The latest annual Sport Industry NextGen Leaders list – which recognises 30 rising industry professionals aged under 30 – has been revealed.
The 2019 list includes two women from the world of esports: Caroline Oakes from ESL UK and Emma Vetriano from EA Sports.
Caroline is business development manager and stage host for ESL UK, and has made a huge contribution to UK esports over the past few years, since joining ESL back in October 2016.
She quickly worked her way up from business development intern to business development associate and stage host, crossing over into the world of esports presenting. She has hosted ESL Premiership finals, the Digital Schoolhouse finals and many more, and was awarded Esports Woman of the Year at the 2018 MCV Women in Games Awards.
Incredibly thrilled to have been selected as one of the @SportIndustry #SINextGen leaders for 2019! Congratulations to all the incredible people who made it, I’m super looking forward to meeting all of you next year! ?????? https://t.co/E4mWhEkz0J
— Caroline Oakes (@MissRecklessxx) October 5, 2018
Emma meanwhile joined EA at the start of this year as account manager for EA Sports FIFA global partnerships.
She’s responsible for managing EA Sports’ global partnerships with the Premier League, the EFL, Chelsea FC, Manchester City, Manchester United and others. And with FIFA 19 just launched and the ePremier League on the way, her role will no doubt become even more critical.
I am absolutely delighted to share that I have been selected as a 2019 Sport Industry Group NextGen Leader!
Thank you to the judges for choosing me; to @holman_dan, @Charlie_Boss and Stuart MacPhee for being my references; and to everyone else who helped…https://t.co/Z0ynjA4zef
— Emma Vetriano (@EmmaVetriano) October 4, 2018
The 2019 NextGen Leaders programme is the fourth annual initiative, first launched by Sport Industry Group in 2015.
Organisers said a record 43% of the 2019 Leaders are women, following a more even split of applicants than any previous year.
Each of the 30 individuals receive a year-long leadership package which includes training, personal development and networking opportunities.
They will be officially unveiled as a group for the first time at Sport Industry NextGen Unlocked on February 7th 2019 at Village Underground, London. It’s a free networking event and you can register your interest here.
Last year’s NextGen Leaders list included Fnatic co-owner Patrik “cArn” Sättermon and ESL UK’s former co-MD Spike Laurie.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
