Research suggests that women are better multi-taskers than men, so in a profession that requires its employees to wear many hats, it should be no surprise a group of women are enjoying great success.

Through their professionalism, expertise, hard work and dedication, accredited AFL agents Natalie Ireland, Kathryn Cotsopoulos, Bronwyn Madigan and Lucy Mills are forging successful careers in what is traditionally a male dominated industry.

There are 76 accredited AFL player agents and only five of them women; however more are expected to join the ranks in the coming years thanks to the path being paved by these agents.

Three more female agents successfully sat the AFL agent accreditation exam this month and will report for their first order of business at the annual agents’ conference at Etihad Stadium on Monday.

The AFL Players’ Association accredits and regulates AFL player agents and Player Relations Coordinator Braden Stokes says the success of the current crop of female agents has been significant but gender is “irrelevant”, when it comes to AFL agent accreditation.

“It is our job to ensure the agents are fit and proper to do the job, for us it’s about having the right skillset, regardless of gender.”

“It is our job to ensure the agents are fit and proper to do the job, for us it’s about having the right skillset, regardless of gender.”

Lucy Mills is somewhat of a trailblazer. She was the first female player agent, earning her AFL accreditation while working with Connors Sports Management in 2005. She started her own company – The Lighthaus, in 2013 with a focus on celebrity and athlete management.

Some of her talent includes Adam Goodes, Jimmy Bartel and Rebecca Judd. Lucy doesn’t subscribe to the gender debate or offer any harrowing stories of sexism throughout her journey; she insists the football industry has always been extremely supportive.

“To be successful in any career path is challenging whether you are male or female. Maybe women sometimes do have to work harder but I never saw it as a barrier…”

Kathryn Cotsopoulos from Stride Sports Management believes the key to penetrating the notoriously competitive market is to “know your stuff”.

“There is no point complaining that you are a woman in a male dominated industry. It’s about working out what you are good at and where your skills and expertise lie and then basically using that to help the company and the client,” Kathryn says.

“Women have to know their place and be confident in what they do. Sometimes I think women expect a right to be in the industry for the sake of having women involved.”

Kathryn worked for Stride for five years before earning her AFL agent accreditation in 2010, she believes accreditation gave her instant credibility within an industry dominated by “alpha males”.

She believes that being a female has its advantages and often finds she plays “a bit of a mother role” to young men, just fresh out of high school and sometimes a long way from home. She says it’s not just about supporting the client. Sometime it’s the client’s mum living interstate that needs the most reassurance.

“…they are at the footy club with 50 other footballers, so there are a lot of men in their lives. Having a female involved in some of their emotional decisions and being there for them has been really good. It’s comforting for the parents to know there is a female involved in their welfare.”

Natalie Ireland, based in Brisbane with Velocity Sports, agrees. She is often the first port of call when her clients want to discuss personal issues.

“Definitely, I think it’s really good for the boys to have a female influence in their lives that’s not their mum or sister of girlfriend. I think a lot them feel more comfortable to talk to me about emotional things rather than the boys.”

Natalie earned her agent accreditation in 2012, stepping-up to fill the void left by Velocity’s Brisbane based agent Peter Blucher. She says strong support from her colleagues and director Alistair Lynch has been crucial to building her confidence.

Bron Madigan is a director of London based Jane Cowmeadow Communications & Management; she has been a sports agent for four years with a bevy of international athletes on her books, including Cathy Freeman and footballer Melissa Barbieri.

Having earned her AFL accreditation two years ago she is trying to break into the AFL market, recently adding two draft hopefuls. She also runs an events company when she doesn’t have her hands full with 1-year-old daughter Chloe.

“When you are trying to do a phone conference while feeding and getting back to people in work hours and that doesn’t fit into Chloe’s routine; that has been hard. But we’ve got through the first year and as she has got older we are getting better at managing our time and managing expectations of people we are working with.”

Managing expectations and achieving work-life balance, along with the increasing intensity of the media coverage are the major challenges facing the AFL footballer in 2013 according to the agents.

“There are more and more demands on player’s time whether it be from the clubs, the AFL, external forces; family, study, friends. Tyring to juggle it all and find some down time for them can be a struggle,” Lucy says.

“Being an elite athlete isn’t a normal person’s life, they are trying to juggle relationships, family, a career outside of sport, whether that be study, a trade, a business and trying to make sure they are planning for life after sport as well,” Kathryn agrees.

Natalie says getting young players to think long-term can be difficult.

“You’ve got to let them enjoy being a footballer a little bit, but it gets to a point where you have to sit them down and say look “you’re not going to end up with anything if you don’t start planning for the future,”’ she adds.

They were all attracted to the job by a love for sport and are united in stressing the importance of hard work and building relationships as the key to achieving success in the industry.

So what advice do they offer a young person aspiring to become an AFL accredited agent?

“They need to be able to build relationships quite quickly and build trust quickly with your clients.” Natalie says.

Bron agrees, “Making those key relationships is crucial”.

“They also need a fairly good knowledge of the industry, even just the sporting industry as a whole. So any work experience, anywhere, to get to know that kind of stuff is helpful,” Natalie adds.

Natalie says the relationships she was able to form through her dad Andrew, CEO of the Sydney Swans, was key to getting her foot in the door. Both Kathryn and Lucy got their first taste of athlete management through work experience placements at university, before earning their way into management positions.

Lucy believes agents need to be “honest, organised, have really good negotiating skills, you need to like working with people and be passionate.”

“It’s a pretty full-on job and I guess it can be demanding at times as well.”

Kathryn advises prospective agents to identify where their skills and expertise lie and then focus on using those to benefit the client.

“I think there is definitely room for women but it’s about making sure women know what they’re role is and being confident in what they deliver,” she says.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are male or female, you can manage any athlete in any code in the world, but it just about knowing your stuff.”