Margot Robinne has long understood the importance of building balance within her career.
Having played over 10 years in the first and second national divisions in France before arriving in Australia four years ago, the French midfielder has always managed to juggle study with football.
The Melbourne City FC W-League player recently completed a ‘Beyond The 90’ work placement at Cricket Australia in their marketing team, with the aim of rediscovering her passions and options off the pitch.
Robinne is currently seeking an opportunity in sport marketing, an area she has interest and experience in having earned a Masters Degree in Marketing and Management of professional sport structures at the University de Rouen in Normandy, France.
“I always played soccer around the same time that I studied, because I knew it was very important for me to have something else on the side as a female athlete,” Robinne said.
“I studied marketing and management and played a high level [football] all of that time.
Through the PFA’s Beyond the 90 program, Robinne was able to work closely with CA’s marketing team, participating in the development of CA’s marketing season plan in preparation for the 2021-22 international and domestic cricket season, overseeing email marketing campaigns focused around increasing youth participation and ticketing revenues, as well as data research.
“I actually quite enjoyed my time, the people have been amazing, very welcoming and for me it’s good for me to re-use the skills that I had acquired when I was studying.
“I haven’t been around marketing for a while now, I’m currently working in HR [Human Resources], so it was good for me to touch base [with marketing] again to be honest and see what I enjoy in marketing and see what I can specialise in.”
While working in sports marketing and management remains high on Robinne’s career ambitions, the 30-year-old has also worked as the Technical Director at Bayside United FC as the technical strategic lead for a Women’s National Premier League project and coordinating junior teams, coaches and players, and has plenty of skills and opportunities to consider outside of football.
“I am still now trying to discover what I want to do and through this placement it gave me the opportunity to do that and using the network that the PFA has to find those options would help a lot of different players and help them through their long term project, because you have to think about that.”
About the PFA’s Beyond the 90 Placement
Delivered by Infront Sports Consulting, Beyond the 90 provides measurable benefits for athletes. Over 100 organisations have hosted elite athletes, providing valuable work experience, skills, contacts and insight into a new job role or industry. Many placements have assisted athletes to explore career interest areas before committing to study, or to establish key contacts for the future. Some athletes have gained direct employment through the program, whilst others have developed critical skills in leadership, communication, teamwork, time management, organisation and problem solving. Athletes have been able to enhance their career development, explore potential career paths, and create future employment prospects through work experience and on-the-job training.
