Trent Alexander-Arnold has been the face of Under Armour in football since early 2017, and has since been joined by Antonio Rudiger, Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings and Eddie Nketiah.
Under Armour aren't content with simply sponsoring professional footballers, though. They're aiming 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 athletes aged between 16 and 20 will receive a year’s contract with the brand.
Provided with a specialist athlete support system, the three successful athletes will have access to coaches, top-class facilities and have their performance monitored and tracked throughout the year.
Replicating elite performance programmes on offer to Under Armour sponsored footballers such as Trent, UA Next is a professional environment in which the young athletes can immerse themselves and flourish.
Arguably the most important incentive, though, is the opportunity to become the face of UA Next and grow their profile. JJ Adikwu, who is 19 and plays football at university in America, concurs.
“It would be really beneficial because you'll get your name out there," Adikwu tells FourFourTwo. "It's quite difficult to spread awareness about yourself as a player if you don't have the right contacts, but Under Armour is perfect for getting you linked up to the right people
“When you're hitting the ages of 18, 19, 20, you want to grab every opportunity you have. So to finish in the top three and get that contract would be crazy. Insane!”
In fact, one pilot athlete has already signed a professional contract with Sheffield United Women off the back of the programme, highlighting the success of UA Next already. Football clubs have also expressed their desire to use Under Armour's facilities at their new store in Battersea Power Station, too.
Paul Winsper, who previously worked under Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle United as a fitness coach, is the Director of Athletic Performance for Under Armour and came up with the concept of UA Next.
First developed in the United States, the programme proved such a success that Under Armour expanded its horizons to the UK as well. Winsper highlights how the thought process behind the programme will develop and improve each individual in their discipline.
“It's going to be an ongoing relationship," Winsper told FFT. "The point of the programme is getting the young athletes and the young players access to the best minds in performance sport: the psychologists and nutritionists, the movement experts, the training staff, strength and conditioning and speed coaches.
“As we get to know these young athletes, we will be able to fine tune the experience. So, rather than just throwing everything at them, we'll figure out who needs what, when it needs to be hands on, when it can be digital and when we actually have to be with them to train them and work with them in person. It's a very hands on, applied programme.”
Choosing tests that Under Armour describe as “sport agnostic”, where there isn’t a preference from one sport to another, the potential UA Next athletes were put through their paces at Under Armour’s facilities in Amsterdam.
FourFourTwo were invited along to the recently-opened facility, sitting just across the road from Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 1928 Olympics.
Complete with a full rig, dumbbells, a SkiErg machine, treadmills, Wattbikes and plenty of other equipment, the Under Armour gym is state-of-the-art, leaving no excuses for the competing athletes.
“We measure the cognitive side, we measure the endurance side, the speed side, the strength side, the power side, the agility, so it allows us to look at the whole athlete," Winsper explains. "We didn't want to bias the test towards any individual sport.”
Among the competing athletes was Kelvin Boampong, who plays for Grays Athletic in the eighth tier of English football. Though competing, Kelvin also vlogged the entire day. He’s a content creator, aiming to provide inspiration to others embarking on a similar journey to his.
“I just want to show everyone that they should come and get this opportunity because it's crazy, it’s something that I still haven't processed myself," Boampong highlights. "I'm flown out to Amsterdam, I’m at the HQ where all these facilities are top-tier, so everything is crazy.
“I just want to show through my content that it’s such a good opportunity, it’s free, so why not apply?”
Clearly buzzing at the opportunity, Kelvin also recognises how important it is he performs. After all, a future career as a professional footballer could arise from gaining a UA Next contract.
“You do need to realise how big the occasion is, but at the same time you can't crumble - you just need to be chilled but still do your best without cutting corners.
One thing that does stand out, though, is the fact each and every one of them are offering each other encouragement. Isn’t this supposed to be a competitive environment where you do want to see others do well?
