Case study: Sports RDs

Eighteen registered dietitians who work full-time with some of the nation’s most high profile college and professional sports teams decided in May 2010 to launch a new national membership organization that could eventually create hundreds and perhaps thousands of jobs for nutritionists specializing in sports.  Driven hard by a widely respected sports dietitian with a strength coach credential and four university-based Registered Dietitians who supervise nutrition for athletes at UCLA, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Virginia, the Collegiate & Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) rolled out in early summer with bold plans and high expectations for calendar year 2011 (http://www.sportsrd.org/).  

          Timothy Communications, which has been packaging and promoting membership organizations for nearly 30 years, was invited by CPSDA to work on a month-to-month budget to develop a road map and marketing tools to carry the group through the end of 2010.   The hope was that a dozen supportive sponsor partners would step up to provide enough funding in 2011 for CPSDA to afford more of the professional services TimComm provides, and to enable CPSDA to create education and career development programs to groom nutrition professionals for the rigors and expanded skills required to work in the fishbowl of prime time sports.  

          Working with well-intentioned people to build a national not-for-profit organization from the ground up can be as rewarding as it is challenging.   But success is largely reliant upon across-the-board efficiency…every day and dollar has to be maximized, which requires contributions and cooperation from everyone involved.      

“There’s no time for brainstorming ad nauseam,” TimComm’s John LeGear explains.  “There’s no room for major missteps, which can turn a good game plan upside down overnight. The most essential component is trust.  When everyone does their job, and trusts everyone else to do theirs, hard-working people can create great organizations.  When everyone puts the greater good ahead of personal ambitions, everyone succeeds.”       

Such was the case in the second half of 2010 for CPSDA.  The five-member Board of Directors remained squarely focused on the game plan they adopted from the outset.  They held true to their originating principles, even when tempted to compromise; they stayed on the high road when critics questioned their motives; they fulfilled promises made to those who helped them get started; and they squeaked in under budget just before a windfall of sponsorship support set them up for a robust 2011.   

For its part, TimComm developed and executed a basic but an aggressively pointed marketing plan—succinct story writing, 10-page web site, strategic and action plan PowerPoint presentations, membership and sponsorship brochures, no-nonsense message-bearing videos and straight-talk negotiations with sponsor partners—all designed to drive home our collective belief that a vibrant and growing CPSDA is good for everyone.   

Video stories, in particular, help to level the playing field for under-funded marketing plans.  A 45-second home page video (top right of this page) featuring food shots synchronized to a sliver of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony conveyed the message that CPSDA is an organization of sports dietitians conducting its business "in a more sophisticated way."  A pair of 4-minute video profiles featuring CPSDA members illustrated the pride that sports dietitians have in their profession, and in the value they place on services they provide for their athletes.

By the end of 2010, after six challenging months for all involved, CPSDA had built a solid foundation on which to grow; raised the sponsorship funding required to build up its education and career development capabilities; and clearly conveyed the message that a fresh voice is speaking now for sports dietitians.   

CPSDA’s 2011 will be considerably more challenging.  Year-end goals include developing ground-breaking education programs; creating internship opportunities and new jobs for sports dietitians; orchestrating a flawless annual clinical symposium; servicing sponsor partners to make their investments worthwhile; building out its basic marketing campaign; and expanding membership by providing services that cannot be found elsewhere.   

CPSDA had a very good 2010, a year in which it coined a slogan perfectly suited to its purpose: “Where the food meets the field.”  The make-or-break year for CPSDA, however, will be 2011, when high expectations must be met, primarily in providing worthwhile services to members and measurable value to sponsor partners. You might say that for CPSDA, 2011 is where the rubber meets the road.  It promises to be as interesting as it will challenging.      

--John LeGear, President, Timothy Communications Inc.