#We want you, says varsity to SA sport stars

North-West University (NWU) Sport has used social media to keep the institution’s sport spirit alive since the start of lockdown in March – and according to all indications it has paid off. 

From 2 June to 30 August 2020 NWU Sport ran the #WeWantYou campaign aimed at attracting sports bursary applicants. The campaign entailed the posting of videos in which NWU athletes across various sporting codes answered the question: ‘Why choose the North-West University?’ with the hashtags #PurplePassion, #PurplePride and #PurplePower to boost the initiative. At present the number of applicants have surpassed that of the previous past two years, according to NWU Sport.

Sheldon Rostron, the director of sport at the NWU, had a meeting with the sport marketing team to discuss how it could maintain sport-related content for students during the pandemic, to recruit new athletes and to remain competitive in the higher education sector where universities compete for top athletes. The campaign was born and Rostron came up with the hashtags #PurplePride #PurplePassion #PurplePower, that is not just used for this campaign but for all other posts across NWU Sport’s sport’s social media platforms as well – and on all three campuses – Vaal Triangle, Mahikeng and Potchefstroom.

“Each time I would look on social media, other universities would try and recreate the process we were already doing, which to us would be a huge compliment as we’re arguably the only university who stayed relevant on social media [during lockdown],” said Rostron.

NWU first cricket players who posted videos were Khanya Cotani, Wihan Lubbe (NWU Alumni), Ruan Haasbroek, Marques Ackerman (NWU Alumni) and Sebastian van Rooyen. In the NWU soccer first teams for both men and women they were Atlegang Mmutlane, Gina Pienaar, Mosa Matsego (NWU Alumni), Thobeka Rapho and Mojalefa Magabe. 

Caleb Louw, Louis “Chucky” van der Westhuizen (NWU Alumni and 2019 Varsity Cup captain), Andries Fouché, Evardi Boshoff (Varsity Cup vice-captain), Rhyno Smith (former Varsity Cup player and current star for the Toyota Cheetahs) as well Marco Donges were few of the many NWU Rugby players to also participated in the #WeWantYou campaign.

Ruben Gouws (24), one of the main sport marketing, events and social media employees for the NWU, says: “We wanted to show them [prospective students] exactly what it means to be at our university.” 

Gouws says NWU Sport has seen a noticeable increase in engagement on social media. “I would say it was a really successful campaign. We got a lot of positive feedback.” On Facebook followers grew by 588 from a base of 847 and on Instagram 250 followers were added.

“A lot of people were on social media due to the many social media challenges, like the #ToiletPaperChallenge, which was about a group of athletes in their various sporting codes creating a compilation video of themselves playing with a toilet paper roll as part of their sport. It presented us an opportunity to digitally market NWU Sports and further our social media followers which would grow the brand even more,” says Gouws.

Wandile Mazibuko (25), a NWU graduate and alumni, as well as a former Varsity Cup rugby and Leopards senior rugby team player, says: “I understand that it’s always good to recruit students and to show students what a great university we are, especially knowing all the athletes that have achieved a lot by being at this university.” 

Elucia van Staden (22), a NWU gymnast, agrees that prospective athletes would benefit from the #WeWantYou campaign. “I would have definitely benefited from an online campaign like this because it would have given me the opportunity to see what the NWU offers in terms of its sport and it would have also shown me how passionate the athletes are,” she said.

Rostron credits the success of the campaign to his team. “You have to remember that when we were in lockdown, these guys were working tirelessly and making sure that whatever we do, we do it with a touch of quality and class,” said Rostron. – Lilitha Bodlani, Ciska de Waal, Daniël Pretorius en Ivanka Swanepoel