Botswana National Sports Commission Vice-Chairperson, Tebogo Lebotse Sebego, believes women’s sport has immense value as she encourages corporates to back the women’s side of the game.
Before her appointed as BNSC Vice-Chairperson, Sebego served as President of the Botswana Netball Association, Africa Netball, and was also a member on the World Netball board.
Among her list of achievements during her reign as BONA President, Botswana went on to successfully hosted the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup.
The association also received sponsorship from Spar, Debswana, and Virgin Active during her reign.
Speaking with Tatenda Gondo, Sebego reveals the golden rule about Sport Marketing and Sponsorship and what needs to be done to ensure women’s sport in Africa receives increased corporate support.
Tebogo, thank you for taking your time out to chat with us. Please can you share a brief history about yourself.
I am a former captain for both the under 21 and senior Botswana netball teams. When I retired from playing netball, I ventured into sport administration. In 2007, I was elected as the President of the Botswana Netball Association. I led the association for ten years from 2007 to 2017.
In 2010, I was elected as the President of Africa Netball, a position I served for 8 years. I am currently the Vice President of the Botswana National Sports Council. Over and above, I am a mother and a wife.
When and how did your love for sport develop?
Apart from netball, I also played basketball and table tennis. I completely fell in love with netball during my primary school days.
You have played a pivotal role in securing vital sponsorship for sport in Botswana. Please tell us about your involvement in this venture.
Yes, mostly it has been for netball. Spar Botswana sponsored our netball league for about 7 years. They also sponsored one of our athletes to trial out in Australia.
Debswana sponsored our junior national netball team, Dinaletsana, for the Netball World Youth Cup and Virgin Active also came on board for the junior team.
Together with your administration, you made history becoming the first federation in Africa to secure hosting rights for the 2017 Netball Youth World Cup. How did your experience in Sport Marketing and Sponsorship assist in making sure the tournament was a success?
Ahead of the start of the Netball World Youth Cup, we needed to use the prestigious youth tournament to solidify our relationship with our long-term sponsors, Spar. Hence, they were one of our main sponsors.
Broadcasting was another element we needed to get right. Therefore, we partnered with BTV, radio and social media platform, Tswena and QTV as our streaming partners. This was an essential part of the puzzle to target maximum visibility of the event.
But even more importantly, we had to get the product right as the technical delivery of the games.
What would you regard as the golden rule of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship?
Work the sponsorship! Sports Marketing and Sponsorship is not just about putting money in an initiative and doing activation work only. For every dollar you receive from sponsors, you need to put another dollar to activate the brand.
Furthermore, you need very high levels of integrity to safeguard your brand and the reputation of your partners.
Looking at women’s sport sponsorship, what are your thoughts on the development over the past few years?
The progress is slow. I’m loving the developments in international women’s football and the professionalism that is apparent.
Here in Botswana, we have seen the likes of Lucara and DeBeers being intentional in sponsoring women’s sport.
Women’s sport is ripe for greater monetization if certain key elements fall into place. We now want to see women’s sport pulling in substantial TV and stadium audience consistently across multiple sporting codes. Then the value of sponsors will be self-evident, which in turn should raise marketing spend and awareness.
For this to happen, sport federations, leagues, teams, sponsors and media needs to invest on a sustained basis in creating more opportunities for women in sport to prove their commercial value.
Lastly, what needs to be done to ensure women’s sport in Africa receives increased corporate support?
The bottom line is that the media needs to take action to support women’s sport and in this way it encourages sponsors to invest in them. Although there is an abundance of sportswomen out there, there is a serious lack of representation of these women and their various sport in media.
On the other hand, I think brands should engage with women’s sport and focus on the bigger picture rather than once-off returns for a single event. More visibility, broadcast rights, especially online, and more inspirational role models.
Photo 1 Caption: Botswana National Sports Commission Vice-Chairperson, Tebogo Lebotse Sebego, believes women’s sport has immense value as she encourages corporates to back the women’s side of the game. Photo: Supplied
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