The Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation - Who They Are, What They Do and How They Can Help You

Today I went to London for a meeting with Chris Lillistone, Insight and Innovation Manager, at the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. Although I have been involved in sport and fitness both as an athlete and a trainer for over 20 years I hadn't heard of the WSFF until a few weeks ago. I thought it was time I had a chat with them, found out who they are and what exactly they do for women's sport.

They share some fantastic offices in Holborn with Sport England and Chris, very kindly, met with me for over an hour to talk about the history of the WSFF, what projects they are involved with now and where they see themselves in the future. Of course as part of the meeting I had to ensure they were equally aware of the very important work I do with teenage girls here in Poole!

Sue Tibballs is Chief Executive of the WSFF having taken over the role just over 3 years ago. Shortly after her appointment the Women's Sports Foundation changed its title to the WSFF and with this change came a new emphasis for the charity. Where previously they had concentrated on athletes they now had a new broader focus to increase participation in fitness for all women. Their vision is for "activity to be a part of all women's and girl's lives."

The WSFF are mainly funded by Sport England and the majority of their time is spent communicating and working with the various sporting National Governing Bodies (such as the Royal Yachting Association, Football Association, British Judo, Britsh Cycling etc etc - 47 in total) to discuss new initiatives for retaining women in sport and encouraging more women to participate. Their emphasis is on delivering what the customer, ie women, need and want and how to fulfill this.

They have recently secured funding from the Big Lottery Fund which will enable them to extend they field of work. They will spend this money on a number of Focus Groups with 9-16 year old girls looking at the reasons why this age group become disengaged with sport specifically considering competition, personal identity and the impact of social groups on participation. Following on from these focus groups the WSFF will produce a report with suggestions to break these cycles.

The WSFF produces a lot of reports! In fact their main role is to help and guide those of us that deliver the programmes to women and girls. Their website is a hive of information relating to every aspect of women's sport and fitness.

They do have another role though and that is to encourage policy review and change. As they say; "the size of the crisis, along with the magnitude of the potential reward, calls for over-arching political leadership." They are calling for more public money to be spent on raising women and girl's participation levels not just in sports but in all fitness.

Later this year the WSFF are launching a new initiative "She Moves". A campaign for women; led by women. It will utilise social media to bring programmes together all with one focus; to increase the participation of women in sport by delivering what women want. It is planned that this initiative will be extended to include "She Moves Children" and "She Moves Babies".

There are exciting developments happening at the WSFF. As women and girls we need to be part of it. We need to get across our views of what we want and need to make sport and fitness more appealing to us.

Have a look at their website and if you have the opportunity to be part of one of their focus groups I encourage you to jump at the chance. It may well be the best opportunity you get to let your views be heard not just by the WSFF but also by politicians and members of the National Governing Bodies who ultimately make the decisions.

Maggie Ayre is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Adviser for Teenage Girls. Her goal is to get every teen girl active. Not only does fitness and good nutrition lead to a healthy body it also has been proven to increase self-confidence, self-esteem and even lead to better exam results!

Maggie's blog http://www.maggieayre.com offers advice and guidance for parents, teenage girls and fitness professionals.

How A Horse Named Dan Patch Became a National Celebrity, Launching the Field of Sports Marketing

Each year, thousands flock to Indiana for an event that celebrates one of the state's most famous athletes ever. A century after his heyday in sport, he is recognized in the top echelon of historic Hoosiers, both in Indiana and across the country.

Dan Patch is studied by 4th-graders alongside President Benjamin Harrison and other figures that loom large in Indiana history. Railroad lines and highways are named after him. His story transcends sports and has achieved mythic status.

His own biography parallels crucial decades in Indiana's transition from farm life to a more industrial society. In the early 20th Century, Dan Patch was perhaps the nation's best-known sports figure and was among the most widely recognized Hoosiers of all. Every Indiana resident has a stake in his story.

A superstar celebrity

Decades before Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, an Indiana-born horse named Dan Patch was one of America's first superstar celebrity athletes. Thanks to a marketing-savvy owner, Dan Patch's remarkable success as an advertising icon is responsible for many of the marketing and branding techniques still favored today. From chewing tobacco to washing machines to autos, the Dan Patch name was pure gold for companies trying to set themselves apart. His face was everywhere. Many of the advertising tactics we take for granted today can be traced back to Dan Patch. If today kids want to "be like Mike," a century ago Dan Patch was the symbol of unbeatable excellence. American businesses and consumers couldn't get enough. Indeed, in the opinion of Frederick Klein of Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, "A case can be made that, adjusted for inflation and population size, he was bigger than anyone around now."

