Sports will continue to be a priority for us - DDL official

Sports will continue to be a priority for us – DDL official

Jan 14, 2009 Sports

By Rawle Welch

In recognition of the important role that corporate sponsorship plays in the sustenance of sports, Kaieteur Sport has endeavoured to get first hand their views in relation to their support for sports and an insight on the way forward, especially in light of the current global economic crisis.

Kaieteur Sport posed a few questions to an official from Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL) and here are the responses.

What is the Company’s view in terms of its support for sports and do you see it as part of your civic responsibility?

Yes, we do view the support for sports as a part of our civic responsibility because this is one way by which we can make a contribution to the positive development of Guyana’s youths. Having them involved in sports, we can help to keep them off of the streets and away from drugs and other illicit activities.

Could you name some of the sports to have benefited from the Company’s munificence?

In 2008, some of the sporting events we sponsored were the El Dorado Inter-County One Day Cricket competition, several Diamond Mineral Water cycle road races (in Demerara and Berbice), Pepsi Inter-County 20/20 cricket competition, Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival, Pepsi National Schools Basketball Festival and the Rupununi Rodeo.

In view of the current economic crisis which has severely affected the world’s economy, could we see a scaling down of financial support for sports or will we see an increase this year?

Even if budgets have to be cut, the development of sports in Guyana will continue to be a priority for us.

Is the Company proud of its achievements in terms of support for sports and could you say if you’re satisfied that you’re receiving value for money?

We are certainly proud of what we have done for sports in Guyana. We have not limited our support to just the popular sports such as cricket and football, but a wide cross section of sport organisations have benefited from our support because this is one way that we can assist in the positive channeling of the energies.

The Company has been a forerunner in the support for events, teams and individuals; will this remain your focus this year?

The support of sports will certainly be high on the Company’s agenda for 2009 since we remain committed to the development of sports in the country and particularly the development of our young athletes.

Any figure (ballpark) of how much the Company expended on sports last year

Let’s just say that our contribution was significant.

Which sport entities were the major beneficiaries of the Company’s goodwill last year?

Cricket, cycling, football, rugby, hockey, basketball, chess and horseracing were the major beneficiaries of our support last year.

What about athletes who display various products of the Company on billboards etc. Are they compensated for such undertakings and in what way?

At the moment we do not have any billboards with athletes featured on them.

What is the Company’s vision for sports this year?

We would like to see more of our young athletes improve in their respective fields so that the standard of sport in Guyana can be lifted and we can effectively compete with our Caribbean counterparts.