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Equestrian Australia Signs New Major Sponsor

Published on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in General

Megan Jones (far left) joined 11 other sporting groups for the new sponsorship launch (photo: EA)

As part of the Australian Government's National Binge Drinking Strategy, Equestrian Australia is 1 of 12 National Sporting Organisations to receive sponsorship to promote the new message 'Be the Influence' tackling binge drinking.

This new sponsorship is the largest in Equestrian Australia’s history and will help support grass-roots programs such as the State and National Interschools competitions, as well as the high profile events of the Equestrian Grand Final, Melbourne 3DE and Sydney 3DE.

Saturday saw the launch of the program at AAMI Stadium in Melbourne, where Beijing silver medallist Megan Jones joined a host of sporting stars along with the Federal Minister for Sport Kate Lundy, to launch the initiative.

Megan Jones was on hand to help commit Equestrian Australia’s commitment to promoting the ‘Be the influence’ campaign.

“It was exciting to see equestrian recognised one of the top 12 sports to receive funding from this great new initiative.  We have a lot of young athletes involved in the sport who continue to be involved into their adult lives, so this program is a great fit for our sport,” said Jones.

“Personally I am pleased to see significant funding being directed into grass-roots through our Interschools program.  Hopefully this sponsorship can help to grow the program and attract more people to become members,” she said.  

As part of the National Binge Drinking Strategy, the Australian Government has allocated $25 million to the Community Sponsorship Fund (CSF), to serve as an alternative to alcohol sponsorship for community sporting and cultural organisations.

Through this sponsorship program the Australian Government has offered key National Sporting Organisations the opportunity to provide a sporting environment from national through to community level that is alcohol-promotion free.

As a key element of the National Binge Drinking Strategy, Equestrian Australia together with other sporting organisations are now working with the Australian National Preventive Health Agency to promote the Government’s new binge drinking campaign Be the influence: tackling binge drinking.

Equestrian Australia joined Football Federation of Australia (FFA), Basketball Australia, Netball Australia, Swimming Australia, Cycling Australia, Hocky Australia, Athletics Australia, Skateboarding Australia, Volleyball Australia, Triathlon Australia and Australian Canoeing.

Equestrian Australia CEO Grant Baldock, said the sponsorship is a great opportunity for EA to grow its existing programs at all levels of the sport.

"We are pleased to be one of the 12 national sporting organisations involved in this new Government initiative,” said Mr Baldock.

“The partnership between EA and the Australian National Preventative Health Agency (ANPHA) is the single largest sponsorship our sport has entered into and the funds provided will go a long way to securing the long term growth of Equestrian sport in Australia.”  

“In addition to supporting events such as the Equestrian Grand Final and Melbourne and Sydney International Three Day Events, funding will be allocated to each of our six state branches to grow grass roots equestrian sport through the Interschools program,” he said.

This campaign recognises the important place of sport in Australia and the influence that many Australian sporting heroes have as role models for aspiring young sport participants.

Sporting groups including equestrian cover a significant proportion of sporting participants in the 15-24 age group with around one million participating young Australians, and many more involved indirectly through family, community, and spectator participation.

These sponsorship arrangements do not affect pourage rights or the licensing, availability and service of alcohol at sporting venues which are covered by State and Territory Government legislation and include responsible service of alcohol (RSA) practices.

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