Some of the Sunrise team braved the early morning to catch a flight to Durban to attend the launch of Sharkie, and boy was it worth it. It was a morning full of real fanboy moments. It started off with us being ushered pitch-side at Mr. Price King’s Park (which itself was worth the trip) where we were greeted with drinks and snacks as we waited for the event to start.

After a few minutes of being there a number of the Sharks players made their way to the tented area, where even they had no idea what was about to be unveiled. A healthy mix of players, managers, licensees and press were all in attendance as the ceremony kicked off with a brief explanation from Michael Ablett, followed by a screening of the new animation and a featurette about the animation process. The crowd responded really well to the animated character with appropriate “oohs”, “aahs”, laughter and applause. The stage was then taken over by young dancing girls wearing some of the new Sharkie merchandise, then came the big moment. Heroic music started, smoke filled the air and the new character costume of Sharkie made his first appearance to much applause from the crowd.

This was our first time seeing the costume, so it was a really exciting moment for us too. We had been involved in the artwork for the costume and it was wonderful to see how faithfully the creators had kept to those sketches. More dancing, more singing and more Sharkie wrapped up the formalities after which there was opportunity for the press (and us) to take some photos of the new mascot with some of the Sharks players.

BEEEEEEEAST!

We then had a quick visit to the official Sharks store where merchandise had already been rolled out onto the floor and awesome new posters had been put up at the entrance.

The morning went off without a hitch…though I’m not sure the ground staff would agree. What sign, where?!