Grass Roots Sport Critical to Effective Sports Sponsorship

New research from Eurosport, ZenithOptimedia & Synovate indicates that investment in the grass roots of sport is of critical importance to sponsorship effectiveness during a time of recession according to the Sports Business Group.

Sports Business Group are the world’s leading supplier of information, media and B2B marketing services to the sports industry.

With corporate social responsibility (CSR) now rapidly becoming a central aspect to the sponsorship of the biggest brands, companies, sporting federations and governing bodies will be taking note of the findings at a time when marketing strategies are coming under serious scrutiny.

The report, taken out in October 2008, interviewed 1,600 upmarket consumers and 10 leading sports marketers whose responses created a sports marketing code of conduct for companies during the difficult economic climate. 
 
It found that 81 per cent of consumers believe “what companies do over what they say” and that 74 per cent believed CSR sports investment both helps sport to develop, and was essential as part of the marketing strategy for large brands.
 
The survey also revealed grass roots investment was considered an imperative and necessary component of a successful sports marketing campaign. Although expensive, it is valued by consumers who appreciate organisations which make a real contribution to sports development.
 
The report’s findings were showcased at  a summit organised by the SportBusiness  Group.  For further details visit the website of  Sports Business International

International Inspiration in Zambia

I was especialy pleased to be invited by UK Sport earlier this month to travel back to Lusaka, Zambia, to undertake some consultancy work with Ken Black in connection with the London 2012 legacy programme titled International Inspiration writes Norman Brook.

Edusport Activity

The reason being that this was my fourth engagement with the Zambian sporting community, the other three dating back to 1995/1996 and I was keen to learn what had changed in the last 13-14 years. My first trip to Lusaka was with Andy Hansen, then of UK Sport and now the British Council’s lead officer for sport.  UK Sport had a small budget for international development that had been allocated for use in Zambia and the purpose of our visit was to meet with various Zambian stakeholders from sport, government and education to learn how the UK could best spend its resource in helping Zambia develop sport and physical education.

It was on this first trip that I met Mary Nicholls a UK volunteer from the Voluntary Servce Overseas (VSO) organisation who had a placement at the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ).  Mary had arrived in Lusaka expecting to take up an advisory development role at the Sports Council, but soon found herself being parachuted into the role of General Secretary by the then Director General at the Ministry of Sport.  I was to learn on my return trip that 14 years on a similiar situation existed at the Sports Council.  Mary now works for the London Development Agency (LDA) and is very much involved in preparations for the London 2012 Olympics.

My other two previous engagements with Zambian sport arose from our first trip.  We had discovered that the Minister of Sport had appointed a number of provincial sports development officers but that they had only been given limited resources and had received no training in their new roles.  My return visit was to conduct a training course for these sports development practioners.  The third engagement took place in the UK when a small group of sport and physical education specialists from Zambia flew to the UK for a study tour.  My role being to manage their interaction with UK stakeholders and to conduct a workshop that allowed them to prepare a report on what they had learned and how this could be applied in the Zambian context.

When I flew into Lusaka Airport earlier this month, I was expecting to see change as I knew the economy had improved since the early 1990s and that there was more political stability.  Arriving at the airport, I began to wonder if I would find things had changed, as it was exactly how I had remembered it in 1995/1996.  The journey to my hotel though was more encouraging. I got chatting to some business men who worked for a broadband service provider who were active in Zambia and saw it as an emerging market.  We passed new shopping malls where there were well known South African multi-nationals trading such as Shoprite and Mr Price.  People on the street looked smart and purposeful.  New buildings were under construction. All in all things seemed better.

Major Makupa, Major Bwalya, Captain Nasilele of the NSCZ meet with Elias Banda and Norman Brook

The purpose of my visit was to meet up with a fellow Scot, Ken Black,  whom I have known for many years and had worked with before on training courses. We had even worked from the same building at Loughborough University and passed often on the stairs of the Beckwith Building.  Despite this we had not spent a lot of time together and I was keen to learn from him as he has become one a world leaders in making sport inclusive for people with a disability.  This particular trip was part of a consultation exercise on a sport for development training and accreditation project and would involve meetings with a range of Zambian stakeholders including many organisations that myself and Andy Hansen had met with during our first visit to Lusaka.

Our programme of meetings were arranged by Elias Banda who is UK Sport’s Zambian manager for the International Inspiration project.  I was really impressed with Elias and many of the other Zambian sports professionals I met on this visit.  Their level of knowledge of sport, sport development, sport for development and sports management was of the highest standard, They certainly knew what needed to be done to advance sport and sport for development in Zambia even though they lack the resources needed to deliver that development.  This for me was one of the biggest changes I noticed from my previous visits. On the previous trips we were the experts imparting knowledge to our Zambian colleagues.  On this trip they were our equals eagerly contributing to the discussion and debate on sport and sports development.

During this visit we met were a number of NGOs using sport as a development tool to deliver lifeskills training to young people including Edusport, Sport in Action, SCORE, Right to Play and NOWSPAR.  It was really pleasing to learn that these organisations are predominantly staffed by Zambians and that they are recruiting local volunteers, many of them peer leaders, to deliver sport and lifeskills training in the field.  They have been very successful at delivering community based sport assisted by external funding from their international organisations and donor partners.  It was also good to see UNICEF working in partnership with these organisations.

