Today we bring you the story of an agent advisor who
started with SMWW just five months ago and is quickly learning
how fast your career can develop when you get the right
player. Dimitri Ziogou came to SMWW with the belief
that with the right opportunity, he could be a good agent for
players. In a short amount of time, it looks like his
prediction has come true.
SMWW: Dimitri, tell us about your player who recently
signed in Greece. How did you structure the deal?
Dimitri: SMWW has an online area that agent advisors
can login and look at players who have contacted the company
looking for representation. I was looking at soccer players
one day and noticed a keeper from Greece named Mike Sifakis so
I began doing research. I learned that he has played for two
seasons and won 2 championships with Olympiakos, which is one
of the biggest football clubs in Greece; they play in Division
1 (Super League), he had a total of 140+ professional games
under his belt.
I was able to make him my first client as an agent. Through
our many conversations it was Mike's goal to come to North
America to play in the MLS. I got in touch with John Print,
who is SMWW's certified FIFA agent and he told me what
information the teams required in order to evaluate a player.
I got in touch with 10 MLS teams and two showed serious
interest (Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls). The deal
with Toronto fell through due to international player
restrictions, and the Red Bulls expressed a lot of interest
for the 2008 season because there were only eight games left
in the season for MLS.
We put a plan together that we would find him a team that
would allow him to be available when the trial period begins
for MLS. We made contact with teams throughout Greece and Mike
got a tryout with Apollon Kalamarias (super league Greece). He
made the team and we started negotiating his contract. We had
specific demands that had to be met, the most important of
which was being able to leave in December and January to come
to North America to tryout for MLS. Kalamarias was not able to
meet our demands so we collectively passed on the deal.
We settled on sending Mike to a team in a lower league in
Greece and found that Apollon Smyrnis was so happy to have a
player of his caliber that the arrangement worked out well for
both parties. It was a month of non-stop phone calls, emails,
and faxes. I got a lot of first hand experience and with the
help of John Print & SMWW, it was an awesome experience.
SMWW: How has SMWW helped you as a new agent?
Dimitri: Without SMWW's Athlete Management course
and agent advisor program, I wouldn't even be in the position
where I am now; part of the business and having clients. SMWW
also put me in touch with John Print, who again was a big help
in my first agent transaction. I also got a lot of help from
the staff at SMWW's office. Some days, I was calling them
three or four times a day asking for advice and they were
nothing but encouraging. I thank everybody who helped me along
the way.
SMWW: What was your experience like in the Athlete
Management Course?
Dimitri: I love sports and being an agent was
something that I have always wanted to do, so I was looking
forward to taking the course. Going into the course, I did not
expect too much, but once the course actually started I was
pleasantly surprised. It was very informative, interesting and
overall the course was a great experience (I especially like
the live chat portion).
It was great being able to talk to
Dr. Lashbrook and hear what he had to say. He is a very upbeat
and knowledgeable person and he got me excited in pursuing my
goal of being an athlete advisor. The old cliché applies here;
if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
SMWW: What advice would you give to someone else who is
looking at entering the agent business?
Dimitri: Persistence, persistence, persistence! That
is the key to this business. Sports can be a tough business to
get into and you have to have a strong mind set in-order to be
successful. You also have to expect failures. It wasn't until
I contacted the 15th team that I was able to sign my first
athlete to a contract, but not once did I get discouraged. As
soon as one team said no, I went right on to the next team; it
became my mission to get my athlete a team to play on. Another
piece of advice that is very important, and even Dr. Lashbrook
says this over and over, is "don't quit your day job". Now
this doesn't mean you can't make a career out of being an
agent, but it is a very competitive business and not everybody
is going to make it big and it takes time. Having said that,
it is exciting to be involved in the agent business because it
only takes one lucky break for you to take your career to a
new level.
SMWW: Anything else that you would like to say?
Dimitri: Since my first signing, the players seem to
be coming out of everywhere. I now have five athletes and two
of them have a good chance of getting drafted into the United
Soccer League (USL). It's very exciting to have these
opportunities coming to me as a result of my hard work. I look
forward to the future and I hope things will work out so that
I will be able to quit my day job and become the biggest
Soccer agent in North America!
If you are interested in becoming agent and/or an agent
advisor with SMWW, select
this text to read more about the Athlete Management course or
to get registered today!