“I don't really see this as a competition, but at the end of the day it is," Boampong continues. "Still, I'm just enjoying it and I'm going to join in offering encouragement because it's great to see others smashing it.”
James Omotosho, another athlete on the programme, agrees.
“Even though we're competing, I wish the best for all of them. I'm a very competitive person, I want to be the best but everyone here is also trying to be the best so why not offer them encouragement? Because if you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best.”
Under Armour are clearly making a concerted effort to stand out from the competition. While setting up UA Next will certainly help, the work they do with their existing athletes also demonstrates the time and effort being put into developing as many aspects of their performance as possible.
“Trent and Rudiger spent part of their pre-seasons in Portland working with Under Armour," Winsper highlights. "The things that I did with those two guys are the same assessments, testing, and then the same customisation around the training. We provided support from the mental game, the nutritional side of things, the physical side.
“Trent and Tony are both very intelligent athletes who don’t just accept information, they want to know why, why, why, which is great for us here, because we’re trying to answer their questions as best as we can. For example, Trent really wants to understand how his body best recovers, so we’re building a recovery centre in his home - a state-of-the-art recovery tool that best helps him understand what he personally needs.
“As a brand, we’re looking to really get into the data and work with the athletes to give them exactly what they need. And the proof is always in the pudding. When an athlete feels better and stronger and faster and is recovering using science rather than just jumping in ice baths and taking protein shakes, then they buy in pretty quickly.”
As well as this physical improvement, Under Armour plan to work with the athletes on a psychological level. Still young people developing in all aspects of their life, Winsper suggests that working with them could help unlock greater potential by helping them understand themselves over the course of the year.
“We look at what I would call the mechanical brain - as they see situations arise, can they see things, can they retain things, can they process the information? And then there's the emotional side, like personality states and traits. Ongoing, we have a sports psychologist on the training staff, the support staff, and they will be going deeply into what these young athletes need help with. We want to understand their competitiveness and emotional stability, for example. We really want to understand their learning styles from their personality and integrate that into the programme.
“It's interesting, because there are personality traits and personality states. Traits are pretty enduring, whereas states fluctuate and change with these kids on an hour by hour basis. It's about starting to understand the difference between these enduring personality traits and then the states and getting that mix right. It’s really important because they're learning about themselves. They're young athletes. They're trying to discover the world around them and how they fit and where they fit. And we want to be there to help that journey as well.”
As has been mentioned, only three of the 10 have actually been awarded a year-long contract with Under Armour: Eddie Carrington, Kelvin Boampong and Toshane Boyce. While the unsuccessful seven will still receive a lighter level of support and remain connected to the brand, the deserving three will be living in dreamland.
Docteur Silly is among those who were unsuccessful in getting a contract, but he recognised the importance of the opportunity: “It would be life changing because Under Armour coming to London and opening a store in Battersea makes it that much better, to be one of the first athletes to get their full support is mind-blowing.”
Toshane Boyce, an American football player and the only non-football (soccer) player in Amsterdam, earned a contract and is clearly going to revel in the opportunity afforded to him.
“Especially being young, this is something that you always dream about. To one day be sponsored or get a contract from not just Under Armour, but any brand in general. To me. it would change my life and will build my profile even more.
“I love being able to connect with any athletes, just learning about them as a person, their mindset and what they do to perform at the top. So being able to relate to them and just learn from them about what is needed to be successful, how to keep going, how to deal with adversity; all of those aspects are things that you can learn from these elite athletes.”
And, of course, getting to interact with Under Armour athletes like Trent is certainly a bonus, too.
“I support Liverpool and Trent's my favourite player so to have the opportunity to sign for Under Armour and get all these benefits is insane," Boampong describes. "To get that one-year sponsorship, with the support that they'll give me to make it as a pro makes me want to work even harder.”
Because who knows, that hard work could eventually result in a contract with a professional club.
16-20 year olds can sign up via: https://www.underarmournext.co.uk/
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