A legacy that endures

Dan Patch's influence on Indiana life -- indeed, on American life - is evident each spring.

On a Saturday at Hoosier Park in Anderson, thousands will gather to enjoy the Dan Patch Invitational Pace, a race that pits some of the nation's best harness racing horses in a race with a $200,000 purse. It is the biggest race of the season. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will change hands as fans at the track in Anderson and at off-track venues in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Merrillville handicap the field. His birthplace of Oxford, Indiana hosts an annual Dan Patch Days festival that started in 1901. There is a virtual cottage industry in Dan Patch memorabilia. A search of his name on the Internet yields 3,200 pages, and indeed there are many sites devoted exclusively to the lore and legend of Dan Patch. Just as one example, a Dan Patch thermometer sold recently at auction for $3,000.

Dan Patch heralded a new era in consumer marketing

The reason for his enduring influence has as much to do with marketing as it does with his record-smashing success on the racetrack. The rags-to-riches horse and his rags-to-riches owner, Marion Savage, both overcame shaky starts in their careers to achieve phenomenal success.

To understand the Dan Patch phenomenon, you have to appreciate the popularity of harness racing in turn-of-the-century America, including Indiana. Dan Patch was born in 1896, when horses were still a primary means of transportation; at the time of his death in 1916, horseless carriages called automobiles were fast making horses obsolete as a passenger conveyance.

During Dan Patch's lifetime, harness racing was immensely popular, especially in rural America. County fairs across America staged races, which were attended by tens of thousands. One appearance in Muncie toward the end of Dan Patch's career drew a reported 20,000 spectators, at a time when Muncie's population was less than 23,000 total.

It was into this pre-automotive America that Dan Patch was born in Oxford - conceived for a $150 stud fee. The horse at birth did not look at all like a winner. His ankles were very crooked; at first he needed help from a trainer just to stand, and he developed a wildly flailing gait. Some neighbors even suggested "putting him down."

But his original owners saw something in Dan Patch. They worked with him slowly, and he eventually started racing at the age of 4. He immediately outclassed the competition. He never lost a race. In fact, other owners quit running their horses against him, so his owners switched him to racing exhibitions against the clock.

Marketing magic - decades ahead of its time

The Dan Patch legend began to transcend sports when he was purchased by Marion Savage. Savage owned a large livestock feed manufacturing company. Savage had failed in farming and farm-related companies until starting the International Stock Food Company and building it into the largest company of its kind. Along the way he developed a reputation as a marketing genius. Just like Dan Patch, he started poorly but now found his stride.

Dan Patch set records on the track that stood for decades. His reputation went global in 1906 when he broke the world record with an unofficial one-mile pace of 1:55. Savage found any number of creative ways to exploit the horse's popularity. He developed creative contracts to garner gate proceeds at country fairs where the horse appeared, and he promoted these appearances relentlessly. The horse earned thousands more for Savage in stud fees. In addition to using Dan patch's image to "endorse" his own company, Savage licensed the Dan Patch likeness to other companies. Products ranging from cigars to soft drinks, baking soda, toys, lineament, stoves, clocks, thermometers, watches, sleds, cutlery, china, stoves and washing machines all sported the Dan Patch name or picture. There was even a Dan Patch Automobile. As "spokesman" for Savage's feed company, the Dan Patch legend was used to suggest performance-enhancing benefits from using International Stock Food products. The company produced pamphlets promoting the farm where Dan Patch lived and sent them to customers. The publications were filled with the exploits of Dan Patch - and ads for International Stock products.

As Dan Patch provided riches for Savage, the owner treated his horse like royalty, with his own private railway car and a barn so luxurious it was called the "Taj Mahal."

Dan Patch and Marion Savage died just days apart in July 1916. Their funerals were held on the same day. The country around them had been changing rapidly, from a nation of farmers to a nation of machine makers and drivers of automobiles. It had also become a nation of consumers. With that shift came a new era in promotion and product branding, brought on through a special horse and his owner's visionary zeal for marketing. Both the horse and the owner were decades ahead of their time. The horse built the brands, and the brands helped build the horse to larger-than-life, mythic status.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals. http://www.bottomlinepr.com

http://www.nonprofitPRforum.blogspot.com

Copyright Steve Cebalt 2007 May be used with author acknowledgment