USA Features

by Nigel Melville
Nigel Melville Direct blog 

The announcement of the Lions squad to tour South Africa yesterday brought back some memories of my Lions tour in 1983 to New Zealand.

I was called out as a replacement for the injured Terry Holmes - the call came on a Sunday morning, and I left for New Zealand just a few hours later,. I called my employer on Monday to tell them I would be away for the next four weeks and they fired me!

Life as an amateur player was tough in those days, just as it is for our players trying to compete at international level and hold down a job. It is unfortunate that we cannot pay the players to train and compete, but I will continue to push until that day becomes a reality.

When I played for England, I worked in sales and marketing, where my first job was signing up sports retailers to a franchise. My area was London and it was initially soul destroying, with everyone saying no. Occasionally someone felt sorry for me and I received a signing bonus of 250 pounds. I then started to generate a strike rate of one signature every 10 stores visited, or as I liked to put it 25 pounds every time I had the door firmly shut in my face!

This week I am in New York selling rugby, a fantastic product with enormous potential, a modern game for great athletes, a game with a global reach and a membership with whom each sponsor can create a special relationship, as there is no doubt that rugby people respect and support their sponsors and their products. Unfortunately I am a little long in the tooth to join the National Guard, but I buy Canterbury clothing, have a Bravia TV, watch Setanta and drink Heineken beer from time to time!

This is the kind of brand loyalty that sponsors are looking for. It's about selling product at the end of the day. In this respect, rugby is a cost effective option and I am making sure that people know about it.

Of course, its not easy. There are plenty of what I call ‘Yes, but..’ people out there, which is understandable in the current economy. These people have all the reasons why not to do anything. What we need are the ‘Yes, and…’ people. The people who see the future of the game, and want to join us on a journey and believe that rugby people can add value to their products and services.

My goal is to work with a small number of key sponsors who can grow this game with us. No one said it would be easy, but we just have to believe in our product and put in the hard yards, just like the players put in every week on the field….

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For more of Nigel's blog visit Nigel Melville Direct.

With an impressive resume as player, coach and administrator, Nigel David Melville took over as CEO and President of Rugby Operations of USA Rugby, the National Governing Body of the sport in America, in 2006.  In addition to his full time job promoting the sport in the U.S., Melville has launched his own blog, Nigel Melville Direct, to further the discussion and his passion for what it will take to make the U.S. a great rugby playing nation.

CLICK HERE to read more on Nigel Melville

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