Hyundai Motor America and the California Community College Commission on Athletes (COA) are proving a good partnership is worth its weight in gold. For the third straight year, HMA will serve as the title sponsor for the California Community College Commission on Athletics (COA), which is responsible for overseeing the administration of athletics for California’s community colleges.
"Hyundai’s involvement with us has been the single largest benefit to the COA in contemporary history," said Stuart Van Horn, associate commissioner, California Community College COA. "Not only are they our largest financial sponsor, but their involvement has created unprecedented benefits for our community college athletic programs. Our corporate sponsorship program has also benefited, thanks to our relationship with Hyundai."
HMA agrees the partnership has resulted in a win-win situation for HMA and the COA, with both organizations benefiting from increased visibility while supporting education, student athletes, championships and other programs.
"This partnership represents our commitment to community colleges and student athletics — two integral components of California higher education," said HMA CEO Finbarr O’Neill. "We also welcome the exposure of Hyundai’s line of vehicles to students, faculty and staff who will be able to see for themselves the tremendous value of our cars — reliable and stylish vehicles that are competitively priced and a warranty that can’t be beat."
The largest system of intercollegiate athletics in the country, the COA involves nearly 26,000 student athletes from 103 community colleges who participate in intercollegiate programs in 16 sports, including football, baseball, basketball, cross country, and tennis to name a few. California community colleges also have a student population of more than 1.5 million people.
The partnership in the past two years has created numerous benefits for the COA and HMA:
- Corporate dollars from HMA assisted in the development of the COA Web site, which posts the latest in scores and information on intercollegiate sports.
). Other opportunities enable COA to promote Hyundai as the official car of the COA and the California Community College championships.
A popular campus promotion is the Hyundai Car Expo, held in the previous two years at 52 campuses. The traveling exhibit presents Hyundai vehicles, hourly giveaways and a sweepstakes, where students who sign up have a chance to win a new Hyundai Tiburon.
This year, 34 college campuses will feature the Car Expo, and HMA will give $1,500 to the school with the most sweepstakes sign-ups; $1,000 for the second place campus; and $500 for third place.
"We’ve been able to demonstrate the benefit of corporate sponsorships," Van Horn said. "We value what Hyundai has invested in us and we want them to be our partners for years to come."
