British horse racing has announced an imaginative scheme to promote the sport in colleges and universities through a new Career Development Award being offered in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). 
Students who encourage involvement and attendance at race meetings through use of different marketing disciplines will be able to gain a nationally recognised award which it is envisaged will give them an edge in the competitive jobs market upon graduation.
Racing groups will be open to approaches from such ‘student ambassadors’ and will help them to establish research, event management, PR and direct marketing skills using best practice guides developed by the CIM.
Building new audiences is crucial in all sports as new streams of entertainment and sport emerge to challenge for leisure time and leisure spend.
The student market has shown a willingness to embrace racing in Ireland with race days at Limerick and Leopardstown, promoted through Spin 103.8 attracting over 15,000 in the past two years.
The beauty of this scheme is that it breaks it down into smaller groups at individual colleges and incentivises the students themselves to drive the activity.  It is a simple programme which Horse Racing Ireland could develop alongside the Marketing Institute of Ireland and which could attract commercial support from within the Sport for Business Community.
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