S2 Ep2: Omar Hassanein

TritonLake, as title sponsors of the Ireland Sevens programme, brings you TritonLake Perform – a podcast series that will explore the intersection of sport and business, and in particular, the necessary ingredients when it comes to creating and maintaining a dynamic high-performance culture. Hosted by TritonLake founder and CEO, Conor Smyth, guests on TritonLake Perform will come from the worlds of sport and business, with particular focus on businesses operating in the countries where HSBC Sevens World Series Events take place - many of which are key markets for TritonLake.  In this episode, Conor sits down with Chief Executive Officer of the International Rugby Players Association and former CEO of Rugby Players Ireland, Omar Hassanein, who speaks to Conor about his own time as a professional rugby player and the challenging period that occurs for many players in the transition to life after rugby. Hassanein chats about how his experiences working as the General Manager of Operations with the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) in Australia, before his move to Ireland in April 2011 which saw him take the reins at Rugby Players Ireland, at a time when the association consisted of just 2 staff members.  Hassanein, oversaw a transformative period for RPI which coincided with a remarkable period of success for Irish Rugby both at international and domestic level. Chief Executive of the organization for over six years, Hassanein led the implementation of a world class player welfare programme, establishing links with the Irish business community to bring much-needed commercial support to the players’ union and also, spearheaded the well-known mental wellbeing campaign, Tackle Your Feelings.