Sports Funding and Sponsorship: Repair of Werribee Tennis Clubs Courts - Case Study Example

Sport Funding and Sponsorship: Repair of WTC’s Courts Name: Institution: Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Cover Letter 4 Organization Details 5 The Benefits Involved 6 Budget, Investment, and Evaluation 8 References 9 Executive Summary The sport organization applying for funding is called Werribee Tennis Club (WTC). Located in Galvin Park in Werribee, Werribee Tennis Club has the sole goal of providing opportunities to enjoy tens for the people of Werriibee. The current membership of WTC stands at 40 female members aged between 5 and 55 years and 25 male members within the same age bracket. Being in the social sector, WTC has always maintained an ethos for a friendly and social environment for people of all ages as well as people of all abilities. Of the many funding opportunities available from Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV), WTC is interested in applying for Community Facility Funding Program funded by the Victorian government. This funding is aimed at helping WTC acquire funds to enable it repair two of its clay tennis courts that are apparently dilapidated and need repair. This funding is definitely aimed at benefiting not only the members of WTC and the surrounding community at large, but will also immensely benefit the Victorian Government. This sponsor – Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) – stands to benefit in the sense that whenever the sponsored i.e. WTC, in this case, carries out its activities, it has to acknowledge the funder in one way or the other. This acknowledgement shall come in various forms e.g. through the presentation of the logo of the funder on any publications that are related to the activity, any press releases, as well as other promotional materials. WTC will also acknowledge SRV by situating a billboard containing the sign and symbol of the Victorian Government at the site where the repair shall be done. This in itself is enough promotion and endorsement for the funder, indicating the immense mutual benefits that both parties are going to get. Many stakeholders shall be part and parcel of this entire sport funding, key of who are WTC, SRV, the people of Werribee, Tennis Australia, Tennis Victoria, and the City of Hobson Bay. Having engaged one of the local builders in Werribee, the repair for the two dilapidated clay tennis courts is estimated to cost approximately $50,000 for the whole repair, with each court taking about $25,000 to repair. Cover Letter The Community Facility Funding Program is essentially categorized into six main categories. These categories are Better Pools, Major Facilities, Seasonal Pools, Minor Facilities, Soccer Facilities, and Planning; each category with its funding criteria. Having gone through the Program Guidelines for the fund, WTC seems to qualify for the category of Minor Facilities. In this category, the maximum funding goes up to $100,000, and this should be channeled towards developing or upgrading community sports and recreation facilities in Victoria. This is commensurate with the $50,000 funding WTC requires to repair its two clay tennis courts that are apparently dilapidated. Additionally, the requirement that the applicant be a community sports and recreation facility in Victoria is met by WTC. The main goal of WTC is to provide opportunities that all people of Werribee can stand to benefit from. In its quest to achieve this goal, WTC engages itself in friendly and social activities that are aimed at improving the social and physical status of all people irrespective of their ages. The Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) – stands to benefit in the sense that whenever the sponsored i.e. WTC, in this case, carries out its activities, it has to acknowledge the funder in one way or the other. This acknowledgement shall come in various forms e.g. through the presentation of the logo of the funder on any publications that are related to the activity, any press releases, as well as other promotional materials. WTC will also acknowledge SRV by situating a billboard containing the sign and symbol of the Victorian Government at the site where the repair shall be done. Organization Details As was stated in the previous sections of this document, WTC is a sport organization that is located in Galvin Park, Werribee. Having been established way back in 1978, WTC prides itself of being not only a traditional sport club, but also a social enterprise whose objectives go far much beyond just sports. The main goal of WTC is to provide a friendly as well as social environment for people of all ages irrespective of their status of ability as stated in its ethos. Its goal, therefore, is in tandem with this ethos in which it says that WTC’s goal is to provide opportunities for the people of Werribee to enjoy tennis. Werribee, the location of WTC, is a place in the western suburbs of Melbourne. According to statistics, Werribee is said to be one of the fastest growing in terms of population in Australia. The Werribee Tennis Club plays in the Western Region Tennis Association (WRTA). The total membership of WTC currently stands at 65, 40 of whom are females, while 25 are males. These members range between 5 and 55 years of age, proof enough of the organizations strive to maintain age-free membership. 