Part 1: S&E Student Blog Challenge Runner-Up
S&E and the Canadian Sports Business Network recently held a student blog challenge allowing any current students to participate. Students were asked to submit a blog on the topic of âThe Top 5 Canadian Athletes Youâve Never Heard of.â You can read the winning blog entry here.
Below is a runner-up post submitted by Jorge Tatto, MBA Candidate at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Canadaâs Top Young Athletes: The Holy Grail of Sponsorship
Author: Jorge Tatto
LeBron James, Steph Curry, Tiger Woods. These athletes stand out not only for their athletic prowess but also because they have managed to secure very profitable sponsorships throughout their careers. While the benefit of sponsorship is primarily economic, the story is different when it comes to younger talent. Sponsorship helps maximize the development of young athletes and allows them to access resources that were previously unobtainable.
Organizations try to find promising young athletes in order to secure inexpensive sponsorship deals that would yield a high return on investment. Additionally, small companies that do not have the resources to sponsor an established athlete, look towards young talent to help market their brand.
These are the top 5 promising Canadian athletes that organizations should have their eyes on:
- Michael Sametz
Mike Sametz, born May 21, 1996 in Calgary, Alberta, has little left to prove in his very short cycling career. After placing 5th in the 2014 World Championships, he went on to get bronze in the 2015 Para-Cycling World Cup3. Mike is also skilled on the track as he proved in the 2015 Toronto Parapan Am games where he won a silver medal in the Individual Pursuit event.
I contacted Mike and asked him what role a sponsor would play in his development as an elite athlete. He said sponsors are important to âsupport my day to day activities, so I can focus on training and not my financial status.â Sponsors can provide athletes access to resources like better nutrition, equipment, and coaching, thus increasing their performance.
Mike is still to realize his full potential as an all-around elite cyclist. As he settles as one of the leaders in the sport we will certainly be seeing him on more podiums.
2. Bianca Vanessa Andreescu
Mississauga, Ontario native Bianca first fell in love with tennis during her childhood in Romania. At only 15 years old, she is ranked as 4th in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) junior rankings. Although it might be a few years before Bianca reaches the top 10 in the WTA (Womenâs Tennis Association) Ranking, sponsors looking for a very promising star in tennis should start approaching her. In January 2014, she won the âPetits Asâ tournament and in 2015 she won the U18 Metropolia Orange Bowl Championship. These wins are what really propelled her to number four.
Bianca is on a straight path to becoming a tennis star and joining fellow Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic at the top of the world rankings, further pushing Canada towards being recognized as a tennis superpower.
3. Mehdi Abdesmad
He was born on September 29, 1991 in Montreal, Quebec, and he is currently a senior at Boston College14. He had an outstanding performance with the team before suffering season-ending knee injuries in 2013 and 2014. This might be a concern for NFL teams looking to draft the 6-foot-7-inch, 286-pound defensive tackle.
The NCAA prohibits athletes from receiving compensation or engaging in sponsorship deals during their time as student-athletes. This would make Mehdi a great target for corporate sponsors, as he has not been strongly associated with a brand. Sponsoring football players going into the NFL draft could allow for lower priced deals; however, there is the risk of not being drafted. In that case, future opportunities available to him in the CFL would still make him very attractive to Canadian sponsors.
4. Hugo Houle
Hugo Houle a 6-foot-1-inch, 25-year-old from Quebec rides with AG2R La Mondiale. While the team has its own corporate sponsors, Hugo can also benefit from personal sponsorship deals. Hugo saw his biggest achievements to-date in 2015. Winning a gold medal at the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games in the road time trial event and participating for the first time in a Grand Tour. He achieved the 113th spot in the general classification at the Giro dâItalia. Hugoâs career has just taken off and we will soon be seeing him in the other two Grand Tours: La Vuelta a España and Tour de France. Hugo is set to become the top Canadian cyclist. This makes him the perfect target for a sponsor looking to increase its international presence, more specifically in Europe where the most important races take place.
5. Kadeisha Buchanan
Born November 5, 1995, Kadeisha is âfearless on the pitch, a tough, athletic and physical defender with good instincts,23â according to a FIFA report following the Womenâs World Cup Canada 2015.
The Brampton, Ontario native has represented Canada in several events such as the FIFA U-17 Womenâs World Cup Azerbaijan 2012, the U-20 Womenâs World Cup Canada 2014, and the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games. Moreover, she became the first Canadian to receive the Young Player Award at the 2015 World Cup24. There is nothing stopping the West Virginia University Junior from achieving what no other Canadian football player has. Kadeisha might not have access to sponsors yet, but come graduation time, corporate sponsors should think about taking her side as she writes history.
As the market of sponsorship sales continuously grows year by year, and as sports like cycling, tennis, and football gain popularity, companies looking to invest in a sponsorship deal should be looking at younger athletes. While risks may be higher, the payoff from their investment should also be higher. Young athletes benefit in many ways from the sponsorship deals they acquire early in their career. These deals can allow athletes to fulfill their aspirations, allowing sponsors to promote their brand in a way that will increase their global impact and recognition.
