I. W. S. F. Worlds Doha Qatar

[northernmonkey]

i love the covering up the board manufacturers name thats awesome. Parks did it a long time ago when he was between sponsors i think i remember-he wasn't unsponsored for long.
For that matter so did Benny when we were in SA filming. the industry needs to support riders properly and in turn the riders need to support the industry and do their best to promote their sponsors rather than just taking. every rider that rides for stickers effectively does someone else out of real sponsorship. also part time photogs and videogs working for free do the same to pros trying to make a living in their field. there is no such thing as a "free lunch".
on the other hand sponsorship wise in the UK riders need to be realistic about the funds that some sponsors have available. demand money from the big boys and be more understanding to the companies that have nothing.
kind of like robin hood.......

[drivesalot]

The main reason that sponsorship money is so hard to get in this country is because your average Joe Blo is just not interested in the sport. 99% of people I talk to about this sport dont have a clue what it is. Thats a hard fact and it wont ever change. It is hard to convince any sponsor that giving money to a UK rider will bring them a tangible financial return. Most young riders in this country are sponsored by mum and dad, which is pretty much the same as in any other sport and like Nick C says, its very rewarding for the whole family which is the most important thing.

[Nick.C.]

NIckel if its any consolation thanks should go to British Airways who upgraded all of the team to whatever its called between poor mans class and club class so we all got big reclining seats and loads more room on the way home yesterday. so thanks B.A.
(even though Nick decided it was far better to go to sleep on the floor behind the last row of seats) got a bit worried , couldn't find him for some time.
N.M. Couldn't agree more, it should be mutial respect between riders and sponsors /photographers.
This has just brought to mind another issue regarding taking photos of minors, this is a criminal offence if parental permission is not given, something that the snappers should carefully consider.

[northernmonkey]

oof Nick i have a feeling that that particular bunch of worms live in an oil drum and not in the proverbial can!
this thread just gained the potential to run to at least 25 pages......

[Nickel]

You know skiing? Yeah. And snowboarding? Yeah. Well wakeboarding is like snowboarding on water. Oh Ok.
Thats how you describe wakeboarding to people in the UK.
I went to Speedo in the UK and the sponsorhip lady thought Liquid Force was some kind of energy drink. Lol

[DaveD]

the whole sponsorship thing is almost a catch 22 situation


if a company doesnt know or recognise the sport its not likely to sponsor someone in it

if they do know about it they aren't likely to sponsor someone as they know very few people know about the sport and are so unlikely to sponsor someone in it

thats why i suppose the only sponsorship about is stickers shoes shorts and boards but not alot of hard cash so sorry the two nick's


just look how difficult it has been for WUK to pick up sponsorship - oh no i've just opened another can of worms NM sorry again