She is seventeen, founder of her own agency for freestyle footballers and founder of her own social media marketing firm. Yep. Se-ven-teen. You heard it right! Who is she? Her name is Liv Cooke and this is her story…
An introduction to Liv
I am 17 years old and from England. I’m the founder and CEO of Girl Power which is the first ever female freestyle football agency. Basically companies hire female freestylers through us to perform or film, anywhere in the world. I am also the founder and CEO of Social Power which is a social media marketing firm. Companies come to us and we analyse, design and implement a strategy to market their company via social media in order to get an edge over their competitors in their industry. I’m also the UK’s first and only professional female football freestyler and the youngest freestyler to ever qualify for the world tour, which starts later this year in Melbourne.
I’ve been mad about football ever since I could walk, thanks to having two older brothers. I always got a new football for Christmas when I was little. My brothers would have me out every day in the street playing football with them and other kids on the street.
Before finding freestyle football just over two years a go I was a keen footballer, my dream was to play professionally, however I picked up a few bad injuries and soon found myself losing motivation. That’s when I started learning a few tricks in my garden and before I knew it I was freestyling!
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Freestyle football is a lifestyle
I started to chat to other freestylers I found online from all over the world. We would exchange trick ideas and help each other progress. Fast forward two years and some of these people are my best friends, we meet up all over the world. For example, I’m really good friends with an American freestyler and just last month we met up and toured Europe performing together.
Freestyle football is more than just a sport to me, it’s a lifestyle. It’s more than just learning and practicing tricks. Yes it takes 2-3 hours, 6 times a week of intense practice but aside from that it also takes knowledge of digital and social media marketing as well as a business mindset as you have to reach out to potential clients and get shows as well as sponsorships. This sport is extremely time consuming but I’m addicted, the community is incredible and almost like a family to me now.
Freestyle football taught me never to set limits for yourself because you can always go further than you once dreamed of. This sport has taught me all about delays gratification, solitude and the power of dedication combined with passion.
Online, I can show al the hard work it takes
I have spent months analyzing Instagram and experimenting with the new algorithms but it all comes down to one thing. Your content. Which is why I think so many people follow me. I post training clips, showing an insight into my training regime. People get to see how much work I put in to do these football tricks. However, I also show my personal life so people get to know who I am and what I stand for. My intentions are pure and I work so hard to grow my name to inspire other people and I like to think that my followers see that.
You will be amazed what you can learn about yourself
I’ve been brought up in what I think is a fairly active family, both my older brothers play football so I’ve never known otherwise. I would highly recommend freestyle football to anybody and everybody. All you need is a ball, just get out and persist. Be stubborn, don’t let yourself end that training session until you manage to complete the trick you want to do. You’ll be amazed at what you learn about yourself whilst you progress!
Wanna see more of Liv?
Follow on @LivCookefs and check out her website www.LivCooke.com
