just all mental,
03:55if you believe you can do it mentally and you just keep pushing through, then obviously
03:58in the end it's just, you know, how bad did you want it, do you want it to get the best,
04:02or do you want it to just keep going or just to give up, so I think definitely the bike.
04:06First minute is like, cool, it's a minute and a half, you start to feel it, then when it gets
04:12like a minute 45, it's just like hell, but like, holding on for dear life, and then when it gets
04:16to the last 30 seconds, you know, you have to push it, but at the same time, you kind of value
04:20your life, so it's like, you have to even it out just a little bit, you know.
04:29I do content creating, like I basically tell my story out there, help other athletes,
04:33help other footballers, so I have like a high profile on their socials, and then one day,
04:38under my agent, Scott messaged me, like what I was doing, got me involved, I was one of the first
04:42seven athletes to get onto this programme. Since then, I haven't looked back, I just want to show
04:47everyone that they should come and get this opportunity, because it's crazy, like, I started
04:52processing it myself, I'm getting flown out to Amsterdam, at the HQ, and all these facilities
04:58and everything, it's crazy, so just like, I want to show everyone that you have a chance, it's free,
05:03why not take it? Even though I'm competing, like, these guys are still my guys, I wish the best for
05:10all of them, and so, I'm a very competitive person, I want to be the best, and they were like,
05:14everyone is, we're also trying to be the best, so why not? If you want to be the best, you have to
05:17compete against the best, and at the end of the day, even if you don't like somebody, you tearing
05:22them down isn't going to make you do any better. For me, it's like, even if I don't get a high
05:26score, seeing other people get high scores around me, it's just like, it's crazy, because like,
05:31seeing Doctor go on the bike and actually smashing it, seeing Fijian go on the roof and get 20,
05:35it's just like, I might not be getting those scores, I might be as well, but just like,
05:38seeing them going from nothing to something now, and actually like, seeing the enjoyment that
05:43they're actually smashing it, it's just like, I don't really see this as a competition, but at the
05:48end of the day, it is, but I'm just enjoying it, and I'm enjoying it with them as well, because even like,
05:52I did it yesterday, I wasn't with other athletes, I feel like I was with my family, we were all talking
05:56about some combos, so I'm enjoying it. I love being able to connect with the athletes, you know, even
06:03talking about just them as a person, their minds, and what they've achieved, so being able to kind
06:07of relate to them, and just learn from them, like, what they did to get successful, how to
06:12keep going, how they deal with adversity, like, all those things that you can learn from these
06:15elite athletes, to just make yourself better as an athlete. Even me as a fullback, watching Trent
06:20at such a high level, at such a young age, he's playing at such a high level, and it's like,
06:25I like to play around his playing style, but like, I play like him type of thing,
06:29so watching him getting the support from Under Armour that no other players are getting,
06:33and I'm not even a pro yet, it's going to be life-changing, and I know all the other
06:37athletes could say the same.