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Make sure the trackside vendor is carrying it?
How about keeping in touch with your sponsors on a regular basis with your results?
Seems the only time we hear from anyone is when they want something.
Does the Germany trip come with free beer?
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The biggest thing in our sport is don't burn bridges. Fulfill all your obligations to your sponsors. We see this a bunch on the pro level. I think that stems from another topic on here to amateur parents. They should be stressing to their kids the importance on follow through.
I have seen some of the most marketable people in our area not always the best guy. We have a guy around here who always had good sponsors. He gets lots of free products and other perks as well. With that though his bikes, vehicles and himself are always the best looking at the track. People notice that stuff. Even if your mid pack people notice others who are well put together.
I worked with FMX riders for years. Those guys can benefit with sponsors a lot more than a racer. I would stress to them about making themselves more marketable. If Adam Cianciarulo wasn't as fast as he is, I believe he would still be getting the help he is just more marketable than everyone else out there. Very personable, polite, and approachable are the keys to getting sponsors.
Just my 2 cents. Sorry for the long rant. Hope this helps as its from my experience.
You're kidding, right?
You know all those riders people say "never get a break" or are "overlooked" or question why someone else is chosen over that guy...might be because of backstage bonfires all over the place.
Small industry
People talk
Translates to about a month, in posting time alone.
You must be so knowledgeable.
Is that too much? Not in any way.
I can speak from past experience. My son was a top amateur from the time he was 8 until he turned pro. It's a shit load of pressure on an a kid that is nothing more than a baby. These kids are expected to win against the best in the country, and they know this, and it's a shit load of pressure. I have seen the look of not only my son's eyes, but other kids that were in the same boat. That look carried on through out many years (6 - 8, 60cc) all the way up until the day he turned into an AMA pro, and it's a big load to for a kid to carry. Now that I am older and wiser, I look back and wish that I had never put my son through it. Luckily, he's adjusted well when his world came crashing in, when the pro class didn't pan out as planned, and he's doing well in the real world.
It's a shit load of pressure for a very young child to deal with.
Who put the pressure on and about what jmar? Was your kid fighting for his life? Was your kids results in those days the difference between eating and not eating? How did the "pressure" to ride a freaking dirtbike develop? But seriously, pressure? Sorry but, that's Bullshit. A 18 yo holding a rifle in Iraq has pressure. Your boy sitting on a starting gate at an MX race, not so much.
Dave and MotoHose guy (and MotoHose, the fact that some dipshit would want their 5 yo to be associated with the skank image you have so proudly developed for your company is beyond me) I would prefer sponsors saved their money and just keep the prices of your product down. How many parents would think to contact Riddell or Schutt about a free helmet for their little gridiron star? Or Douglas about pads. Ya, I'm sure UnderArmor would be interested in making sure that your pee wee hockey player is decked out in their sweet gear... The stupidity just goes on and on. The problem that this sport suffers from is everyone expects to be sponsored. Everyone thinks they are the next big thing.
If you don't understand that, I can't help you. As I said, if I had it to do all over again, I would have done things differently. I would have never let my son come under that type of pressure.
BTW: This isn't just my son. It's all of those who are expected to win. I have seen it with my own eyes and it's a lot of pressure.
That's way to much pressure for a young kid, and if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have let him sign that deal and feel that pressure.
We all learn life's lessons as we go on.
Pit Row
Me, I left to ride Moto.
I left a Free-Ride (Same as a "Sponsorship" in this case).
Go figure...
He was a smart kid. And that was the difference when he didn't make it in racing.
A "really good" rider is right below the reward, close enough to see it, but one screw-up away from never tasting it. Most try too hard and injure thenselves. It is probably much more frustrating than having little or no talent and just having a good time.
so very true...
If you look at the current crop of pro's most have been factory riders since they were young. That's a lot of pressure on youngsters and then of course you have the kids trying there ass off to get on those amateurs teams since there parents desperately need the financial support.
The system sucks in my opinion, contingency and support should given to A riders or maybe have a pro-am series where the factories can recruit their next team riders from and let the young kids race for fun.
I know we probably don't deserve any of the sponsors we have but we do to try to promote them. I built a website for my son and and trailer graphics made up to do what we can to help the guys that help us.
Nobody will ever be able to take away the time I have been able to spend with my son the past year and to me that is the most important thing in life.
I was ,one of those mini dads ,makin the kids cry ,lookin for results and it made it worse to the point where my son had issues elswhere in school etc..
Through counseling i learned the value of self esteeem and confidence in atletes abroad .There is no greater skill you can instill in a racer or child athlete than confidence in itself .
We returned one race ,and as we stood on the line i said to my son ,''bud just go have fun''.......he looked at me like i had two heads and said ''you don't care where i finish'' and i said nope just have fun .He went on to finish 9th[usually a 20-30th rider] and when he came in with the biggest smile on his face, it was then that i realized why we had started racing .................because it was fun
I coach soccer and hockey as well as we still ride occasionally and i have found a pat on the back works ten-fold over the pressure to succeed yellin and screamin .
Maybe some other dads will try this and realize as well
I have read posts where the parents say they would be happy if their kid made lorettas. That is fine the first time, but after a couple of years of kicking out big cash to sweat in the Tennessee heat, it gets old. So then it is training, riding schools, competitve mod bikes, and committment from both the rider and the parents.
thatdad has been there because he reflects what I see amongst our riding friends. My son has a ton of fun and can ride with these kids. But those families have no other life than motocross, I'm not going "that far" down the road.
I won't put that kind of pressure on my kid, it was hard enough for me laying in the dirt alongside him yesterday. Took a bad one after the frame broke on our 5 year old bike and was laying there still asking when the ambulance was going to get here. After 6 years of this THAT day came upon us and it creates a lot of doubt if you should be allowing your kid to do this.
The only thing that made me feel good was the compliments from the medical staff on all the safety gear the kid was wearing. That RXR may not look cool but falling from 20' onto hard pack clay right on his back and hip made it worth it.
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