Passion for the world of sport. These words could be a summary of Ocisport's philosophy, a company based in Pobla de Claramunt, which works on organising, managing and promoting sports events around the country, many of them at the highest level. For its director general, Albert Balcells, being involved in the organisation of some of these competitions is something more than a simple job: "Not long ago, we were part of a race that lasted 30 hours. To work on these types of events you have to have a true passion for sport". The past career of this professional sportsman from Igualada proves that he does.
Born in 2001, but initially involved in the management of school sports, Ocisport positioned itself in this sector early on as a new area of business until in 2007 it became its main occupation. The company, located in Pobla de Claramunt with a staff of 16 employees, has worked from the beginning in sports promotion, aware of the possibilities of outdoor events.
The challenges
With a full schedule, the most important challenge for 2015 are the Mountain Bike World Championships taking place in Andorra between the 1st and 6th September. "It is the most important event we will have organised in our 14-year history, with 50,000 spectators and a live broadcast to more than 100 countries," says Balcells. Despite this great challenge, the company from Anoia already has a good record of championships and sports events: the MTB World Cups that took place in Vallnord in 2008 and 2013, the Sky Games in Ribagorça in 2012 —considered the Olympic Games of mountain sports— the International MTB Catalan Cup and VolCat, among many others.
Apart from being veterans in organising top competitions, Ocisport is also involved in sports events directed at the general public. It is an expansion that the crisis has not curtailed. "Sport has picked up the tab left by the crisis. We no longer talk about people who do sport but rather we talk of social change that goes beyond purely doing sport and has seeped into society and families. People have realised it is a way of life and many people are signing up to this initiative," says Balcells.
The sports boom
This can be seen from events such as the Festival on Wheels in Barcelona, the Festival of Sport and Nature —which this year is celebrating its second edition— or the Igualada Urban Running Night Show, both held in the capital of Anoia. "We have been involved in the promotion of sport in the popular sphere and we were predecessors of the boom we are now experiencing," says the director general of Ocisport.
This boom can be explained not only because of the rise in sports meetings of this type directed at a more popular and family-oriented public, but also for its acceptance among the wider public, as seen from the number of participants. For Balcells, this change of mentality explains why sponsors, institutions and media organisations choose to organise and cover these types of events.
Between 70 and 80% of Ocisport's current contracts do not come purely from the sporting world but also from those of economic and tourist promotion. These figures give an idea of how sport has become a calling card to attract visitors, to make the territory known and to achieve a significant media profile. "Sport today is a social phenomenon and, beyond purely doing sport, has become a tool of communication, of economic and tourist promotion," adds the director general of Ocisport.
For example, in the case of Anoia county, these sports and leisure events provide a significant boost to the local economy. "In some events, we end up working with 10 or 15 companies in the county and, therefore, apart from generating this positive sports and media activity in the county, we are generating economic activity for many other companies," he says.
Its role in organising sports events and in the promotion of minority sports has this year earned Ocisport the UEA Prize awarded by the Anoia Business Union. "Getting prizes is an encouragement to continue working along the same lines. We are proud of the work we have done behind the scenes because the stars are always the participants," Balcells concludes.
In 2016, Ocisport hopes to consolidate its schedule of top sports events. For the moment, they already have a very important one in their diary: the world championships of mountain races taking place in La Vall de Boí in July of next year.