Ausdrill, AGL back sport

Mining services company Ausdrill has expanded its partnership with Hockey Australia, while AGL Energy has sponsored the West Coast Eagles as it seeks to lift its profile ahead of its planned entry to the Western Australian gas market.

Ausdrill has been the major partner of the national women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos, since 2012, and this month renewed the relationship for a second time.

The team will continue to be known as the Ausdrill Hockeyroos.

Ausdrill is also now an official supporting partner of the national men’s hockey team, the Kookaburras.

It joins Fortescue Metals Group as the major backers of hockey in Australia.

FMG last year renewed its sponsorship of the Kookaburras for a further three years and become a principal sponsor of the Hockeyroos.

Ausdrill managing director Ron Sayers said staff engagement hadbeen the key to the company’s involvement with the Hockeyroos.

This has included Ausdrill hosting events at its premises enabling staff to meet the players, rewarding high-performing employees and their partners with a trip to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, facilitating team visits to Kalgoorlie to play matches, and having staff members at Hockeyroos games around Australia.

“We have even provided opportunities for retiring players to build a career within our business, when they have the right qualifications and experience,” Mr Sayers said.

Meanwhile, AGL Energy today announced a two-year partnership with the West Coast Eagles that includes a players’ shorts component.

It also includes sponsorship of the West Coast Eagles Aboriginal Leadership Program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from years eight to 10.

The partnership comes ahead of AGL’s planned entry to an increasingly competitive gas market in WA.

Origin Energy is also planning a WA push, joining Kleenheat, which has secured about 10 per cent of the market over the past three years, and incumbent supplier Alinta Energy.