THE INVESTOR
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21
Sport produces
soldiers who build and
lead teams by habit
and reflex
INTERVIEW
Before foundingTeamArmy in January
2011, Kirkland was raising about £150,000
in sponsorship each year for the three
sporting areas he represented. Now he
raises more than £1 million a year; and
TeamArmy has distributed more than
£3 million in grants to nearly 80 service
sports associations.
It’s not just the sportspeople who benefit,
however. Kirkland meets the 35 sponsors
and organises a sporting event every month
to enable them to network.AtTwickenham,
where the army and navy hold an annual
match watched by 82,000 people in the
stadium and five million onTV, the army
rugby shirt is a huge seller, second only
in numbers to the England rugby shirt.
‘SponsoringTeamArmy is not a donation
so much as a value exchange,’ Kirkland says.
TeamArmy has just signed an ‘affinity’
relationship with St. James’s Place to
provide advice to military trustees and
service personnel.Any funds raised
through this arrangement will also go
towards supporting its sportspeople.
Kirkland is still a keen sportsman
himself, spending much of his free time
in the Alps skiing, hill walking, mountain
biking and game shooting.As a Harley-
Davidson owner, he is also a patron of
Ride to theWall, and takes part in its
annual ride to the National Memorial
Arboretum in Staffordshire – an event
that enables motorcyclists to pay their
respects to the 16,000 servicemen
and servicewomen whose names are
recorded there.
He may not compete anymore, but
he is still contributing as much, if not
more, to ensure that competitive sport
in the armed forces goes from strength
to strength.
