Poor marketing, player dumping mars Victoria Falls Sevens
WHILE the inaugural Kwese Sports Victoria Falls Sevens rugby tournament held at Victoria Falls last Saturday and Sunday ran smoothly on the field of play with the Zimbabwe Cheetahs beating Namibia 24-7 to be crowned champions, it just had too many problems away from the ground.
One of the notable challenges for the first ever edition of the event was poor marketing. There was not even a single poster advertising the tournament that was spotted anywhere in the resort town. Some residents of Victoria Falls were shocked to learn that there was an international competition taking place in their own backyard.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union president Nyararai Sibanda conceded that marketing for the tournament had not been carried out well. He attributed that to lack of funding which came in late and being let down by other partners who were meant to market the event.
“Funding for marketing the tournament came in very late, it still could have been done better, a lot of people did not know that there was something going on in Victoria Falls,’’ said Sibanda.
As a result of failure to promote the tournament, ZRU did not even come close to the projected figure of 2 500 fans they had targeted to pay their way in to watch the action. In the end, ZRU managed to just break even since their biggest expense, accommodation and meals were covered by the sponsorship their got from Kwese Sports.
“We asked our LOC how many people were we expecting they promised us 2 500, we did not even get half of that. We managed to break even, the finer figures are being worked out, the biggest expense was accommodation and meals, those were all covered in the sponsorship,’’ Sibanda said.
Going forward, Sibanda pointed out that the marketing for next’s tournament will start as early end of May as soon as the HSBC Sevens World Series dates for the 2017/18 season are released. The ZRU boss said big national teams had already committed to taking part in next year’s tournament without mentioning the identity of the countries.
“Marketing for the event has got to start early for next year, the first flier must come out end of May, once the HSBC Sevens World Series ends. We want to do the tournament a week after Vancouver so that the teams are free to participate. Big national teams have already committed to taking part next year but I cannot reveal their identity at the moment,’’ Sibanda said.
Another sad development which spoiled the tournament was when the victorious Cheetahs players were left behind in Victoria Falls. Players eventually left the resort town on at 9pm on Monday where they arrived in Bulawayo at 3am on Tuesday with team manager Donald Mangenje, coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba and ZRU vice president Tapiwa Mangezi having to organise funds for those from Harare to proceed to the capital where they reached their destination at midday.
It seems the bone of contention was failure by the ZRU leadership to facilitate for the players’ entry into the Victoria Falls rain forest. The ZRU hierarchy is said to have tried in vain from the day the squad moved camp to the resort town to have the players to visit the tourist attraction for free. Things are said to have gotten heated on Sunday when the players felt that their efforts were not being appreciated since they were not even paid a cent, ZRU should at least make arrangements for them to visit the rain forest. The bus which had carried the players from Harare departed f r om Victoria Falls with referees and other officials, leaving the athletes stranded. Others used their own funds to fly from Victoria Falls to Harare. Mangezi eventually made funds available for the players to fulfill their wishes of seeing the rain forest.
ZRU general manager, Sifiso Made, is said to have undertaken that a plan was going to be found for the stuck players to travel to Harare, an arrangement which never came to fruition since it came with a $1 200 extra cost.
Nyamutsamba and Mangenje, who both stuck with the players during the whole debacle which included travelling with them late at night, presented a report on what transpired to the ZRU leadership last Thursday. Sibanda indicated that a proper review with take place on Tuesday where hard resolutions could be made if necessary with those behind the fiasco to be reprimanded. “We will do a full review on Tuesday, I got part of the report on what happened. We will take tough decisions if necessary,’’ said Sibanda.
If the ZRU leadership could cut on the off the field mess, future editions of the tournament are certain to leave a lasting legacy in One of the Seven Wonders of the World.