Local businesses and junior sports clubs are kicking goals with Healthier Choices Canberra

Posted on 27 November, 2018

We get the low down on why junior sports sponsorship is the perfect match for businesses of all sizes.

Canberra is a sports-mad city, with more than fifty thousand kids playing junior sport each week, rain, hail or shine (and parents cheering on from the sidelines!) The fact that our kids love running around with various types of balls is great in itself, but it also presents a real opportunity for businesses to support the healthier messages of junior sport.

That’s where Healthier Choices Canberra comes in. After around two-thirds of Canberra parents told the ACT Government they want to see less unhealthy food and drinks at junior sports clubs and they want government to work with junior sports to replace unhealthy sponsorship; the ACT Government have responded with Healthier Choices Canberra. It’s a new initiative that provides support, nutrition advice and sponsorship advice to junior sporting clubs and nutrition advice to cafes, club restaurants, kids’ entertainment centres and local supermarkets to offer healthier options.

Canberra’s junior sports clubs would not be able to survive and thrive without the support of local parents and the support and sponsorship they already receive from many local businesses. There is always room for more, and new, sponsors. So, through Healthier Choices Canberra, four sporting organisations and a selection of their junior sports clubs are working with Vickie Saunders, founder of The Sponsorship Consultants, to find out more on how junior sports clubs and local businesses can support each other.

“The key thing I have always brought to sponsorship is that it can and should be about more than simply exchanging money in return for branding,” says Vickie. “Sponsorship can create commercial value and social impact, on a small or large scale, and everyone can truly benefit from these relationships.”

Vickie Saunders

“It really doesn’t matter what type of business or size of sports club, there is always a great amount of value that can be exchanged. We are definitely past the days of simply placing a logo on a banner in return for some dollars. It’s really important that the brands and values of junior sport and their sponsors are a really good fit.”

Getting involved in sponsorship isn’t only for the big brands. By thinking outside the box, your business could add real value to the local community and build relationships with mums and dads in your target market.

“Some sponsors do contribute financially, but many can contribute to the club through products, services and skills. This can include anything from volunteering to helping out on game day, to offering work experience for young athletes.

“Collaborative social media campaigns, like a challenge or competition, are another great way to provide mutual benefit to both local businesses and sports clubs.”

Vickie is an expert when it comes to matching businesses and sports clubs that share the same goals. She has worked all over the world and now brings her expertise to Canberra. Vickie has found that sponsoring a junior sports team can be an opportunity for improving staff development and wellbeing and even provide great content for social media and marketing.

“Every business has a brand, whether they are the local hairdresser, accounting firm or more obviously, the supermarket or bank branch. A brand is really just the impression that you make, and the information that you want people to know about your business. We want to make sure that junior sports have the opportunity to partner with brands that support the great work they are doing to keep our kids healthy and active.”

On Friday 23 November Healthier Choices Canberra held a successful networking event at the National Convention Centre Canberra where a range of businesses met junior sporting clubs to explore potential partnerships without any obligation. Businesses can now register with Healthier Choices Canberra if they would like to connect with junior sports clubs and find out how they can benefit from a partnership.

For more information visit Healthier Choices Canberra at bit.ly/2PQkmO6

This is a sponsored editorial. For more information on sponsored editorials, click here.