There is a myth or perception that elite athletes have the money they need to do the things that help them continually develop, assumptions that if you are good you must have money.
This is because to take advantage of the opportunities to be the best you have to have the money.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy that is harming the motivation of less fortunate student-athletes who may not have the motivation to try hard in their studies because they arent going to get athletic exposure opportunities, such as MVP, due to the cost. They feel shut out and unmotivated.
We want to try and reduce this poverty driven obstacle for those that need it, at a minimum, and ease the burden on all student-athletes if we can.
This means fund-raising is crucial to MVP being able to keep costs to players and their families manageable, and it's where we need the help of as many kind people as we can find.
There are two usual routes that we use to raise money for the program, and we are always open to suggestions.
MVP holds two fund-raising raffles each year, with prizes donated by kind supporters of the program and tickets sold by the players.
The first is our Spring liquor raffle, where in 2023 the grand prize was 16 bottles of assorted liquor, with some supporting prizes for other tickets.
The second is our Mega Raffle held in the Fall, with supporters kindly donating laptops, TV's, NFL tickets, sporting goods and other great prizes.
We are always looking for more prizes that will encourage people to buy tickets.
We are fortunate to have supporters that are willing to donate money to the program or provide us with sponsorship.
This extra funding is key to helping keep costs down to the players and we are interested in talking to anyone that would like to donate or work with us through sponsorship so we can continue to provide exceptional opportunities for these student-athletes.
It's not just money, we are also very interested in talking to people who would like to volunteer their time and skills to help the program off of the field, such as an accountant, marketer or medical trainer, or provide products for the players to improve their experience in the program.
Below you will find a section detailing the benefits of sports sponsorship, and here's an idea of the value we at MVP feel we can add to our sponsors:
The MVP brand is becoming recognised in the North American 7v7 community, especially around Ontario. We can add logo's to our uniforms, merchandise and website. We can also have banners created for display at our Battle At The Border tournament and various camps.
While we aren't pulling in TV deals yet but we do enjoy a great partnership with 519 Sports Online who bring features on our local activities in the KW area to their subscribers. Having brands logo's and banners associated with our features and within the environment being filmed creates a wider spread of awareness.
Social media tagging is an ever growing way to raise awareness, MVP can tag brands in all social media content - Twitter, Instagram & Facebook) as we provide the public with updates, results and news on players recruting.
Football coaches are built on passion and major in motivational behaviour. Members of the MVP staff would gladly donate their time for speaking engagements or similar corporate events being held by our sponsors.
Whether it be small donations or you would like to sponsor a specific item like practice facility hire, an MVP camp, team travel to a tournament, or the whole season for one team or the enitre program, we can work it out. Please do come talk to us.
If you are interested in supporting the MVP Football Academy in any way please contact Head Coach Phil Edworthy at mvpacademy7v7@gmail.com and he will send you the funding proposals we have pulled together.
Unfortunately, as a non-profit organization the MVP Football Academy cannot issue tax receipts at this time (we're not happy about that either....).
As a non-profit Canadian program pulling players from all over Ontario and playing mostly in the US, this creates multiple obstacles we need people to help us overcome:
- As a non-profit we canot issue tax receipts
- As a provincial-wide team we cannot secure federal funding
- As a province wide program playing internationally we cannot secure local funding
- Minimal Ontario or Canadian companies will feel there's benefit from beign represented in the US
- US companies see minimal benefit in supporting a Canadian program
Even so, supporting a program like MVP carries a lot of benefits, see below.
We are very interested in any methods people know to help us fund the program so we can make the motivation of universtiy football opportunities to improve grades available to all the best high school athletes in Ontario.
Even at this grassroots level there are benefits to sponsoring sports.
In a blog by REC media (www.recmedia.com) they defined seven areas of benefit to sports sponsorship:
"There are many reasons why grassroots sports sponsorship is a win-win for the athlete or team, the sports and the company. By nature, sports sponsorship is an authentic way of creating a personal relationship with consumers by showing that you care about the sports, the team, and the community.
Here are a few more benefits of sports sponsorship and advertising:
1. Differentiating yourself
There are more advertising opportunities than you can shake a stick at. But how many of those will cut through the noise by bringing us close to something we feel strongly about: our local sports teams and the sports we love? Sports sponsorship sends a message that you care about what the fans care about – and that can be an incredible force. You’re creating a relationship with consumers, not just advertising to them.
2. Audience
Marketing is about knowing your audience, and you already have a pretty good idea of who’s seeing your messages at sports games and venues: young people, their families and friends, and by extension, the audience of any media covering sports events. Best of all, they’re a captive audience, and will be seeing those messages repeatedly. You’ll also reach rival teams that come to play the local teams –doubling your exposure with a brand new audience at every game.
3. Receptiveness
Research shows that people respond very positively to sponsors and are more receptive to advertising at sports events. Sports families realize that your role as a sponsor is important, and are more likely to support you, in turn, over a competitor.
4. Brand awareness
Sports sponsorship is a great way to increase brand awareness, especially considering that brand strength is a contributing factor for 60-80% of overall sales. It can improve your company image and prestige while associating your brand to events that your target market finds attractive.
5. Loyalty
Sports sponsorship has always had potential to create long-term positive partnershipsbetween the brand and the sports. It’s more about quality over quantity, but most of all it’s about loyalty. Fans are loyal to their teams, and athletes and sports families have a tendency to be loyal to their sponsors. Over time, you’ll eventually be considered almost as part of the team. That’s a strong emotional commitment.
6. Inclusiveness
All brands in all categories, regardless of size, can sponsor sports. You need to find an appropriate team or sports venue, research the opportunity, and develop a strategy that will tap into the strong emotions that sports create.
7. Social responsibility
Let’s not forget that by sponsoring something as important as sports, you’re contributing very positively to the community, keeping kids involved in healthy activities and helping to build strong neighbourhoods."
You can find the full blog here - Sports Sponsorship Benefits for Small Businesses
