Super agent says keep it real

Roger Mortimer was praised at the Halberg Awards for his energy, passion and input by both Sarah Ulmer and Hamish Carter. Picture / Brett Phibbs

It is not quite business as usual for sports agent Roger Mortimer. Actually, he's been stood up by one of his star clients.

"Sarah will be late for the meeting," says her partner, Brendon Cameron, with an apologetic grin. "She's having a nap outside in the car."

Mortimer, who arrived home after the Halberg Sports Awards at 3am yesterday himself, is relaxed. On Thursday night his star clients, Sarah Ulmer and Hamish Carter, both stood up independently and thanked him for the energy, passion and input that helped them make it to the top.

While Mortimer certainly wasn't expecting such recognition, it was "very nice, very humbling".

Later, while Carter and Ulmer took off with their friends, their super agent had a drink with the sponsors.

This is the way it goes when there's no job description; you work by "creating the right environment" for your clients.

"My job really encapsulates absolutely everything they do. With the time I invest it couldn't be any other way. You're up to your neck in it," says Mortimer, sitting in his cool, rambling office in Parnell's elegant Strand Building.

There isn't a photo of Ulmer, Carter or a client logo in sight. Mortimer wears a crisp striped blue shirt, dark pants. He talks fast, searching for the right words to describe the special relationships he builds with his clients.

Mortimer first met Hamish Carter when Carter was a year ahead of him at Auckland Grammar.

Carter became his first client after Mortimer, graduating with a BCom from Auckland University, decided he "didn't want to market toothpaste".

Instead, he combined his two passions, sport and marketing, to become a sports agent.

Next, Sarah Ulmer's father, Gary, approached him and asked him to take on his daughter.

Since then it has been an exciting ride - rock bottom when both of his first clients missed out at the Sydney Olympics; top of the world after they slowly, painfully, got back on form and then won gold at Athens last year.

Mortimer, whose fee is decided on a case-by-case basis, describes his management style as seamless.

"This is a very, very unique relationship," he says. "They're my best friends, but without any question it's business first, friendship second."

His job ranges beyond organising commercial relationships and sponsors, to his clients' attention to training ("in an absolutely strategic way") and helping them get into the right frame of mind for racing.

"Their preparation is as much off the training field [as on it]," he explains. "They need to have that balance in their lives."

Above all, he says, there is absolute trust. "We think about things in the same way. They guide me as much as I guide them - when you meet people of this calibre you do it together."

The sponsorship work is not just a duty - it helps keep the athletes in touch with the real world.

As Mortimer says, sport itself can be quite a superficial environment; going out to meet schoolchildren helps keep their feet on the ground.

Sure, the financial support is important, but "they don't want to be pampered or picked up for by coaches and taken to 5-star hotels".

Picking up for themselves, travelling alone, mixing with real people builds that resolve around them, says Mortimer.

"It's not good to talk them up too much either. We've asked them to stick to who they are, not what they are. We put no PR spin on it. I feel that's why they've been so successful. If people like them, great. If they don't ... " he shrugs. "It's that simple."

As he says, New Zealanders love being the underdog. People like Carter and Ulmer are so attractive to us because they're real.

A last photo, a firm handshake and Mortimer and Cameron walk off to the $5-a-day carpark opposite The Strand where Ulmer, the country's top sporting celebrity is sleeping. The sponsored Ford Focus is not even parked under a tree.