Once you have developed your skills as a skateboarder, you may want to consider developing a team. This is a great way to get a sponsorship, especially if you already have sponsors. Building a team will not only earn you more respect as a skateboarder, but it will provide more opportunities for sponsorship in the future. To get started on creating a skate team, read these steps and tips.
Purpose – Before you even think about forming a team, think about the purpose. Your team should represent something significant, it should stand out from the crowd. You want your team to feel alive, as if you’re skating for a reason, a purpose that is well expressed through your team. Remember, skateboarding is about expressing yourself, not following others, so feel free to let loose! Be creative, and clever.
Team or Product? – Now when I say team or product, I mean understand if you want your team to be a dedicated skate crew, with no product or do you want to be a product such as bearings, grip tape, decks, and recruit a team? The first option is easier, it gives you more freedom in a sense.
Recruit – If you just want to have a skate team, and no product, the first step is to simply recruit skateboarders. Ask around your local skate-park including your friends if they would like to be a part of your team. Once you have a couple of people who want to be on the team, the next step is to make sure they will stay committed. Sometimes your friends won’t always feel like participating, or skateboarding period. However, when this happens on a daily basis, this could indicate that they are not committed to your team. So make sure your friends are committed.
Design an original, creative logo – Have a gathering between you and friends and decide on an original logo. Do not use logos already designed because you could get sued for this, but instead design your own. You may want to even get a patent on it, that way no one can steal your idea. Draw up some unique designs and have your team review them over time, decide on which one you think is best. Once you have gotten your design down, decide on a team name, and create a facebook page for your team. You could even get your own personal logo printed on a couple of shirts.
Networking – Networking is the key to success. Facebook is really popular these days and it is a great way to get your team noticed. Create a facebook for your team, include all members and their pictures. Have everyone write small biographies of themselves, personality matters in the skateboarding business just as much as skill. Post videos of your team often, take pictures as well. Facebook offers a lot of sponsor pages, so all you have to do is simply go to these pages and “like” them. Whatever sponsorship page you like will show up in your news feed and you are able to post to their wall easily. Everyone has a facebook these days, companies like McDonald’s, Wal-mart and Target all have pages. Because so many corporate companies have a facebook, it is easy to find a sponsor you want.
Finally, just skate – Just go out and skate with your team as often as you can, eventually you will get noticed. It takes time and patience, and most importantly, persistence. Keep skating!