UK – One of the time honoured ways for a company to ensure it raises its public profile (besides an advert in a prestigious trade publication) is to sponsor something worthwhile usually a charity or sporting event or team. The problem now, particularly with sport, is that such support can be extremely costly and thus companies tend to seize upon any relatively young and potentially popular activity which initially may not be well known by the general public. Now a time critical freight and logistics outfit based in the Midlands has funded such a little known activity – ball hockey.
Bespoke Distribution Aviation (BDA) has become an associate sponsor for the official UK team in the sport which has developed both in North America and, like other ‘stick’ sports, is said to have originated from hurling which can date its origins back to a warrior game first documented 3,000 years ago and, as a traditional Irish sport, ties in well with BDA which is connected to the country through its Dublin hub.
A variation of ice hockey and street hockey, ball hockey takes place in purpose built facilities games halls and centres as well as outdoors, but uses a ball instead of a puck. The sport is still very young in the UK, which means players remain self-funded, so the sponsorship funds from BDA will really help raise the sport’s profile and support its growth. As an associate sponsor of Team GB, BDA’s logo will be prominently displayed on the front of both men’s and women’s squad jerseys and the company is also becoming a personal player sponsor to women’s Team GB Team Assistant Captain, Lyanne Diotte and sponsorship money will go towards the costs associated with travelling to Newfoundland for the World Championships next month.
BDA handles mainly time critical shipments throughout the UK and Ireland and serves mainland Europe through its key hub locations in Maastricht, Frankfurt, Coventry as well as Dublin. Alison Brindley, Marketing Manager, BDA said:
“We are delighted that we have been given the opportunity to provide much needed sponsorship funds to the Team GB ball hockey team. We know that, like all sports athletes, the team has worked extremely hard to achieve peaks levels of fitness, speed and agility; all traits that we need to demonstrate to continue to deliver goods on time every time across Europe. We are really looking forward to supporting the teams and helping to place them firmly in the international arena.”
Photo: Alison Brindley. Marketing Manager at BDA with the full UK Ball Hockey team.
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