SINGAPORE — Building on the success organisers of the Southeast-Asian (SEA) Games and ASEAN Para-Games (APG) had in attracting sponsors last year, Sport Singapore and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) organised a series of master classes for National Sports Associations (NSAs) to improve their ability to source for sponsorships over the past month.

To date, a total of 74 participants — including those from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as NSAs — have taken part in the series. This is the second time that a sponsorship master class was organised after a pilot run in 2014.

Among the topics covered include lessons on how to seek out sponsors and to effectively measure sponsorships. NSAs were also taught the importance of working closely with companies to create events that would benefit both parties.

Sport Singapore chief of strategic development and marketing group Toh Boon Yi believes that initiatives such as these will help build a strong Singapore core of sports professionals with deepened skills and knowledge on sport sponsorship.

“Our plan is to encourage the growth of the sports industry through the commercial route,” said Toh. “We hope to put NSAs and sport event organisers in touch with brands to discuss how both parties can mutually benefit from working together.

“We are glad that WDA has expressed strong support for this Sport Sponsorship Master Class. We hope that Corporate Singapore will continue to step forward to participate and value-add to the sports industry in creative and innovative ways.”

This series is not expected to be a one-off, as Sport Singapore has confirmed they will continue to work with WDA to support master classes on identified themes based on the skills gaps of the sport industry.

Mohamed Hafidz, director of marketing and communications at the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA), who attended the previous series, believes such classes have been beneficial.

“Previously, we used to work with sponsors on an event-to-event basis,” said Hafidz. “However, based on the learnings from the class, we have managed to develop long-term sponsorships over the last two years, which are beneficial for both SSA and the sponsors.” NOAH TAN