Getting sponsorship for young riders??

[martelpypie]

Mountain biking is a very expensive sport as you all know. What do you do when you have a very talented boy or girl who is in the top 2 in their age category in cross country, and no bicycle company in SA will sponsor kids untill they are 16yrs +.  I have been told that in countries such as Canada etc, these talented riders receive special grants per months from their cycling control body, to ensure that they continue riding as they will become an asset to the country when they grow up.

Is this not the way to go to ensure that we have talent such as the Swiss, in the future?

 

[linnega]

What you are talking about is not sponsorship but development money.  Sponsorship implies that the sponsor is getting commercial benefit from the transaction.

 

Mountain biking is not that expensive if you buy a Giant Boulder.  Perfectly acceptable bike for racing.  I know people that have raced Giants Challenge with one. 

[Racer X]

What you are talking about is not sponsorship but development money.  Sponsorship implies that the sponsor is getting commercial benefit from the transaction.

Mountain biking is not that expensive if you buy a Giant Boulder.  Perfectly acceptable bike for racing.  I know people that have raced Giants Challenge with one. 

 

Shame poor bloke. I've done giants 4 times, its the only race I wish I had a soft tail for. Doing it on a Boulder.... nah. If I want the snip I'll go to my a doctor, less pain same result.

[martelpypie]

The problem is that you cant compete when you have a Toyoya 1.4 and your opposition ride with a  BMW 325 sport (heavy steel bike versus carbon with all the bells and whistles). Thats why it is expensive. Then you still have to attend races all over SA

[Racer X]

The problem is that you cant compete when you have a Toyoya 1.4 and your opposition ride with a  BMW 325 sport (heavy steel bike versus carbon with all the bells and whistles). Thats why it is expensive. Then you still have to attend races all over SA

 

What was the name of Lance Armstrong's first book again?

[martelpypie]

The issue is that we need to ensure that we have talent in the future, that can win medals at the world champs.How do we do that?

[Racer X]

So whats Burry doing now?

[martelpypie]

He is the only one that is doing exceptionally well for SA. The Swiss riders won medals in just about every age category

[Racer X]

I reckon that we are in the right track.

Lets look at it from 2000.

Since then:

- Greg Minnaar, mulitple WC wins

- Sifiso Nlapho - 1 of the worlds best BMXer's

- Burry Stander - Need I say more

- Cherise Taylor - Silver in 2007

- Andrew Neetling - Getting better every year

- John Lee Augusteen and Robbie Hunter - TDF, ring a bell

We'll get there.

[Bikalot]

The problem is that you cant compete when you have a Toyoya 1.4 and your opposition ride with a  BMW 325 sport (heavy steel bike versus carbon with all the bells and whistles). Thats why it is expensive. Then you still have to attend races all over SA

 

What was the name of Lance Armstrong's first book again?

 

lets be honest, a decent bike does help to a extent

 

martelpypie consider a mtb with a deore group set which is still reasonably priced and decent performance...

[martelpypie]

Ok Racer, I can see you have all the answers. But what happens if Burry gets injured or stop riding. Is it good enough to only have 1 top XC rider in the world?

We need a plan with our young riders to ensure we have many Burries in the pipeline

 

[Pilks]

Well we have more riders coming through the ranks that are more than capable to replace Burry. Such as Rouke Croeser

 

Back to the main topic. Do we want kids younger than 16 to have the pressures of sponsors and contracts while competing ? they are still developing and to identify talent at that age (younger than 16) is hard as the majority kids only really start riding at a serious level from 16. ?SO the supposed talent we have in the under 14 level may not be as talented as the kid who hasnt even discovered the sport yet. We would then be wasting money on the wrong kids.

 

[martelpypie]

Pilks I agree with you but the real competition for SA champion start as early as under 12. Then we should only have major competitions such as the SA XC cup series from perhaps 16yrs and up? I read somewhere that the Swiss only let their kids play around on the tracks at the young ages

[GT oke]

i think the kids should be getting a sponser when they are 16 and up, otherwise they will have to much stress on themselves and wont be riding for a long time!!

[buckstopper]

If there were restrictions on equipment for riders u16 and younger, making the sport more affordable to more people, there would be:

 

1. Less pressure on the youngsters to perform and provide wealthy parents with a return on their "investment". They would then be less likely to bomb out

 

2. Less pressure on parents who can't afford to provide top level equipment

 

3. Lower barriers to entry into top levels meaning more competition

 

4. The cream would more likely float to the top as weight is a bigger issue at lower power output levels

 

For example MTB - Limit weight to say 12kg, with no CF frames or disc brakes

 

For road - Limit weight to say 8.5kg, no wheels of more than say 34mm rims

 

For TT - Standard Road bikes as above  with clip-on TT bars, no DS or discs 

 

I don't believe that an u16 riding superior equipment would be a better bike rider in whatever discipline.

 

GT oke finish school, get the smarts. More training or sponsorship is not the answer - train smart and you'll race to your genetic ability, which is the single biggest determinant of just how far you'll go.

[Gman1834]

"For example MTB - Limit weight to say 12kg, with no CF frames or disc brakes"

 

My road bike fall into this Category.