Vonnias and Panthers partner up

The Tupapa-Maraerenga rugby league club has signed up a three-year sponsorship deal with Cook Islands retail chain Vonnias.

The pair signed a three-year deal on Friday, making Vonnias the Panthers main sponsors from next season.

Vonnias Warehouse manager Damien Heather said the chain would be stocking Panthers merchandise on Matai clothing and giving the club a percentage of the profits made on all Panthers gear.

Panthers club president Chris Manu said the club would benefit at all levels from having a three-year deal with the sponsor, rather than the typical single year deals.

The main thing is that we want the boys focusing on games rather than worrying about if theyre going to get jerseys or that type of thing, Manu said.

Manu said the deal also came at a great time for Christmas presents. He said the club and Vonnias would be pushing to have clothing and other merchandise ready for the festive season.

Heather said Vonnias was excited about the new partnership with the strong football club and had signed up with the Panthers as part of a fresh drive to enter deals with sporting clubs from across a number of codes.

He said the chain was in talks with other rugby league clubs for similar deals.

We wanted to support the Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers rugby league club and help them build up to bigger and better things in the future, Heather said.

The Panthers are a strong club and by giving them back a percentage of the money on their merchandise were hoping they can keep going strong.