News of a major corporate organisation extending their sponsorship with Jamaica’s junior Squash is not only good for the sport but a win-win for both parties as Squash in Jamaica is on the rise and Burger King is getting behind them too.
Often sponsorship deals are very hard to come by for any sport, but for Squash, it is a great thing as the profile is looking to improve brand identity with an association in an activity for young people – in this case, a competitive junior Squash team.
Jamaican Junior Squash Team with Sports Minister Olivia Grange (Credit: Loop)
The deal between Burger King and the Jamaican Junior Squash is similar to the sponsorship tie-up between McDonald’s and the English Football Association deal for the grassroots programmes. However, the deal ended, and leading supermarket chain, Lidi stepped in and the association continues to progress.
Sponsorship at a community level
For most junior Squash programmes in the community, the tie-up with sponsors could prove a challenge, as most companies in the community are backing other sports, like Football and Rugby.
In these times it is time that most local companies break with the tradition of sponsoring these typical sports and look to Squash as sure, mainly as the sport can benefit all parties socially and healthy in terms of tackling obesity.
Also, the common perception of Squash is that it is seen as a corporate sport played by most business people, including garage owners.
Collaborative advantage – sports equipment and promoting the sport
Looking at the whole landscape of Squash there is a need for a major title sponsor or a portfolio of sponsors.
For instance, England Squash already has Dunlop on board – but it would be good to see another like a FinTech company as it would be a great link up with Interactive Squash – thus bringing about a collaborative advantage.
Meanwhile overseas, Squash can attract corporate sponsors of different kinds – in Sri Lanka, Ritzbury (a chocolate brand marketed by Ceylon Biscuits Ltd) joined forces to sponsor the annual junior Squash championships.
The deal will help promote squash among many districts so that keen new players may participate, thus encouraging young people to take the sport.
These sponsorship deals illustrate how Squash is working hard through a collaborative advantage to promote the sport with an angle of the healthiest sport in the world aimed at young people.
Final Thoughts
To sum up corporate sponsoring Squash initiatives at a grassroots level is good as the organisation can its CSR objectives and encourage its employees to donate their time in the form of volunteering at a local Squash club.
As for squash, it will have a raised profile and the juniors will (hopefully) perhaps work for the sponsor if the opportunity arose when they are older – plus take part in demonstration events for the sponsor too.
Overall, it is a worthwhile investment and excellent PR for both sides in delivering an awareness of truly a healthy sport.
