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Raise Your Game: What is Superleague Formula?

Alex Chalmers: Superleague Formula is a new motor racing series that started back in 2008. It merges two of the most popular sports in the world: football and motorsport. We have 18 powerful cars, which are similar to the Formula One cars, and they're all branded as football clubs. So we have 18 separate football clubs from around the world, racing against each other over the course of six weekends throughout the year.

RYG: This event takes place over two days. What exactly happens over these two days?

AC: The first day is qualifying, which is very similar to the Champions League in football as it's actually a knock out competition. The drivers race against each other in terms of going through quarter finals, semi finals and a final.

The second day involves three races and interestingly, for Superleague Formula, we actually reverse the grids for the second race, so whoever finishes first in the first race actually starts last in the second race, which means there's quite exciting racing and overtaking manoeuvres.

We also have a huge amount of paddock activities for young people as this event is very focused on the family and for them to enjoy a whole weekend out. There's lots of games, free giveaways, opportunities to meet the drivers and to see the cars.

RYG: How do you manage to produce such a great atmosphere here?

AC: When Superleague first started, it was very important to create a Championship that was user friendly to the audience and to build strong relationships with the racing teams as well as the drivers. I think it makes the sport what it is.

The drivers are the friendliest guys you will ever meet and they are free to talk to anyone. You will see them walking around the grid in their full driver's uniform and they will happily stop at any time to give autographs or have their photos taken. You can get up close to the action and really be part of what Superleague Formula is all about.

RYG: How did you get into this job?

AC: It involved a lot of hard work. I have always worked in the area of the sport and my first job was actually working on marketing research for Formula One following on from my university degree.

The biggest thing in sport is networking and I managed to get a lot of experience within the sporting field both at Silverstone in Formula One and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Work was mainly voluntary because it was extremely important to get my face out there and meeting people. The most important thing is to be very friendly to everyone that you meet because you never know if some point in the future they're going to be able to help you.

Through networking I was finally introduced to the owner of Superleague in January 2009 and I was given the chance to move from London to Barcelona and I jumped at the opportunity.

RYG: What qualities do you look for in young people looking to get work experience in Superleague?

AC: The biggest quality for us is that they have to be very personable, open and flexible to do a number of tasks. We currently have three people who are part-time in our office and jobs range from cutting up press cuttings to running and delivering documents across the circuit and also helping out with the hospitality.

It's a huge operation and within our actual core office we only have 15 employees who actually come to this event, but in terms of the total amount of people who work here it's over 150. So there's a huge number of opportunities for people to do a whole range of jobs.

RYG: How many countries do you work in?

AC: On average I'm travelling once a week to a destination, whether it's to a football club or to a meeting to discuss commercial opportunities for the Championship.

In the 2009 season we've had six races in Europe. We started in France, then went to Belgium, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and now Spain. We've also had clubs from the Middle East, China and Brazil.

RYG: Is learning languages a crucial skill for this job?

AC: It's a huge skill. I work in Barcelona so for me it was important to learn Spanish and to be able to obviously understand the language. We work with a number of nationalities and therefore a number of languages.

I remember taking languages in school and French was not exactly my most favourite subject, but if I could go back now I wish I'd taken more interest in it because learning a language when you're in a job is very difficult because you haven't got the time.

It's so easy when you're young to pick up languages and to go and spend one or two months abroad. There's even companies that offer work experience abroad and that's a way of really getting to know a language and to experience a different culture which could be vital to your future career.

RYG: What are the highlights of your job?

AC: A personal highlight for me is I'm a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan and I have been to White Hart Lane football stadium about five times. Earlier this month (October 2009) I was standing on the pitch giving a driver a trophy for a race he won in Monza, Italy.

I love working in sport and my daily job is speaking on average to around 30 to 35 football clubs. The travelling is great because you meet new people and you learn new things about everyone as well as new places and cities. It's a great opportunity for me.