Amateur Sportsman of the Year, sponsored by Champions (UK) plc
As the Birmingham Sports Awards come ever closer, we have been drawing attention to many of the companies and organisations whose support has been vital in getting them off the ground and encouraging the public to get involved with the nominations process.
Matthew Hayes, Managing Director of Champions (UK) plc , was kind enough to lift the lid on why his branding agency chose to sponsor this year’s Amateur Sportsman of the Year Award.
He was clear about the reasoning behind their decision, telling us: “Sport has always been something very close to my heart, so when I heard of the opportunity to support the Birmingham Sports Awards my ears instantly pricked up.
“I think it is vitally important to celebrate the constructive things going on around us in the community and, as sportspeople are among the most positive role models in society, I am really keen to recognise their achievements in the West Midlands.”
“Champions (UK) plc chose to sponsor the Amateur Sportsman of the Year Award for a number of reasons.
“When it comes to the spotlight, often amateurs take a bit of a back seat behind the professionals but what they do takes just as much effort and discipline.
“One could argue that it takes even more when you consider that amateurs must also earn a living by another means.”
“The Corinthian spirit of playing for love and not reward is an honourable concept and it is at the heart of amateur sport.
“I really like the idea of challenging yourself, embarking on a journey to find out exactly what you can achieve when you give it everything.
“We are blessed to be able to celebrate that aim.”
While these awards are a great way of celebrating sporting endeavour from the last year Matthew sees them as having a positive impact on the future of sport in the region.
“For me, the Birmingham Sports Awards can play a definite role in sporting renewal in the region.
“If we can highlight the many successes of West Midlands sportspeople over the last 12 months, we can help the area feel good about itself.
“Harnessing that feel-good factor, we can therefore inspire others, especially the young, to take up sports and strive to get the best out of themselves.
“Celebrating sporting success is as much about encouraging that success to self-perpetuate into the future as it is about clapping and cheering in the present.”
Matthew also believes that encouraging young people into sport will help them learn skills and habits that will be of use to them as they go out into the wider world.
“There are enormous parallels between sport and business. Both require competitive edge, control, teamwork more often than not, organisation and a clearly thought out strategic plan.
“Leadership is another quality that is key in both worlds, as is the ability to learn from our mistakes.”
“If we can get kids involved in sport at an early age they can begin to learn all of these skills and that will stand them in good stead later on when they enter the working environment.
“To put it simply, these are all fundamentally important life skills and so it goes without saying that both sport and business can learn a lot from each other.”
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