Renault South Africa is the latest corporate to partner with Netball South Africa.
The French automotive manufacturer has become NSA’s ‘Official Vehicle Partner’, with the deal set to run for the next three years, with NSA receiving four cars from Renault.
“This partnership gives us an opportunity to become involved in one of the largest growing sports from grassroots through to our national athletes, aligning perfectly with our sports marketing vision to become a leading brand for change in women’s sports in South Africa”, said Renault South Africa CEO Shumani Tshifularo.
“It is a great initiative from Renault, we are grateful for it and all the other companies that have got on board as well,” said SPAR Proteas player Izette Griesel. “It made a massive improvement in the Netball World Cup and leading up to it and now after, it’s just continuing to grow. Its growth is amazing for all the people out there to see us and all the sponsorship just makes that more possible, makes us seen more out there, and makes it possible for us to live our dreams. We play with our passion and the more people see that, the more they support that and the better it is for us as a team to improve.”
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Although NSA has contracted players for the national team, South Africa still does not have a professional league. The Gauteng Jaguars centre says that even though the country is headed in that direction, there is still a long way to go.
“We are definitely on our way there, but there are a few things that need to be in place for us to become professional,” said Griesel. “But the more sponsorship we get the closer we are. Step by step we’re getting there and the more companies get on board, that has made a big impact. The more we can get, the closer we can get to professionalism in our country.”
NSA outgoing CEO, Blanche de la Guerre, said the federation had been long looking for a company to partner with to assist them with their transportation challenges.
“It’s so exciting because we have been trying to get a vehicle sponsor for quite some time, but it was as if it was just a market for male sports,” she said. “We were looking in envy at how male sports stars were driving around in sponsored cars and we approached a few companies. Renault came to our doors and said they like what they see in netball and they support women in sport. They like the growth of our sport and that we reach every goal wherever we go and they would like to assist us with our vehicle challenges.”
De la Guerre stressed the importance of corporates sponsoring netball and other women’s sports.
“When a company shows confidence in a sport, specifically a women’s sport, it draws attention and it makes other companies also look at the opportunities that we can offer them to be partners,” she said. “The more investors we get, the more we can invest back into the communities. We have 52 districts, we have over 2000 clubs, and we have people who don’t have courts at the moment to train. The World Cup opened doors for us. What happened on the court with the Spar Proteas, although it didn’t go as we wanted it to, we are proud of their performance. They showed us there was a huge improvement. Investors are important to keep the sustainability of your projects and the sustainability of preparing your team.”
