Public relations in sport: a case study on the South African Hockey Association with a focus on social media in public relations strategies.
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Date
2019
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Abstract
The South African Hockey Association (SAHA) is tasked with the responsibility of the
management and functionality of indoor and outdoor hockey in South Africa. This
includes the administration, development and coordination of all activities of the game
in areas such as coaching, umpiring and playing whether at International, Provincial,
Club or School level. SAHA is a member of the South African Sports Confederation
and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the Africa Hockey Federation (AHF) and the
International Hockey Federation (FIH). SAHA organises annual Inter Provincial
Tournaments (IPTs) for the four age groups (U13, U16, U18 and open) for both males
and females as well as liaising with other international hockey federations and
governing bodies to partake in various international test series and tournaments such
as World Cups, Commonwealth Games and The Olympics (South African Hockey
Association, 2012).
As with many other organisations, SAHA has in recent years adopted social media
platforms to communicate with their stakeholders after having a website established
for several years prior. Although SAHA is the governing body for all hockey in South
Africa, this research will focus on the Men’s and Women’s National Teams and how
the publicity is managed for these two teams. The social media platforms that are
currently used by South African Men’s and Women’s teams are Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook. This research will therefore focus on the content, management and
connections that are facilitated by The SAHA website, the three Twitter pages
(SA_Hockey, SA_Hockey_Men, and sawomenshockey), the two Instagram pages
(sa_hockey_men and sawhockey) and the two Facebook pages (SA Hockey Men and SA
Womens Hockey Team).
This usage of social media offers a research opportunity that will assist organisations
such as SAHA to utilise social media to its advantage with regards to public relations.
Even though there is a significant rise in the interest of research in social media for
corporate use, there is very little notable research specifically dealing with the use of social media for public relations activities in the sporting sector. This research uses a
range of theories and related studies on public relations in various fields in order to
develop a viable framework that can enhance the public relation efforts for The South
African Hockey Association so that they can optimise social media to ensure maximum
engagement with followers.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.