We are faced with adversity on a constant basis, and upon certain tragedies, luckily we get a sense of restored faith in humanity – communities gather together to help out the needy.
The sporting community, not just in Caerphilly, but also across the world, that can often be seen working together to help out the unfortunate. Sport has become the ideal platform to raise awareness for charities or highlighting tragic events and show the world how being proactive can help avoid similar issues in the future.
Footballing communities are undoubtedly close-knit groups and even at the elite level of the sport, clubs are proactive in engaging in community-based projects in their region as well as being advocates for many charities.
At the elite level, relationships are leveraged to help enlist some of the sports leading lights to participate in these events. Manchester United held a high profile charity poker event in 2013 called the ‘Road to Old Trafford’. The tournament featured ex-United players such as Quinton Fortune, Rio Ferdinand, Norman Whiteside, Dwight Yorke and Bryan Robson.
Professional poker player Sam Trickett prevailed as the winner of the event and donated all his winnings to Rio Ferdinand’s ‘Live The Dream Foundation’ in which he founded in 2012. And it’s this crossover appeal that poker has that has seen many sportsmen and women use the card game as the ideal platform to raise awareness for charities in need of financial support.
It’s also worth noting that because of poker’s popularity across the world, many people seem to stand up and take notice of charity poker events with other sporting celebs such as Shane Warne and Tiger Woods holding annual charity poker events. Both have Foundations of their own, and these poker nights prove to be very useful fundraising nights for the Foundations. Woods’ annual event raises over $1 million each year and is invaluable to the Foundation’s operations.
The online gaming industry on a whole has gone from being worth £634 million to £1.138 billion from 2009-2013 in the UK. UK-based online betting exchange Betfair posted pre-tax annual profits of over £60 million in 2013. Thus, it makes sense why many sporting professionals see this as the ideal platform to reach a wider audience. Casino games are extremely relevant at present and they also have a fun side to them which is ideal for fundraisers and why they have become the go-to event for many Foundations nowadays.
Ultimately, it’s heart warming to see communities working together to raise money for worthy causes and within sporting communities it’s very easy to transcend that sense of empathy and support.