Jonah Williams SuperUnknown Winner

[Mr.Bishop]

So true. I feel like kids on this site would have their minds blown if they knew the levels of support that some of these people get.

I think the problem is the lack of understanding of what the different levels of "Sponsorship" really mean. The perception of the average person is that you go from unsponsored to pro the second you land your first company.

However, the reality of the situation is that its more like this -

1. Local rep/shop gives you some gear. You are now sponsored, but still bigtime AM. Even if you ride for Salomon, you're still mega am as its just the local rep who cares you're alive.

2. Company X puts you on Flow team. You are now further up, getting product directly from company and maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of travel. Most things you still travel on your own dime. You are still bigtime AM, though maybe a little less so.

3. Company X puts you on pro team with contract. You now get paid to ski, get travel budget, incentives, they pay to put you in movies, buy ads with your photos. Now - and only now - are you pro.

It used to be that only the pro guys got exposure, but in the days of making a name for yourself on Newschoolers and through other means of social media - this line has gotten much harder for an average person to understand.

Hell, I barely understood this back in my athlete days. When the local Head rep told me I was 'Sponsored' I thought I had made it. Only later in life have I understood its a much longer climb, and there's very little information out there for an average guy to understand how complicated it is.

I mean its not like Saga is going to hype up one of their Am riders (just using you guys as an example) yet state "Oh by the way, this kid is sick - but he's am as fuck so don't worry we aren't paying him." Pretty easy if you ask me to make the perceptional error.

So for anyone out there reading this - just remember there is a very long climb between being a 'sponsored rider' and being a professional athlete.

 

[Saga.]

I think the problem is the lack of understanding of what the different levels of "Sponsorship" really mean. The perception of the average person is that you go from unsponsored to pro the second you land your first company.

However, the reality of the situation is that its more like this -

1. Local rep/shop gives you some gear. You are now sponsored, but still bigtime AM. Even if you ride for Salomon, you're still mega am as its just the local rep who cares you're alive.

2. Company X puts you on Flow team. You are now further up, getting product directly from company and maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of travel. Most things you still travel on your own dime. You are still bigtime AM, though maybe a little less so.

3. Company X puts you on pro team with contract. You now get paid to ski, get travel budget, incentives, they pay to put you in movies, buy ads with your photos. Now - and only now - are you pro.

It used to be that only the pro guys got exposure, but in the days of making a name for yourself on Newschoolers and through other means of social media - this line has gotten much harder for an average person to understand.

Hell, I barely understood this back in my athlete days. When the local Head rep told me I was 'Sponsored' I thought I had made it. Only later in life have I understood its a much longer climb, and there's very little information out there for an average guy to understand how complicated it is.

I mean its not like Saga is going to hype up one of their Am riders (just using you guys as an example) yet state "Oh by the way, this kid is sick - but he's am as fuck so don't worry we aren't paying him." Pretty easy if you ask me to make the perceptional error.

So for anyone out there reading this - just remember there is a very long climb between being a 'sponsored rider' and being a professional athlete.

Great post. And even then you have some brands like us who don't have reps. For better or worse all of our sponsored riders go directly through our tm. It's good in the sense that we have a direct connection with every single person we support. And it gives the rider a strong tie to the brand. But it can be bad in the sense that the rider may get false hopes of grandeur initially. And dealing with close to 100 riders can be taxing.

 

[Mr.Bishop]

Great post. And even then you have some brands like us who don't have reps. For better or worse all of our sponsored riders go directly through our tm. It's good in the sense that we have a direct connection with every single person we support. And it gives the rider a strong tie to the brand. But it can be bad in the sense that the rider may get false hopes of grandeur initially. And dealing with close to 100 riders can be taxing.

Ouch dude, 100 riders? Damn... that is nuts. I hadn't thought about the angle of companies that don't have a rep force (duh).

I know that some riders might think bigger than what it is - but the main thing is the public perception I think. Nobody out there has insight into what kind of deal they get, so its super easy to think of someone as officially now 'pro' when they got one jacket from you and are now 'on the team'. Sure they're on the team, but for the purposes of a contest like Superunknown, they have not even come close to being too 'known' to get into this contest.

Coaching is another misperception I believe. Coaching at camps sure is a cool gig, but there's coaches who are there because they're talented skiers who can coach, and there's coaches that are there as mega pros / guest athletes. There's the same type of divide as we were talking about with a company's team.