I was talking to this guy(he looked about 40) and said he got his $120.00 swim suit from sponsers, I was wondering how I can get a sponser, or if I can even get a sponsers, what are the pro's and cons of having them, and what do I have to get one.
Before you start looking for sponsorship, let me give you a word of caution. Receiving money or products from a sponsor, MAY endanger your high school and college swimming eligibility. Before you talk to any vendors or potential sponsors you should talk to your coach or check with your athletic director.
For example, Michael Phelps chose to accept a ton of money and will now forego his remaining high school eligibility and will not be allowed to swim on a college team.
Now, back to your questions. Most sponsors provide products to athletes as a way of advertising. A simple example, Speedo gives suits to elite athletes so the suits can be seen on TV and when these athletes go back to their clubs other swimmers see these stars in their Speedos and ask their moms to get one for them. Also, Speedo can advertise that x% of the national champions wore Speedos.
What you need to do, is determine what value you provide for a sponsor, why should they sponsor you. Then find out which companies offer the products that you wish to wear/eat/drink/etc and get in contact with their marketing department. Also, you could talk to the 40-something guy with the free $120 suit and ask who his contact is and what he did to get it.
Hi JC, I don't know how old you are...so this may not pertain to you. But, as a business owner, I have "sponsored" a bike with my company name on it. this essentially is a tax write off for me--every bike race I have my company name on my bike, which can qualify as advertising.
This 40 something person may be a part of a team or something where a company is footing the bill for suits, and things like that, in exchange, the suits may have that company logo on it. For the company it's a way of advertising, and also a way to writing off expenses.
I'm guessing that it's not Speedo, or Gatorade or anybody like that sponsoring him--or the team that he's on. It's probably his company, or one of his team mates.
Similar things happen in softball--where a dry cleaner, or a bar will sponsor a team--they pay for the tournaments, and the players where the shirts of their sponsor's that say Greenies Bar, or something to that effect.
Perhaps if the 40 something is on a team, you could also be a part of it.
