Victorian Masters Sport Resource Kit - Australian Sports Commission

with follow up phone calls. Interviews were
organised on a range of radio stations.
Local newspapers were provided with lead
stories for six weeks prior to the event.
Promotion And Advertising
◗ The organisers conducted a six week
lacrosse program at local primary schools
to promote the event which also provided
local clubs the opportunity to promote
their activities. Activities and clinics were
conducted as part of the local council
school holiday programs. The event was
promoted directly to other sport clubs and
community groups to gather support for
the event. Local artists were used for the
opening and closing ceremonies.
Sponsorship
◗ The Major sponsors included the local
council – Hobsons Bay City Council, and
the Williamstown Football Club, and many
others responded with cash or in kind
support. This was generated through a
sponsorship proposal to all local
businesses in the lead up to the event,
with personal follow ups to secure
sponsor support.
Two excellent resources available from the
Australian Sports Commission (contact in the
back of this kit) which explain the principles
of event management are:
◗ The Volunteer Involvement Program
workshop titled Event Management which
covers the process and planning required
to conduct an event, and
◗ The Australian Sports Commission
publication Guidelines For The Conduct
Of Masters Games, which covers the
major issues involved in managing a
Masters Games.
7.3 Marketing Masters Sports
Events
Organisations marketing a Masters Sport
event should follow the same principles for
marketing any sports event with a few
modifications.
Approvals
◗ Gaining exclusive access to the
Williamstown Football Club ground for the
week involved negotiating with several
other sport clubs to move fixtures and
training times. The event organisers were
also required to liaise with interstate
teams, the national body and a range of
equipment and catering suppliers to host
the event.
Evaluation
◗ Evaluation was undertaken by surveying
event participants, informal discussions
with all stakeholders and debriefing
discussions among the event organisers.
Continuous and informal feedback was
sought from participants and spectators.
All of the information was collated into a
report for the Victorian peak body, the two
clubs, major sponsors and an application
for a community development award.
Victoria won the 1998 Australian Women’s
Lacrosse Championship … (what more
could you ask for!)
Source: Fran Whitty, Championship
Coordinator, 1998 Australian Women’s
Lacrosse Championship.
Pricing
Appropriate pricing is important for a Masters
Sport event . As mentioned previously in this
kit, one of the greatest myths about Masters
Sport is the generalisation that Masters Sport
participants have a great deal of money. This
is simply not true and in fact one of the
barriers people face as they become older
may relate to fixed incomes, so pricing
programs accordingly will assist in this area.
Promotion
Participants in Masters games and multi sport
games are typically already involved in their
particular sport. Hosting games of this nature
therefore depends on marketing directly to
existing competitors to attract them to
participate.
The support of state and regional associations
to provide mailing lists and databases of
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7. Masters Sport Events