Sport Industry Group

31 Mar 2010

Bobby Skinstad, former Springbok captain and newly installed Facilitator of the Judges for the Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards 2011, explains to Sportindustry.co.za the real impact staging the football World Cup is having on South Africa.

Q: What is the biggest benefit that staging the World Cup is having on South Africa?

Legacy. It has been the buzzword since the day we won the right to host the tournament and is still the area that everyone focuses on from both inside and outside the country. For South Africa, this World Cup has brought charity into our sporting culture big time. People have realised that there is a lot that needs to be done and have reacted to that realisation in a very proactive way. South African sport is now much more hands-on in this regard than it ever has been before.

Q: How has the approach to solving some of South Africa’s problems differed as a result of the World Cup?

There is no doubt that the eyes of the world are on South Africa and we need to prove that we can change the things that are wrong in our country. The World Cup has created a spotlight on us and we need to make the most of that. The positivity to change the negative elements of our culture has always been there, but in the past we’ve probably been guilty of doing things on the run. Historically it’s been more of a patch-up job with no real focus. More than anything else the World Cup has brought about a more structured approach to dealing with our problems.

Q: You yourself have been very proactive in charitable causes, in particular through your Bobsforgood Foundation, including spending a recent stint in jail for a ‘positivity crime’. How has your approach differed in light of the increased focus on South Africa?

From my own personal experience, the increased focus on charity that the World Cup has brought has meant that we’ve had to up our game to be heard. The jail sentence was just that – a stunt which provided the visuals to capture the attention from which we could get across our message. The cell itself was very cramped but the number of visitors and level of interest we got made it all worthwhile.

Q: Have your goals for the Foundation changed as a result of the increased exposure the World Cup is giving you?

When we started the Foundation, our aim was to put brand new shoes on the 7 million children in South Africa that do not have footwear to go to school in. The jail stunt was part of a campaign that looked to add 5,000 shoes towards our overall target and we had a fixed cost on how much it would take to fund that. However, with all the media interest and the success we’ve been having, the goals are constantly changing as we go along. We’re on track as much as we thought but who is to say that we can’t go past our targets?

Q: Do you think that there is an element of cynicism towards charitable work particularly around a World Cup?

I think you are always going to come across some negativity. There are a lot of people in sport looking to do good but inevitably there are also those who are out to make a quick buck. I think in the end the former far outweighs the latter but I don’t think we’ll have a clearer idea of the overall impact that has been made until a number of months after the tournament has ended.

Q: You have agreed to act as facilitator for the inaugural Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards when you will be reviewing a number of World Cup campaigns after the tournament. What do you expect to see from the Awards’ entries?

The biggest thing that I’ve seen so far around this World Cup has been the great work being done by some of the smaller, specialist companies. Our industry has been traditionally dominated by the bigger sponsors and agencies but, from what I’ve seen, that has now changed. Some of the marketing being done by the lesser-known brands and businesses has really caught the eye and had the overall effect of raising the industry standard as a result.

For more information on the Bobsforgood Foundation, visit www.bobsforgood.com.