Partnering and sponsorship is an important part of our strategy, helping us support the issues that interest our customers, first and foremost, and helping us promote healthy lifestyles for all.
SPAR and UK Athletics
SPAR has been a Principal Partner of European Athletics since 1996 and an Official Sponsor of UK Athletics (UKA) since 2004. We demonstrated a further commitment to the sport in January 2009, when UKA announced that the partnership had been extended until 2013. We will continue to support sprinters of all abilities to help secure a legacy for athletics in the UK beyond London 2012.
The SPAR Sprints Programme
As part of our sponsorship of UKA, we wanted to establish our association with athletics on a local level. We decided to create the SPAR Sprints Programme to support and nurture budding athletics stars of the future.
Our association represents a significant investment into sprinting in the UK and, when entering into the partnership, UKA had clear objectives of developing and maintaining a strong, supportive infrastructure that would increase participation at all levels, improve the skills and standards of athletes and coaches, and deliver a long-term strategy that would ensure the UK maintained its status as a world-class sprint nation.
Sprinting is now British Athletics’ most successful event group and this has been amply demonstrated in the last five years with frequent successes in championships both at European and World level. Outstanding athletes include Harry Aikines Aryeetey, winner of three World and one European titles, and Jodie Williams (SPAR star in 2008), the reigning World youth champion at both 100m and 200m.
Niels De Vos, UKA Chief Executive, recently had this to say: "There is no doubt that the SPAR Sprints Programme has made a significant impact to the sport at all levels, from activities at schools throughout the country through to Masterclasses with some of the most highly acclaimed coaches in the world. Moving forward, the commercial investment secures another part of the commercial legacy for the sport, offering our youngsters a great chance to make world-class podiums beyond 2012."
SPAR Stars and other initiatives
Since 2004, SPAR has run a number of high-profile activities to support UKA and to ensure that these objectives are delivered, including Masterclasses, where an Aviva GB & NI team athlete would visit a school. Over the past 6 years, nearly 30 Masterclasses have taken place at schools throughout the country, and athletes including Mark Lewis Francis, Andy Turner, Craig Pickering and Allan Scott have taken part, taking pupils through a training session and talking about their experiences training and competing in major competitions.
We also have the SPAR Stars initiative where the UKA identifies and supports talented performers and creates the best environment to ensure they reach their full potential.
Coaching and training
Since 2005 a number of national and local training and development initiatives have taken place in the UK to help UKA strengthen the sprinting infrastructure. These include high-profile events such as a SPAR Sprints Initiative Masterclass led by highly acclaimed US coach Brooks Johnson, and Sprints Conferences attended by speakers including John Anderson, Michael Afilaka, Colin Bovell, Clarence Callender, Lloyd Cowan, Nick Dakin, Tony Hadley, John Isaacs, Mike McFarlane, Ron Roddan, Mike Smith and Jim Spooner, who between them have coached some of the country’s finest athletes to World and Olympic medals.
Furthermore, each Home Country Athletics Federation has delivered a full programme of activity at national level with 3 National Coach Development Programme weekends running in performance centres throughout the winter, with each region running a full winter programme of coach development/squad activity.
European Athletics
The European Athletics Association (E.A.A.) holds 12 championship events within a four-year period, each one in a different location. Two major events are held within the four-year cycle, namely the European Indoor Championships and the European Championships. The next European Athletics Championships will be held in Barcelona in July this year.
The sponsorship means that SPAR is seen across the world on competitors' bibs, at the start line and on perimeter boards at many different events. Through the televised broadcasts of the athletic events, SPAR has brand awareness to over 1.8 billion consumers via 3,600 hours of TV coverage in 69 markets worldwide every four years.
"As a principal sponsor of our sport, we thank SPAR for their on-going contribution towards achieving great European athletics events and enabling continued strong competition for our athletes," says Hansjarg Wirz, President of the European Athletics Association.