Professional cricketer and business founder Marie Kelly was yesterday selected as the winner of a University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) Sports Entrepreneur Competition, claiming the prize to boost her growing women and girls sports cap company.
The 29-year-old – who represents The Blaze and the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred – wowed the judges with her business, Versatail, a venture focused on developing sports caps designed specifically for women and girls in sport with trademarked technology to adjust the ponytail opening to suit a desired height and style.
With her products, Kelly wanted to solve an issue which has persisted with her and fellow players during her cricketing career. Her aim is to see female players being comfortable on the field, enabling them to perform to their highest potential.
The competition – inaugurated by UCFB to celebrate a decade of inspiring the next generation of sports business professionals in Manchester – gave aspiring sports innovators aged 18–30 based in the UK the chance to win £50,000 in value to support their business ideas with the potential to make a real impact in the industry.
The final, hosted at Old Trafford Football Stadium, yesterday (October 22) saw nine shortlisted finalists present to an expert panel consisting of UCFB Founder, Brendan Flood; Andrea Chilton, CEO of the English Schools Football Association; Eni Shabani, Founder of the Rising Ballers media company; Adrian Harris, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Castore and Sam Mackenzie the CEO of National League football club, Altrincham.
The nine contestants were judged on five criteria – the market opportunity, innovation of the idea, its feasibility, the pitch quality, and the sustainability and impact of the idea.
“My main emotion is shock,” said Marie Kelly of her competition win. “I really didn’t think I would win. I was here for the experience. The process really helped me strategize the business and really think about where I wanted to go with it. To be named the overall winner, I’m really delighted.”
“The financial prize takes a bit of a weight off my mind about how to supply the demand that I’ve already got for my products and my caps. Hopefully I can just really develop the product so it’s even better and service even more, women and girls in sports,” added Marie.
The judges were incredibly impressed with the general quality of the submissions. Named in second place overall was Telford-based innovator, Ben Wiser, with his Touchline app development programme tailored specifically for non-league football clubs across the UK offering an easy-to-use, modular platform aimed to boost a club’s fan engagement and commercial opportunities.
Brendan Hourihan, a brand specialist at Amazon by day and founder of KnockOut Clean – a unique, reuseable boxing glove liner that prevents sweat and bacteria build-up – was selected in third place overall.
The Sports Entrepreneur Competition not only celebrated UCFB’s Manchester legacy but also strengthens its mission to be the go-to university for sports careers, inspiring and empowering future leaders in the sector.
