Heidelberg United is honouring their business and corporate partners with HUB (Heidelberg United in Business) – creating networking opportunities at events and highlighting their contribution to the club, with larger events planned for the coming months.
The venture aims to celebrate their partners and create opportunities to connect through a mutual love of football. The Victorian National Premier League team honoured the support their corporate and business partners have given the club throughout the years in a launch event that is planned to be the first of many.
The launch of HUB at Heidi’s Café saw a keynote speech from former club great and Melbourne Victory technical director Gary Cole. The launch was attended by over 80 guests, made up of club members and representatives from the club’s partners. Also in attendance were high-profile guests including State Legislative Councillor Lee Tarlamis OAM, and ex-Collingwood premiership-winning AFL player Ben Johnson.
Heidelberg United president Steve Tsalikidis oversaw the implementation of HUB, and says that the launch has been a success for both the club and its corporate partners.
“The concept was created because we want the ability of our partners to network and create opportunities, and also to say thank you to them because without them we couldn’t continue to do what we do,” he said.
Tsalikidis believes clubs within Australia need to engage more with their partners in the future to expand their support.
“One thing clubs need to get better at, generally speaking, is having engagement and respect with our partners. There is an obligation to invest back into the community, and that is what we are doing through Heidelberg United in Business,” he said.
Tsalikidis elaborated that the first event was a success for the club and its sponsors, with future events being open to the public and other prospective sponsors.
“I’m hearing already that they’ve started working together. The next event will be a proper business-to-business event at the Olympic hotel, where people can buy tickets to the event,” he said.
Future HUB events are planned to continue to strengthen the ties between Heidelberg United Football Club and their affiliated partners, while also allowing for their contribution to the team’s success to be promoted to the wider footballing community.
Heidelberg United is assessing how to develop and refine the “HUB” concept to further engage the corporate sector as an integral partner to the club both on and off the field.
