On Thursday afternoon, Kaizer Chiefs Marketing and Commercial Director Jessica Motaung graduated from the SuperSport Industry Leaders Programme, which was held in collaboration with the Gordon Institute of Business at their Illovo campus in Johannesburg.
The Chiefs Marketing Director was one of 18 hand-picked applicants selected to participate in the program as the country’s future sports administrators.
They were taught important abilities in areas including fan interaction, transformation, and transmission.
“It was a very reflective process and one that built in me in various ways. I got to undertake many physical and other journeys during this time. There are many lessons I bring back to the Village at Naturena with me,” Motaung said after her graduation.
The group recently traveled to San Francisco, California, to interact with the San Francisco Giants baseball team and the Golden State Warriors NBA basketball franchise as part of the course.
Of these Motaung added, “we learnt a lot in the United States and this is where we got to see how valuable the fan experience is to a team. We have a lot to implement here for our fans locally to duplicate these and to build a stronger bond and to keep on bettering the game day experience for our fans.”
Motaung also had the chance to work with representatives from other sporting codes, including the South African Rugby Union, University Sports South Africa, Cricket South Africa, the South African Institute for Drug Free Sports, and a number of provincial Rugby Unions, including the Sharks and Vodacom Bulls.
The course also included a number of SuperSport employees, Premier Soccer League staff, and representatives from other top-tier clubs.
“We had a Springbok World Cup winner with us in Bryan Habana and a wide range of very motivated and highly enthusiastic and forward-thinking individuals in our programme. Together we will interact and work to ensure that we plan a way forward for the betterment of the sports industry in the country,” Motaung said of the unique experience.
SuperSport CEO, Marc Jury, commenting on the graduates and the programme said: “We handpicked 18 people with the federations who we believed would be able to make bold decisions for sports in South Africa. We will continue building with this same group and will be looking to extend this programme with them, as we believe these candidates are the right people.”
Jessica was part of a four-person team that included Wafeekah Begg Jassiem, legal manager for the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport, Yusuf Jackson, Competition and Tours Specialist: Amateur from the South African Rugby Football Union, and Edgar Rathbone, CEO of the Vodacom Blue Bulls Rugby Union, for her final presentation on transformation in sport.
“I had a very well- balanced hardworking group, with everyone doing their best to ensure that we had a very well put together presentation on a very important topic for the sporting landscape of our country,” said Motaung, adding that “transformation is an especially important issue in our country and with the experience from members in my group on the issue we were able to point out the areas of work, as well as the solutions, which will lead to meaningful transformation in SA sport”.
Jessica was also grateful to have been given the opportunity, extending her gratitude for being included in this special group of sporting leaders.
“Thanks to Marc Jury and SuperSport for having me on board, also the Premier Soccer League and our Club Chairman Kaizer Motaung for giving me the time off in a busy period to be able to go through this programme and see it to the end,” said Motaung.
Kaizer Chiefs would like to congratulate Jessica and her peers for graduating from what was a very intense nine-month course which began in October last year.