The Industry Column – 15 February

The government has set a very high target for investment in Olympic
sports in the run-up to London 2012. Karim Bashir, managing director of Catch
Sport and former Commonwealth Games fencer, explains why these associations do
provide value to companies as well as athletes.

Picture the scene; it’s August 2012.  You’re in the beautifully regenerated
Stratford at the Olympic Park waiting for the finals. “Your” athlete takes up
their starting place; whether it is on the blocks, at the back of the court, on
their on-guard line, in the field, climbing into the ring or on the board.  You
wonder if your heart is racing faster than theirs.

For the past 4 years you have watched, supported and encouraged this athlete
through thick and thin.  Tournament successes and failures, injuries, tough
winter training, medal winning performances (home and abroad), visits to your
sites, press appearances, the lot. You know what this means. You’ve had 10 times
the ROI from your sponsorship agreement than you expected but that means
nothing. All you want to do is win.

The action begins and you can’t take your eyes off it. A well paced race with
a sprint finish, a “PB” in the pool, blades flashing, arrows hitting the “gold”,
a blistering smash, a perfect 10 and then the walk to the podium, the national
anthem complemented with smiles and tears of joy. A dream or reality? That’s up
to all of us.

UK Sport has set a target of fourth place in the medal table at the 2012
Olympics. We finished 10th in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) and 35th in
Atlanta (1996). So we’ve made some progress. We’ve certainly moved in the right
direction with the government investing in a healthier nation (e.g. school
dinners) and providing more access to more sporting facilities to help increase
participation.

Many of our sporting national governing bodies have recognised the benefits
using sport science and importing foreign coaches to improve performance. The
increased investment in sport as a whole since London was announced as the host
city for the 2012 Olympiad will help encourage the much-needed modernisation of
the administration of sport in the UK.

However, let’s not be fooled into thinking that this alone will mean GB
reaches its lofty target.  For all the public money now being invested in sport
only 1500 of our top (summer/winter Olympic) athletes are financially supported.
One third of these athletes compete in just 4 sports with a further 8 Olympic
sports not supported at all. So the funding for our performers is thin on the
ground at best but UK Sport and the DCMS have to draw the line somewhere.

In saying that; if we don’t have a big enough talent pool to pick our
athletes from then there is no way we will achieve our goals as a sporting
nation. More athletes definitely means more chance of gaining international
success but it also means that more money is required.

This investment at an athlete level will only come from private funding. So
the key for our rising stars is to engage with business in an inexpensive and
uncomplicated way and provide them with an obvious benefit.

Equally businesses have got to look at any athlete as though they were an
employee of the company. No company employs a member of staff and then leaves
them to train themselves or allows them to work what ever hours they chose.
Investment and nurturing is required to get the best out of your workforce.  The
same applies to athletes. It’s fantastic to support an athlete once they have
qualified for a major championship.

I went to 4 Commonwealth Games and never failed to get sponsorship once
selected.  The thing is, I also know that I would have performed much better at
these events had I had support in the years in between and this could only have
benefited my sponsors.

And what’s in it for your company? Read paragraph one again and imagine
taking your staff, clients, friends and family to the Olympics to watch “your”
athlete. Not to mention the inspiration they could be in the 4.5 year build up
to the Games.