Jerry Maguire is one of my all time favorite movies, if you have never watched it I am not sure what you are doing with your life. The famous line ‘’Show me the money’’ comes when Jerry Maguire a sports agent, faced with the possibility of losing his career, (except for one potential client- Rod Tidwell- played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) is trying to assure his client that if he becomes his agent he will without doubt increase his earnings. Rod Tidwell then makes Jerry Maguire say that phrase, ‘’Show me the Money’’ out loud more than a couple of times, after which, supposedly convinced, he hires Jerry Maguire.
I am not sure why exactly, but this was the scene playing out in my head last week as some colleague and I made our way to Impala club to facilitate a Financial Education workshop. We spent the afternoon with a group of very active and engaged girls who play rugby. We talked about the game and the money that the game can bring. At the point of taking them through the Financial Education class, two of them had just been selected to join the national women’s rugby team. A feat accomplished by few and one that comes with a handsome allowance; all the more reason why we needed to have this money talk.
This article featured in Standard Newspaper a couple of years back discusses the financial problems that many Kenyan athletes find themselves in when they all over sudden have access to more money than they have seen in their entire lives, more money than their families have ever had access to. This is not a phenomenon found in Kenyan athletes only but the sports industry as a whole; from the American NFL to Kenya’s elite athletes and the Impala Saracens whom we were having the session with.
The Impala Rugby club academy works with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to promote sport discipline. We responded to a request to offer the FE training, an opportunity that I jumped at not only because I am passionate about Financial Literacy but also because these were young women breaking sports and gender stereotype. I also strongly believe that when girls and women in general take this kind of learning opportunities to heart, they could have a tremendous ripple effect. Getting them at this young age(99% of them were under 25) also prepares them for a possibly successful future in sports, one that is not marred by unnecessary debt and filing for bankruptcy.
When our two hours were up, some of them made commitments on a few steps they were going to take to better manage the little money they were getting. Some made plans to open bank accounts, commit a percentage of their earning to savings and take a more deliberate approach to their budgeting.
It was a well spent afternoon. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
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