Life's a beach

With a triumvirate of VARs getting into sporting sponsorship, Dave runs the rule over the brand-building opportunities

A trio of resellers delved into the world of sporting sponsorship this week, with Logicalis, ConvergeOne and Imtech reaching into their pockets to support budding athletes.

Horse racing may be the sport of kings, but golf is surely the next best thing: the sport of mid-level IT reseller salesmen. And so it was no surprise to see two of my brethren backing a pair of young wood-swingers.

Logicalis has sponsored Surrey-based first-year golf pro Warren Harmston, who will be taking part in the EuroPro tour. Meanwhile, Manc VAR ConvergeOne is sponsoring golf starlet Tyrrell Hatton, another man making his bow on the tour this year.

But they do things a little differently in the Netherlands.

Dutch-headquartered firm Imtech recently announced a multi-year deal to back the decidedly more glamorous sport of beach volleyball.

Inexplicably, Imtech boss René van der Bruggen said: "In order to continue to be the best technical services provider, we need the best experts to commit to us. Beach volleyball will help us in this."

Dunno if this is the best talent-scouting strategy, but, at any rate, you'll find most of the Dodgi sales desk camped out at the beach volleyball this summer.