GLOBAL
SPORTS PARTNERS: A BRIEF INTRO
Experience the Culture. Discover the People…In
the World of Sports and Beyond!
More than a decade ago Steve DeVoss, an American
living in Hong Kong, recognized that he was
not alone in his enjoyment of building friendships
across cultures through his passion for sports.
A baseball pitcher who never quite made it
to the big leagues, Steve found it easy to
develop rapport with fellow sportsmen who shared
his competitive zeal. The barriers of cultural
and language that normally loomed so large
had somehow become much less significant.
Perhaps it was his
love of challenge that prompted DeVoss to first
incorporate
Global Sports Partners
in Hong Kong with a vision of opening wide China’s
doors to visitors from the West. Organizing friendly
games and sports clinics, he wanted both the
local participants and the foreign visitors to
come out as winners. GSP would derive revenue
from project fees and corporate sponsorship.
It would be a win-win-win experience.
From those humble beginnings, Global Sports
Partners now calls Cyprus home with offices literally
circling the globe. The ethos remains constant…designing
projects for ordinary people that blend opportunity
for cultural exchange with an adventure in sport...
that benefit all involved.
In keeping with
its flexible and situation-driven ethos, Global
Sports Partners’ profile
in each region is unique. The Southeast Asia
office was opened in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 with
an eye to “sports tourism and sports development.” While
GSP consults on a regional basis, a significant
number of the projects have taken place in Malaysia.
Basketball, softball, tennis, table tennis, soccer,
volleyball and recreational activities such as
jungle trekking, climbing, scuba diving and scooter
touring have been just some of the contexts for
GSP projects. Local partners have included sports
associations, schools and universities, communities
(!) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
In 2001, Global Sports Partners was a key partner
in the establishment of the Subang Jaya Community
Youth Football League (http://www.sjcyfl.com),
the first community-based volunteer-driven youth
football league in Malaysia. This pilot project
is designed to become a model for communities
nationwide with the hope of exponentially multiplying
the number of youth in organized football. In
2004, the league will is home to 30 teams and
more than 300 players. As such, GSP is seeking
to become a champion or community-based sport
in the region.
In recent times, the need for assistance in
improving the standard of conversational English
has given opportunity to Global Sports Partners
to become a partner in the educational arena.
GSP now has a standing agreement with the Ministry
of Education in Malaysia to help recruit native
English speakers to help at local high schools.
They will provide students with greater exposure
to conversational English both in the classroom
as well as through co-curricular activities.
Global Sports Partners still relies heavily
both on the income generated from project fees
as well as corporate sponsorship. Perhaps there
was never greater need for mutual understanding
and respect across cultural divides than there
is today. GSP is looking for local corporate
partners who recognize the value of projects
such as these and are willing to support them.
Whether they realize it or not, companies associated
with the West may already be benefiting from
GSP programs. We believe that there may be no
better publicity for the West than western visitors
who rather than giving credence to the negative
stereotype, instead prove to be friendly, humble,
caring and respectful of the local perspective
and culture.
We at Global Sports
Partners believe in what we do and find great
satisfaction
in doing it.
If you would like to find out more about our
projects and activities (or would like to participate!),
we would love to get in touch. There may just
be a world out there you never knew existed…
Experience the Culture.
Discover the People…In
the World of Sports and Beyond!