90 percent of these members live within a radius of 1 km from the location of the club, with the remaining 10 percent coming from outside. Prior to 1978, the residents of Werribee used to travel all the way to Williamstown in order to access tennis facilities. Being tired of this, in 1978, a group of friends came together with the sole goal to establish a tennis facility in Werribee so they could play tennis for fun. That was when Werribee Tennis Club (WTC) was actually born. During winter and summer seasons, WTC organizes for competitions for both men and women. These competitions are usually carried out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. Juniors, on the other hand, are usually played on Saturday and Sunday mornings mainly because that is when most children and youth are available for such competitions. Such competitions have gone a long way in instilling confidence in the club hence confirming that it can organize and run even better and bigger competitions provided its infrastructure is right. As is stated in the objectives of WTC, its target “customers” so to speak are people of all ages as long as they have both the passion as well as having fun in tennis. There is equally no age limit for anyone willing to become part and parcel of WTC. Important to note, however, is the fact that such members should be driven and guided by the objectives of WTC, else the organization risks tainting its historically good image. For the 32 years WTC has been in existence, it has worn quite a number of accolades, which include the Tennis Australia Community Club of the Year in 2010, and multiple premierships in pennant (women and men), and in virtually all junior sections except in section 18. WTC’s contributions to the society include the offering of coaching for all age groups. Wheelchair players are also welcome. The Benefits Involved In any relationship between different organizations, there is usually some form of mutual benefit for the two parties, whether directly, or otherwise. The supposed relationship between WTC and its funder-to-be Sports and Recreation Victoria (SRV), therefore, is no different. As might have been explained in prior sections of this document, the main objective for this application is to solicit funds for the repair of the two clay tennis courts owned by WTC. This is absolutely necessary if the sport organization is to continue offering its services across Werribee. If the funding is to be released by SRV as hoped, those funds would be channeled towards this course. Of the few assets owned by WTC, the club also has 8 plexipave courts, 6 out of which have lights. These are in addition to the two initially mentioned clay tennis courts that the funding seeks to help repair. The Sports and Recreation Victoria (SRV), on the other hand, also seeks to benefit immensely if this grant is indeed to be provided. Though indirectly, the benefits that SRV stands to achieve are not anything to ignore. The most obvious way in which SRV, just like any other funding entity, stands to benefit is by way of promotions. This sponsor – Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) – stands to benefit in the sense that whenever the sponsored i.e. WTC, in this case, carries out its activities, it has to acknowledge the funder in one way or the other. This acknowledgement shall come in various forms e.g. through the presentation of the logo of the funder on any publications that are related to the activity, any press releases, as well as other promotional materials. WTC will also acknowledge SRV by situating a billboard containing the sign and symbol of the Victorian Government at the site where the repair shall be done. This in itself is enough promotion and endorsement for the funder, indicating the immense mutual benefits that both parties are going to get. In attempting to explain how SRV will benefit from funding WTC, it is important to understand the objectives of the funder. Some of these objectives include: a. Ensuring greater access and opportunities for participation in sport and recreation by all Victorians b. Maintaining Victoria's reputation as Australia's leading state for sporting and major events c. Improving the quality of community sport and recreation facilities d. Strengthening the capacity of sport and recreation organisations e. Continuing a robust evidence base for activities in the sport and active recreation system f. Reinforcing the enriching role that sport and recreation plays in people's lives. It is evident that by providing this funding to support the cause advanced by WTC, most, if not all, of the objectives shall be fulfilled. Even though it is obvious SRV will have to incur some financial weight, the government funding agency can use this opportunity to leverage the relationship with WTC. This would become possible by taking advantage of all promotional activities of the WTC and using that opportunity to sell itself to the masses. Budget, Investment, and Evaluation This request for funding, as was stated in the executive summary, is aimed at helping Werribee Tennis Club repair some of its tennis sporting activities. The specific facilities to be repaired are the two old clay tennis courts that need repair. Whereas there may be need for funding to even facilitate other activities, the repair of these two courts is given first priority in this case. WTC has recently engaged a building contractor with a view to attempting to estimate the costs likely to be involved in the process. In response, the building firm has estimated the repair work at approximately $25,000 to repair each of the two clay tennis courts. This technically translates to a total fund of approximately $50,000. In order to ensure that highest levels of accountability are maintained with the fund, only this amount will be applied for by WTC. It will be the obligation of WTC to adhere to the payment strategies as laid down by the funder – SRV. In this case, therefore, WTC agrees to provide reports regarding the progress of the building process of the courts as expected by SRV. The proposed budget for this initiative to be completed is given below: Task Estimated Cost per Court ($) Total Estimated Cost (For the two Courts)($) Bidding 1,000 2,000 Design 3,500 7,000 Materials 12,500 25,000 Construction 4,300 8,600 Supervision 2,000 4,000 Miscellaneous 1,700 3,400 Total 25,000 50,000 Table 1: Budget Estimate for WTC’s repair of the two clay tennis courts To WTC, whereas receiving the funding is very important as at now, managing the relationship with SRV is just as important. WTC, therefore, seeks to ensure it does maintain its relationship with SRV by supporting it through the club’s promotional activities as expected by the funder. If this relationship is to commence as is highly expected, there will be no doubt that the goals of SRV will be achieved. References AFL Victoria. (2007). Grants Funding Guide. Australian Football League. (2004). Community Partnerships for Football Clubs. Volunteering South Australia Inc. (2006). Developing Grant Applications. Read More