World Cup-winning Springbok star Bryan Habana has announced the first two months of traction achieved with his award-winning creative team’s MatchKit.co, an innovative platform that gives athletes a ground-breaking solution for commercialising their digital brand.
The two-month milestone also comes with the announcement of a ground-breaking partnership with the JVW Football Club (JVW FC), owned by Banyana Banyana captain, Janine van Wyk, who hails from Alberton.
JVW FC focuses on the development of women football players and along with Matchkit.co, gives the athletes the platform to reach higher levels in the sport.
Van Wyk said the partnership will continue to elevate the status of her developing athletes.
“I am so glad that companies and brands are starting to see the great investment in the ever growing Women’s Football market.
“I hope that through this partnership and platform, more of our athletes will not only be able to be exposed to professional clubs, but to start branding themselves in a way which will influence more sponsors to come on board.
“I am excited for the future of this partnership, and know that this is still the beginning of many more great things to come.”
“There is never a right time to start a new business, but my team and I are proud to have leveraged the opportunities presented during lockdown as well as my own insights associated with athlete personal branding to bring a digital product to market that is already enabling all athletes and their agents to generate an income in new ways,” said Habana, who is a co-founder.
MatchKit co-founder Mike Sharman said: “We are buoyed by the calibre and diversity of our athlete sign ups as well as the sporting bodies and representatives that have signed up to use our minimum viable product (MVP) to date.
“We have already concluded deals with Janine van Wyk’s JVW FC, where we are working together to help elevate the personal brands of the young women associated with the club.”
“Other deals include Irish Women’s Rugby, ProSport International (one of South Africa and Africa’s largest management companies), ProTouch professional cycling team, and Pollywog (surfing brand that will leverage our tech, in order to scout a new ambassador).
Habana’s team went from registering the domain to launching MatchKit.co in a matter of three months, and have already attracted international sporting icons such as Thembi Kgatlana (Banyana Banyana and SD Eibar player), Tammy Beaumont (English cricketer), Rachael Burford (English rugby player), Brandon Stone (Professional golfer), and Henri Schoeman (Olympic Bronze Medalist) to name a few.
Every player is now complete with a MatchKit.
