- FILE
Juliet Campbell ... embarking on a new career as an agent.Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
FORMER WORLD Indoor 200 metre champion Juliet Campbell has trotted off the track and into a new arena.
A national sprint veteran of 21 years, Campbell recently shifted her focus to the business side of sport and now she is concentrating on managing athletes.
Athletes' management is big business. Most agents collect 15 per cent of an athlete's purse which is the standard guideline laid out by the IAAF.
Campbell and her partner, Mark Thompson, a Jamaican Olympian, have formed Juliark International Sports Management Inc., which will be based in Munich, Germany.
Campbell, 36, said she hopes to take athletes' management to another level by offering far more than what many agents do.
In this business, according to Campbell, "there are tons of things you could do (for athletes). There is no guideline," she said.
However, the basic things an agent does are negotiate contracts with shoe companies and also negotiate lanes, appearance fees, prize money and bonuses for their athletes from meet promoters.
But unlike the way most agents operate, Campbell said her company would provide more than just getting athletes contracts and into meets.
"We have a system where we are going to introduce to them investors and show them how to get homes and invest their money, get themselves prepare for life after track and field," she said.
Juliark's base, according to Campbell, is located near several indoor and outdoor tracks in Munich.
Also, she said, they will be working with one of the best doctors in the world, Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, a German who has treated several of the world's best athletes in all sports.
They have also secured the services of a top physiotherapist from the Bayern Munich football club.
SPECIAL ATTENTION TO LOCAL ATHLETES
Campbell also made it clear that she will be paying special attention to Jamaica athletes, especially those who are being treated badly by their agents.
"A lot of agents on the circuit, barring a few, don't take very good care of Jamaican athletes," said Campbell, a bronze medallist from the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Campbell, who holds personal best times of 11.15, 22.50 and 50.11 over 100m, 200m and 400m respectively, said she will keep in constant dialogue with the JAAA to let them know which agent(s) are not taking care of Jamaican athletes.
However, she believes one of the problems with athletes is that they don't listen.
"I am trying to put it out there to them to take care of business, pay attention, know what your responsibilities are, know what your agent's responsibilities are - keep in mind that your agent works for you and you do not work for your agent," said the three-time Jamaican Olympian.
"You have the opportunity to hire and fire your agent if you do not get what you want. It's your enterprise, you need to take care of it," she added while saying athletes also needed to keep up their end of the bargain by training hard and "be ready every time to give 100 per cent."
Six athletes, Americans Monica Hargrove and Tiffanie Green, along with Jamaicans Michael McDonald, Daniele Browning, Maurice Smith and Inez Turner, have so far signed up with Juliark.
Campbell said Juliark had received applications from more than 16 athletes, but was unable to accept that many at this time.
"We don't want it to get to the stage where we have 50, 60 or 100 athletes and are not able to care for them," she said.
