In its new Future Footballers community program, Canada’s 24-hour sports network, GolTV, has teamed up with Canadian women’s national team captain and Vancouver Whitecaps FC striker Christine Sinclair, and Toronto FC captain and Canadian men’s national team defender Jim Brennan to provide tips on becoming the next soccer sensation.
Set to launch this fall, the program will hold one-day clinics across Canada for young soccer players under 13. Sinclair, Brennan and former Canadian men’s national team player and coach, and current GolTV analyst Paul James, will give hands-on instruction, provide technical training and discuss the importance of nutrition.
The initiative, GolTV marketing VP Chris Doyle tells MiC, will ‘allow marketers to tap into the largest participation sport in Canada at a true grassroots level – to interact with kids, coaches, and families in a live setting and online.
‘There are sampling opportunities, as well as the opportunity for marketers to leverage the Future Footballers brand themselves in their own marketing efforts around soccer,’ Doyle explains, adding that: ‘For the right company, working with young players at the developmental stage brings tremendous brand loyalty.’
Future Footballers will be promoted via 30- and 15-second spots on GolTV as well as online at www.goltv.ca. The spots were developed in-house by GolTV’s parent company Insight Sports. Additional promotion will be provided through GolTV’s media partnership on soccer radio programs and magazines nationwide. The program will also be promoted across Canada in soccer clubs and associations.
