Industry news

Olympic support for our own Man United

Unlike their famous UK counterparts, the Grassy Park Man United soccer team members are poor. Most of them come from Lavender Hill, a disadvantaged coloured area, and their playing field reflects the lack of resources in the community.

But, when it comes to a passion for sport, they are a good match for their English namesake — and especially their manager, Ronnie Samuals, is a hard working guy with a big heart, says Olympic brand manager Miles O’Brien.

He was so impressed with the excellent work that Samuals had been doing by raising the spirits and playing conditions of the youngsters in the club, that he entered into an arrangement to sponsor them with Olympic equipment as well as provide support for their local tournaments.

Earlier this year Olympic also sponsored Samuals’ Easter Weekend Soccer Tournament" at Wynberg which included 12 teams from surrounding townships.

"The Man united Club consists of a competent first team that plays in the SAFA National league 1st division," says O’Brien. "The club also has five other teams in various age groups with players from 7 to 17 years old.

These other teams are very unstructured and mainly play against other local disadvantaged teams. Organising this lot of youngsters is a major task, and Ronnie, the Club manager, does it out of community spirit, not for gain."

Olympic sponsored the team with various items, ranging from team shirts and pants to essentials like balls and boots. At the Easter tournament that they arranged, Olympic’s holding company Jordan & Co sponsored the medals for the winning team, as well as monetary prizes for the winners in different categories.

"The reason why we got involved with Man United, and still continue with the sponsorship arrangements, was to assist with the development of the disadvantaged team members and to do something to help the poor community," says O’Brien. "Our support gets them involved in a healthy activity like soccer, which gives them entertainment and great exercise. At the same time, they are kept off the streets, and out of the influence of gangs.

"In brief, the Olympic brand now has a strong connection with this group, and also with the community members, using our sport sponsorship as the medium."