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Alumni Q&A: Alastair McLae

17 January 2023

After a successful career in marketing, Alastair McLae decided to go back to study and follow his passion for football and sport. Graduating with his Bachelor of Sport Coaching in 2022, he is now the Club Manager for Christchurch United FC, a Director with the Football Federation Samoa, and Director of his own football consultancy business – a true example of someone turning their interests into a career. We spoke with Ali about how all of this came to be.

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Can you tell us a bit about the lead-up to choosing to study for your Bachelor of Sport Coaching here at UC?

I had been working in a different industry for many years after leaving school but always had hobbies that involved sport, it was more the case of work for play, rather than play for work. My number one passion is football and had been playing since I was 8 years old, I had gotten to the stage of wanting to give back to the sport and started coaching youth football teams in my local town.  Just before deciding to choose to study, I had completed some New Zealand Football qualifications and thought having a more holistic approach to coaching would give me a better understanding of the art of coaching. After a push from my wife, I searched for university options and the Bachelor of Sport Coaching at UC came in as number one.  One of the biggest reasons for joining UC was the amazing remote learning experience (this was before covid), as I was still working full-time in Hamilton at the time.  I had also spoken to two alumni who had completed the degree and were both working in professional football organisations, they both mentioned the high-quality learnings they received from the courses.

What was your first role coming out of studying?

During my final year at UC, I completed an internship with Football Federation Samoa as the Head of Recruitment & Scouting. I was so invested in helping a country find eligible football players and as a result of my work, the role turned into a part-time position. Two years later I now run a team of 18 ID Talent Scouts placed around the world who have found over 200 Samoan football players, which has alerted huge publications like Forbes Magazine to write about us.  These highlights also gave me the opportunity to become the Samoan National Senior Men’s Assistant Coach and the Samoan National U19s Men’s Assistant Coach which took me to Tahiti for five weeks in 2022 for the U20 World Cup Qualifiers - putting much of my learnings from my Bachelor of Sport Coaching at UC into an international coaching environment.

While still a Director with the Samoan Football Federation, you are now also Club Manager for the Christchurch United Football Club – what does this role see you do?

As Club Manager my role is split into three parts - marketing, administration, and player scouting. Running the club's marketing means I need to deliver efficient and timely external and internal communication to our academy parents and players, whilst also gaining more fans for our first teams. I provide input towards the development of our marketing and communication strategy and follow the marketing action plans in order to attract new members and participants to tournaments, schools, and holiday programs. I also monitor and report on the effectiveness of marketing communications which assist with the development of distribution channels and the Club Sponsorship Program. I also do things like club communication, outreach, recruitment, coordination of volunteers, event support, and fundraising.

You do all of this while also running your own company – how do you manage it all?

Whilst working for Football Federation Samoa and Christchurch United, I also run an international scouting consultancy business with Russ Gurr who is based in Scotland.  As we designed Samoa’s scouting strategy and started seeing the results, we used our blueprints and launched a consultancy business where we now work with other smaller countries' footballing associations to give them the tools and resources needed to find and attract overseas football players. It's great having a business that is worldwide and can service countries 24/7 due to both our locations. 

I manage all of it thanks to my passion for the sport, having a top team around me, and designing and implementing a process that works.

What would you consider a highlight from your time at UC?

Athletes with disabilities SPCO308 internship was by far the best highlight throughout my time at UC. Spending 12 weeks within one of the safest, most caring, and most positive environments gave me such a grounding in my life experiences. I chose to coach in athletics which I had never done before, and helping a young athlete chase his dream put all my coaching skills into perspective. To slow down and really think about how to get the best out of my coaching theory, plus really understand your athlete to get the best out of him, was truly amazing. An experience I will never forget. I would highly recommend these students living in Hamilton check out Parafed Waikato. 

Where does your passion and drive come from?

I can pinpoint the exact moment - the 1991 Italia World Cup, seeing England play and make history for many reasons; like the comeback wins, missed penalties, solo goals, and nation interaction, really drew me into the sport.  Since then, I have never looked back and joined a team as soon as the World Cup finished.  Every year the World Cup plays, is a special year as all those memories come back!  That’s passion.

Football is the most widely played sport in the world. Despite rugby being Aotearoa’s ‘national game’, football is the most widely played and watched sport in the world. Have you seen football’s growth in popularity here?

Currently, football is the most played sport by juniors and then splits at the age of 12/13.  Though recently we are seeing more and more parents choose football over rugby as the popularity shifts between the two sports.  The next few years are going to be really interesting to see if football takes the number one spot for the first time.


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