In last week’s gsport Twitter Space, host Oarabile Diphoko spoke to Nielsen Sports Africa MD Jean Willers, Zimbabwean cricketer Sharne Mayers and Founder of Siko Republik, Jabulile Gwala, on sponsorship in women’s sport.
Jean Willers highlighted how massive 2023 is for women’s sport, saying: “This has been a long time coming and the big shift that’s happened is that women’s sport is no longer a charity case. From a sponsors point of view investing in women’s sport shows a real return on investment and there is a real fan base that you can reach.”
Even though a lot of brands are under pressure and seem to be cutting their budgets, Willers added: “It’s an exciting year ahead for our country and hopefully the brands out there are taking the opportunities to invest because there really will be great returns in women’s sport.”
Willers also took this opportunity to congratulate Amy Daley who recently been promoted to a Directorship role at Nielsen Sports South Africa: “With the year she had last year she was really deserving and I hope she continues to be a role model for a lot of young girls entering the sports sponsorship space.”
Zimbabwean cricketer Sharné Mayers joined in on the conversation as she shared some of her proudest moments of her career: “I will always be proud to represent my country playing cricket all over the world and being selected for the ICC development team is a major high in my career.”
Looking at what’s coming ahead in 2023, Mayers says: “I will be travelling around South Africa to try and see as much women’s sport as possible. I am so excited to see the career opportunities that young girls will get to witness within sport.”
Mayers spoke highly of her partnership with Black Widow, emphasizing: “It was a game changer because it eased the pressure on me to perform to the best of my ability and not having to worry about the cricket equipment I needed.
“The moment there is sponsorship you find that the players can focus on their craft, skills and development, which automatically brings better results. When brands come on board, this potentially takes athletes to new heights. Everybody wants to be associated with a winner and I hope to see more of these investments, especially in the development stages of sport.”
Jabulile Gwala’s Siko Republik is an African print inspired gym clothing brand, which was started back in 2018. Gwala’s brand has also had the opportunity to dress the Banyana Banyana ladies when they came back from winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Gwala, who has experience in marketing and sponsorships, said: “Sponsorships are not the same in men and women’s sport. Looking at grass root levels, you do not see the same level on investment going into girls sport. I believe that as a collective or as a community we all need to support our girls.”
With the 2023 Netball World Cup on the horizon, Gwala revealed: “We are not seeing the same hype that would we would normally see around a soccer or rugby world cup for example. We need to start treating the relevant sports with the same kind of energy and respect as we do the male sport.”
Looking at the future of Siko Republik, the organisation will be looking to get involved with schools at development level to help sponsor kits for young girls and help out with school activations.
“We are really looking forward to giving back and want to change the dialogue that’s centered on supporting female sport,” concluded Gwala.
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
