‘Inspire them for years to come’: ASICS and Agent99 to deliver netball activation to boost young players’ confidence
Sportswear brand, ASICS, is empowering netball’s next generation of stars via an activation developed with longtime partner Agent99.
The event, named ‘Netball Festival Celebrating Confidence’, is intended to encourage young netball players to partake in confidence-building activities, both on the netball court, and off of it.
ASICS’ activation will provide “golden ticket winners” with the chance to attend the festival to meet its ambassadors and top players from Australian and New Zealand netball teams: the Silver Ferns, the Diamonds and the NSW Swifts.
The brand’s ambassadors are expected to lead skill development workshops, in addition to signing gear and taking photos with attendees. The festival will also feature a panel with key personnel sharing advice to younger players who may struggle with confidence.
ASICS will also provide festivalgoers with pairs of its Netburner Ballistic netball shoes.
According to Agent99’s founder and director, Sharon Zeev Poole, the idea for the activation came after research commissioned by ASICS found that confidence and team sports bear an inexplicable connection for young people, but there is a tendency for people to leave sports when they’re older due to a lacking in confidence.
“The ASICS commissioned research showed that confidence and connection are two of the key benefits beyond physical health for kids playing team sports,” Poole said.
“Yet, despite most respondents admitting that team sports helped to make new and long-lasting connections when they were young, close to one in two dropped out of their favourite sport during their teens, with a key reason being a lack of confidence in their own abilities.”
The athleticwear brand’s study also found that netball, overall, is not as celebrated compared to other sports Australians love, such as rugby league and soccer. That fact, combined with the research’s findings on confidence, is what coalesced the idea for the activation.
“The research also delved into which sports were most celebrated by Australians. Interestingly, participants ranked what are often considered male-dominated sports as their top picks,” she continued.
“And whilst netball was the number one team sport played by females, it was viewed to be the least celebrated, with almost half of Australians ranking the sport as the one receiving the least amount of recognition compared to the likes of basketball, soccer, rugby league, and Aussie rules.
“These insights lead us to develop the concept of the ‘ASICS Netball Festival’ to encourage young players to develop their confidence further and stay with the sport long-term due to multiple benefits aside from physical well-being, as well as the strong alignment this idea had with ASICS mantra of ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’.
“With meticulous planning and execution, we are thrilled to bring this activation to life. Its impact will not only empower young athletes, but inspire them for years to come.”
ASICS’ Netball Festival is scheduled for February 8 at 2pm in Sydney.
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Matthew is the editorial assistant at Mumbrella. He joined the company at the end of September 2023.
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