Divento Academy, part of Divento Financials, the independent financial futures and options trading company, is pleased to announce today it is hosting two members of the Saracens F.C., youth rugby squad, and training them on how to trade financial products such as foreign exchange, interest rates and commodities.

In 2014 Divento Financials established the Divento Academy as an employer-led education initiative to address skills gaps within the industry. Today, as part of a Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) outreach programme, the Academy helps young people achieve skill sets in financial trading as a pathway to employment in the financial and capital markets through accredited qualification status.

Saracens, a leading English rugby club, as part of their development programme, want young rugby players to achieve qualifications that ensure they are able to move onto a career after sport. This work is part of their duty of care to its players. Recognising related core competencies and transferable skills of sporting professionals Divento work closely with Life After Professional Sport (LAPS) programme run by Robbie Simpson. LAPS was set up by sports and recruitment experts to help ex sport professionals connect with new career opportunities.

Robert Russell, Managing Director of Divento Financials and Head of Business Development, says:

“It is great to see sports clubs and professionals starting to think about life after sport. This is an exciting programme being offered which has been positively met. Certain careers are short lived and, on average, a sports professional retires in their 30’s so they are then left asking the question of ‘what next?’. We are pleased that Saracens are taking an active approach and providing their sporting stars with opportunities to further their careers.

“Our mission at Divento is to remove the traditional barriers to entry into the financial services sector and create opportunities for individuals”.

Commenting, Ian George of Saracens Rugby Club says: 

“It’s great for the players to take time out their training regime to participate in something meaningful and worthwhile. Whilst our youth players are all still young and up-and-coming budding stars, we feel it is crucial that they start to think of a career outside of Rugby. As we know sporting stars retire long before the state retirement age, and that is assuming they don’t get struck down by a permanent injury forcing them to leave the sporting world early.

“This training has provided a great insight into the financial trading world and helped give them a taste of what a dynamic, fast paced trading floor looks like, whilst highlighting the knowledge, skills and behaviours required in sectors such as investment banking.”