Back in 2024, you’d have been hard pressed to sell Bond Bull Sharks netball to a sponsor.
Bond's Sapphire aspirations had fallen in a heap and Bull Sharks involvement in elite level netball was left hanging by a thread courtesy of a Ruby level team that had been assembled at the last minute.
On face value, even the most optimistic outsider would have struggled to foresee anything beyond struggle for the blue and gold.
But Peter Gisinger, head of Classic Concrete Pumping, was having none of that.
Gisinger knew as well as anyone the importance of kids being involved in a sporting community, the power of learning from good mentors, and the value of effort.
As a dad, he’d wandered the sidelines of club level sport for years.
His son grew up on a diet of local rugby league. His twin daughters chose netball.
And as a businessman, he’d seen community sporting organisations flourish when given the right kind of help.
“Sporting clubs are community heartbeats,” Gisinger says.
“I’d seen my own kids thrive in community sporting environments. It’s been character-shaping for the kids, and an incredibly important part of our family’s history together.”
For Gisinger, it’s about making a worthwhile contribution to something that deserves support.
“It’s an investment in good people who do terrific things for young people,” he says.
“They give of themselves to foster opportunities for kids and young women in sport. It’s a pleasure to for our company to be a part of something that contributes so much.”
Burleigh-based Classic Concrete Pumping a business that Gisinger has built from the ground up.
You can’t help but find parallels between Bond’s ascent up the ladder and his company’s rise from a small local operation in 2003 to a thriving enterprise.
These days the company proudly boasts 123 employees and operates a fleet of 60 specialised concrete pumping trucks out of five divisions – Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gympie and the Mid-North NSW coast.
“There’s something incredibly satisfying in building something your own way,” Gisinger says.
For Bond Head of Netball, Kim Boland, it’s absolutely no coincidence that Bond Bull Sharks Netball’s three-year rise from wooden spooner to a maiden Hart Premier Sapphire League championship has occurred while Classic Concrete Pumping has been on board.
“Pete’s support gives not only gives our organisation a degree of financial security but also motivates a tremendous sense of belief among our players and staff, and our broader network of supportive family and friends.”
“It’s comforting and humbling in equal part to know people like Pete believe so passionately in what we are doing. I think that that kind of support has an infectious quality.”
“When I look back at the footage of our Sapphire grand final win last year and I see all those people in blue and gold in the stands, people are obviously moved by the feats of our players, but their excitement is in no small way fed by relationships like the one we enjoy with Pete and Classic Concrete Pumping.
“We are enormously grateful.”