i've just got into my local team and i am looking for sponsorship from badminton manufacturers and was hoping that someone could help me in terms of how to pursue these opportunities i heard that new manufacturers trying to make a name for themselves usually give a 80 to 90% discount on their rackets
Depends what you mean by local team. How good is the team in relative terms? You could ask other people who get cheaper racquets for the contacts and also judge your standard by theirs.
where are you located? generally a team will not get a sponsorship, unless the team is registered with the local governing body of badminton, and is dedicated to competitive play throughout the entire badminton season in competition, not just inter-school competition. There are different criteria which companies like Yonex look for when sponsoring players. Also smaller companies I have known have given away free equipment to their sponsored players, and recoup the costs through their pricing to the public. If the individual shows a lot of promise, and wishes to carry on with the sport, and shows a lot of dedication with promoting badminton and what not, then the sponsor will determine what level of sponsorship to give the player. some get the goods at wholesale cost. some get the goods at a certain percentage below wholesale cost, and some get full sponsorships and get free goods, and some like the pros get paid to use the goods. most times with the pros they get free goods, and then the rest would have to pay, but they would not have to pay much at all for their goods. not sure if any of this babbling helped. but if you're seeking sponsorship yourself. I suggest updating your resume, and submitting it to one of the large manufacturers... if your entire school team is looking for a discount, I know that Yonex does offer such discounts, but i'm not really sure of the specifics... you'll have to enquire yourself, depending on where you are located. hope this helps.
thats some good advice there Kelvin i'm based in england and the university team i play for is in the British Universities Sports Association league. we play against other universities. what i need is contact information of manufacturers. if u can give me some info i would be most grateful. i am interested in sponsorship for myself and not the whole team
If it's manufacturer contact info you'd like, why don't you try the internet? For instance, www.yonex.com is an easy door which would allow for you to contact them. Black knight maybe? That would be easy. At first guess it'd be www.blackknight.com. Let me check. Oh, it's http://www.blackknight.ca, close enough though. If you want to contact any other company, just don't shy, get up and request a sponsorship, go in for an interview, get your sponsorship, if you work hard and show this to them, they'll have to give you one. Good luck in your pursuit. Dave ;o)
Depends which University you play for.... I don't know what it's like now but Loughborough, Leeds, Nottingham were the traditional heavyweights in badminton. Some of those guys would be England squad/county level so if you are up in that category, finding a sponsor shouldn't be a problem. You could always ask those other highly rated players for contacts. Perhaps BAofE could help.