Vision 2008 by old BSA regime
•1. HISTORY
- No Clear vision, hence no goal orientation;
- Double-digit Growth over the past ten years;
- No customer focus;
- Fragmentation of the sport;
- Role Confusion, vis-à-vis, affiliates, etc.
- Lack of clear direction from the federation;
- Lack of interest from sponsorship market;
- Uncoordinated development programs;
- Lack of capacity in national office;
- Dearth of high level basketball events.
•2. THE PAST 4 MONTHS
- New inclusive Exco elected unopposed;
- President announces Vision 2008 and challenges his Exco members to make it a reality;
- Roles are clarified;
- Ground-breaking basketball Indaba is held;
- A business plan outlining Vision 2008 is completed with clear implementation plans and accountabilities;
- New corporate identity for BasketballSA is launched;
- Marketing agent is appointed;
- A commercialization strategy for basketball is completed;
- Senior national coach is appointed as a champion for Vision 2008.
•3. THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS
- Launch of e-basketballsa;
- Relaunch the professional league;
- Launch national senior men & women basketball leagues;
- Finalise sponsorship programs from 2005 onwards;
- Complete BasketballSA Marketing and Brand Plan;
- Create a basketball database management framework;
- Complete a Bid Document to host 2007 Senior African Champs;
- Review internal BasketballSA operations and structures;
- Finalise a development blueprint from mini-basketball to elite;
- Solicit support and buy-in from macro structures.
4. THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
- Roll out professional and amateur league programs;
- Roll out district and provincial league programs;
- Capacitate provinces and districts to run and manage BasketballSA programs in their areas;
- Develop centres of excellence and high performance to support national team players;
- Manage development and participation supply chains using educational institutions;
- Promote and support broad-based mass participation.
•5. BEYOND 2008
- Current parallel (to Vision 2008) programs for 16 & under and mini-basketball;
- Hosting of World Champs and Olympic Games (NOCSA);
- Leverage the opportunities in Soccer WC 2010;
- Participation in World Champs 2010, Olympic Games 2012.
•6. KEY ELEMENTS
The Business of Basketball
- Participation: broad-based;
- Development: Juniors, Technical, Coaches, administrators, elite;
- National Teams: management, selection, camps, performances, ranking;
- Competitions: district, provincial and national leagues, inter-provincials, social 3-on-3;
- Players: database, transfers, code of conduct, overseas-based;
- Commissions: Technical, Coaching and Medical.
- Administration & Management: day-to-day;
- Databases: players, coaches, officials, referees, clubs, teams, schools, tertiary institutions, followers;
- Financial management: accountability, budgetary control, internal control, best practices, PFMA;
- International Relations: relations with FIBA, FIBA Africa, Zone VI, NBA, SCSA, etc.;
- Macro structures: NOCSA, SASC, SRSA, Provincial and local Govt, other federations, Sportco?;
- Role definition: organizational structure, accountability, team spirit;
- Integration: SASSU, USSASA, Masters, Wheelchair, provinces, Pro League;
- Governance: reform, policy advisory, business process, planning, evaluation, transparency and accountability;
- E-basketball: technological tools, ICT, knowledge systems, www, communication;
- Capacity: use of private providers, training, workshops;
- Hosting international events: relevance to broader objectives.
Marketing
- Situation Analysis: target market, growth areas, 400k participants, 16 – 24yr, 1m followers;
- Positioning: trendy, sport of choice, clean, fashion, entertaining, contemporary, fitness, action;
- Image: of basketball, of BasketballSA, past baggage, new imagery, trends, positioning;
- Role models: successful teams, national teams and pride, overseas-based players, profiling;
- Sponsorships: aligning sponsors needs, measurable ROI’s, protection, “leverageable” properties;
- Brand management: manual, composite branding, extensions, protection ;
- Private providers: appointment, role vis-à-vis marketing department.
•7. STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
- National team program;
- Image;
- One basketball calendar;
- Sound funding base;
- TV broadcast: more reach & hours;
- Integrated sponsorship program;
- PR and media;
- Buy-in for Vision 2008.
Article supplied by Setlogelo Lucas Radebe
Like I asked, is the “New strategic plan” really new!
Yes, they flipped the coin. This Vison 2008 was a pie in the sky. The progress from the start was there, but they made too many mistakes. The website was there but was not properly managed. The marketing agent was appointed, none other than Mega Pro. Nothing is really wrong with this innovative company (they introduced ad scrolls at the stadiums). But this was not based on the needs of the organisation. BSA counted the chickens before they hatched. {They thought, well the case with PBL is over and we gonna get a lot of money from companies. After all basketball is the fastest growing sport}. Commercial world is not like that. They just do not fall into things. BSA should have appointed a company that specialises in sourcing sponsorship. At that time sponsorship was starting to be recognised as a category on its own as far as the marketing communications was concerned.
Another juicy mistake they made, the appointment of a media liaison. Did he know the dynamics of basketball? The less said about him, the better. All talk but no action.
You can never appoint the coach to be a champion of the integrated strategy. You appoint a business savvy marketing person to champion the course. That was a bad mistake.
There are more crucial mistakes they made. One thing that nothing ever really happened. Shhh. They went behind each other’s back. BSA wanted to roll out the national league programme. I hear 3rd mobile operator bought into them. Then what happened? Someone approached the same people to roll out their own programme. And then, the marketing executive obviously told everyone to back off.
One agency made a gentleman’s agreement with a world’s largest brewer. He approaches the federation and discuss about the normal things such as the 20% fee. And then, someone went behind the agency and approached the company. What happens, he is told to back off.
And then lack of trust became prevalent. All because of sabotage.
And the same thing is happening again. This time the perpetrators lost their marbles. They miscalculated their ambitions.
One thing they must know is that, BSA will always be supported by government. PBL can never be sponsored by a government agency.