The Dolphin Swimming League is a creation of Advanta Interactive in conjunction with Dynaspro Sports Academy.
It was birthed out of a passion to discover young, talented swimmers to compete on the international stage for Nigeria while also developing youth swimming coaches across the country. The aim of DSL is to grow the sport of swimming in Nigeria from grassroots to international level eventually putting Nigeria on the world map in the sport of swimming.
The pilot edition of the League involves only the elite private primary and secondary schools in the country.
To create a world class competition/brand, we at Advanta devoted hours of rigorous research into identifying the key components of an enduring sports brand. We studied popular and successful brands like The Olympics, Nike, ESPN to mention a few and outlined the following points:
GRASSROOTS
There is an ever growing demand for sports and brands on the international scene to engage in participation programs and to be seen as “making a difference” in an authentic way. The flip side however, is obtainable in our country, as the public sports sector needs all the help they can get.
Realizing this, we determined not to alienate the public athletes, but to bridge the gap between local school sports and international exposure.
The League is structured in such a way as to unearth individual swimming talents, nurture and support them to perform on the international stage.
Arrangements have been made for the best swimmers from the DSL to participate at international swimming meets in England while the British Amateur Swimming Association has assured us of a mentoring program which will see British coaches training our local coaches in Nigeria and England.
ATHLETE POWER
Talents are the raw material of any sport. For a sport to endure and survive, a steady supply of talented, skilled athletes must be ensured. We decided to start scouting for athletes from the Primary school level, in order to “catch them while they are young” and train them for the international stage.
ENDORSEMENTS & SUPPORT
No sport/brand can survive without the necessary and relevant endorsements by key regulatory bodies.
The Dolphin Swimming League is endorsed locally by the following institutions:
– Lagos State Sports Commission
– Lagos State Swimming Association
– Nigeria Olympic Committee
– Nigeria Aquatics Federation
Internationally by:
– EuroWorld Sports Ltd UK
– British Amateur Swimming Association
BRANDING
The strength of a brand is an intangible asset of any sporting organization. It is a collective aggregation of marketing, communication, relationship with fans, facilities, people, memories and stories.
We developed the following brand aspects:
– A strong name [the Dolphin Swimming League]
– Visual [using blue as a major color]
– Logo [a swimmer intertwined with a dolphin]
– Mascot [Dash, who is a smart and friendly bottle nose dolphin]
The feedback from our primary market- children and schools – has been amazing as they are excited, eager and proud to be associated with the Dolphin Swimming League.