ANSA McAL sees investment in sport as crucial for development – Hiscock
Talks have been swirling about whether the current state of the economy is in an oppressive state but whether the motion is true or not, corporate giant ANSA McAL has invested handsomely in various sport disciplines across Guyana.
Beverage Manager Robert Hiscock
In an interview with Guyana Times Sport Beverage Manager of the company Robert Hiscock posited that being the financer of events is not solely to market products to but to play a vital role in the development of a wide cross section of sports in the country.
“The company sees investment in sport in Guyana as a huge thing , we see it as a good investment not only from a marketing point of view but a way of giving back to communities, so it is very beneficial to us”, the Manager stated.
Kristian Jeffrey competiting in the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships with his Mitsubishi Evolution is a brand ambassador that certainly has created popularity with one of the company’s products
For the year, the company has pledged support for numerous football events, particularly the Stag Elite League; also support has been given for disciplines such as Squash, Cycling, Golf, Horse Racing, Motor Racing, Cricket and Basketball.
Quizzed on whether the company has seen any gains, he responded saying, “Absolutely, for example when it comes to the Elite League football, it continues to develop; even with Squash which we sponsor under the Lucazade brand, the junior teams continues to take home the Caribbean title year after year so definitely sport development is improving through corporate sponsorship but unfortunately a lot of times it is left to corporate sponsors to aid the development of sport in Guyana”.
The Stag Elite League has certainly been the marquee event supported the company
Hiscock further opinionated that “ from an operational standpoint they are few setbacks so removing the political element from some federations would help having more organised and structured tournaments”.
On that note, the Manager was questioned on his view of the impact of the non-participation of Slingerz FC, Alpha United, Pele FC and Georgetown Football Club.
“We think we could have done more in getting the four teams that sat out of the Elite league this year to participate and that is one of our regrets, so next year going forward, we would like to leverage the relationship with teams and the GFF [Guyana Football Federation] to ensure the tournament is competitive as possible”, he stated.
“We see the league as the premier structure of football in Guyana and therefore it should have the best teams and we should as sponsors invest in ensuring that everybody participates for the betterment of the players, teams and fans” Hiscock added.
According to Hiscock, the company which is a public conglomerate based in Trinidad and Tobago, feels that “there needs to be a shift to focus on the development of individuals to put us [country] in the spot light and also for them to make a name of themselves”.
In addition, “We [corporations] need as much support from Government going forward so persons can see sport as something as a feasible career path; as it stands now from my understanding to be in sports it takes a huge undertaking of time and invest”.
Currently, companies are empowering sportsmen and women as a way of marketing their brand and the manager was quizzed on whether this could come to fruition at ANSA McAL.
“Very seldom we look to invest in individuals, we prefer to invest in the entire sport for it to grow, however, we have brand ambassadors such as Kristian Jeffrey, Team Gillette Evolution and Team Alanis”, he responded.
The year is nearing a close and Hiscock with a look to the future says that their investment should continue to grow in 2017.
“Every year we seem to grow our investment in sport so I don’t see next year being any different, of course, as things become more organised we see greater opportunities to invest”, he posited.