Elias Banda, Ken Black and Norman Brook meet with Joe Makano, Right to Play Zambia Director

Our visit to the Sports Council was reminiscent of that in 1995/1996.  The Board of NSCZ had not met for a number of years and the organisation was being held together by three officers led by Major Margaret Mukupa who had been seconded from the Zambian Army.  Governance issues had led to the removal of the CEO and suspension of the Board with the seconded staff ensuring that the organisations basic functions continued.  On the positive side though the Minister of Sport, Hon. Kenneth Chipungu, held a launch of a new Sports Policy for Zambia, which we were privileged to attend, at which he announced that the NSCZ Board was being re-constituted and that the names of his nominees would be made public shortly.  

Ambassador Susan Sikaneta, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Sport, Youth & Child Development and Bessie Chelemu, Sports Development Officer, Ministry of Sport, Youth & Child Development spoke at the launch and presented a comprehensive sports policy that properly resourced could see major strides being made in sports development in the country.  The Director General of Sport, Bernard Nakachinda, ably acted as the Master of Ceremonies. 

With the FIFA World Cup 2010 taking part in neighbouring South Africa, Zambia is hoping to qualify for the finals.  If they do they will propel sport to the top of the Zamian public agenda and may well provide the motivation needed to persuade government to invest in the Minister’s comprehensive national sports policy.

International Inspiration, which is led by UK Sport in partnership with the British Council and UNICEF, aims to use the power of sport to transform the lives of millions of children and young people of all abilities, in schools and communities across the world, particularly in developing countries, through the power of high quality and inclusive physical education, sport and play.

Engaging Communities in Sports Development

Sport and Development

Sports Development is a widely used term that can mean the development of sport for sport’s sake or the use of sport as tool for community development addressing social issues such as community regeneration, health, crime and  inclusion, writes Norman Brook.

The use of sport as a tool that can be used to address social issues is also evident in international development where Sport and Development has become an important tool in helping to achieve development objectives in particular the Millenium Goals.

Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General, has stated “Sport is increasingly recognized as an important tool in helping the United Nations achieve its objectives, in particular the Millennium Development Goals. By including sport in development and peace programmes in a more systematic way, the United nations can make full use of this cost-efficient tool to help us create a better world.”

Simon Kirkland is a fomer CEO of a National Governing Body of Sport in the UK who has been running a successful sports consultancy business for several years.  In the Sports Structures newsletter, Simon raises an important question for those using  sport as a development tool . “I have a growing concern that in the need to drive for targets we disregard the most vulnerable in society.  In a number of areas as organisations strive for an increase in the number participating I think it will lead to those that are already taking part just taking part more often and those that are hard to engage with will be left with limited options.”

The question Simon raised was also asked of me today by Debbie Lye, Head of International Development at UK Sport, who was enquiring how a proposed sport and development initiative would increase opportunities for young people to participate in and learn through sport as opposed to simply providing for those already engaged.

Simon points out that “programmes designed for disadvantaged communities should be about engaging the whole of that community and not focused on people coming in and working within those communities. The effective use of resources is critical to meeting the needs of disadvantaged communities – they are not hard to reach – however sport continues to be reluctant to work in a sustainable way with communities. Sport is a very powerful tool for community regeneration and should be used to good effect.”

This issue about engaging with the local community and creating real and sustainable development is an issue that has been of concern to me as I come ino contact with more sport and development programmes here in Africa.  My experience suggests that a great many initiatives are focused around a “delivery team” and that a key driver of programmes is the number of young people engaged. When a programme is sponsored by commercial company it is understandable that numbers engaged would be a key metric. 

Many of the sport and development initiatives are really good at engaging young people from disadvantaged communities but often that engagement is for a limited period of time.  Whilst it is great to see young people enjoying sports activities and proudly wearing their event tee-shirts, it can also be  frustrating nothing sustainable is left in place as a result of an intervention.  Often there is limited local community development, no local sports leaders or coaches trained , no one empowered to continue the activity when the initiative moves on to its next destination.

The issue identified by Simon Kirkland is applicable all community based sports development initiatives both in developed and developing nations.

As the Chinese proverb says ….

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Many organisations involved in sport fail to understand the concept of sports development.  Sports development officers and teams are often  involved in delivering activity rather than facilitating sustainable development.  Activity that only exists because it is being delivered by the sports development team.  Activity that would cease if the team was withdrawn or moved on.  If activities adnd programmes can not be sustained by local communities there quite simply has not been any development of sport.

Where sport is used as a tool to pursue a wider social development agenda the question of sustainability also needs to be raised.  If sport can be a successful vehicle to deliver community development it needs to become part of that community’s social fabric.

Whether sports development, or community development, we need to ask whether an initiative will lead to sustainable sports development?  When the initiative is complete will some new and sustainable sports activity exist.  Will we have provided added value and empowered a local community to engage in sport? Will there be new people playing, organising, administering and coaching sport in that community?