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Old 06-05-08, 11:29 AM   #1
Luckypants
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Default Help My Daughter Defend her European title

Hi Guys

This is a pretty shameless plug, but in July this year my daughter is going to Spain to defend her title as European Freestyle Kayak Champion. There is no money in competitive kayaking unless you are American. Representing our country costs each athlete a lot of money every year, often in excess of £4000. Very little is subsidised and there is very little (if any) national funding available for freestyle kayaking as it is not an Olympic Sport.

I am not expecting you all to dig into your pockets and immediately take pity (there are far greater causes in the World) but please take a moment to read this post on my daughter's blog for more details on how you could help! In particular any leads on gaining corporate or charitable sponsorship to assist with costs would be appreciated.

http://www.lowridavies.co.uk/?p=348

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
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Old 06-05-08, 11:53 AM   #2
xXBADGERXx
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

I`ll chuck ya some money when we meet up for NW3.5 mate . It`ll probably be enough to buy her a Dr Pepper and a Twix at the airport , but it all helps I suppose
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Old 06-05-08, 12:44 PM   #3
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I know when I last spoke to Lowri we discussed the lack of grants and I know she`s tried just about every avenue she can think of. Is such a shame that her success, dedication and ambition doesn`t get the recognition it deserves. Fingers crossed somebody here will come up with an idea for grants or sponsorship.
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Old 06-05-08, 01:00 PM   #4
timwilky
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

I used to compete in a minority sport at national level. It was assumed by governing bodies that you did it for the love of the sport, not as a career. Even though you had England on your back, you had to fund your own equipment/travel and hope you had a supportive employer.

I do feel strongly that the uk sports councils etc. Lack the guts to demand that the country (government) adequately supports its athletes in all disciplines instead of wasting billions on showcase projects that benefit a small percentage of the nations sportsmen. A roots up approach instead of supporting the elitist few. Maybe it would encourage more kids off their backsides if good facilities/coaching etc existed in all communities
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Old 06-05-08, 01:07 PM   #5
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

Hear hear Tim! elite athlete funding for Olympic sports is pretty good, they can afford to train pretty much full time. However, if your sport is not an Olympic event, forget it! This is one reason why tennis and rugby were so keen to get their sports into the Olympics as soon as possible after the professional sports were allowed to compete, it allows access to Lottery funding for the new talent to feed the professional ranks.

Of course the big bucks will always be with a big name sponsor who gets a good return from using your name and Lowri won't make any money from competing, but if we can find a way to make this more affordable for her this would be great.
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Old 06-05-08, 02:36 PM   #6
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

has she considered approaching some of the energy drinks companies?? redbull, rockstar, relentless.... surely she may be good advertising for them, freestyle is a bit more extreme the type of event they like to sponsor. or try for companies that are more likely to be interested in her type of sport like outdoor companies/ extreme sports

i used to compete in slalom (with graemeapaterson) and there is more funding availible as its an olympic sport, but trying to get any form of personal sponsorship is very hard. especially ones with decent financial contributions.

i dont know what its like in wales but in scotland we have brilliant area institutes of sport. these work one level below the scottish institute with a decent bit of crossover. up here they select young athletes to support and help progress in their sport. for example they used to help provide us with access to gyms, physio, coaches etc... for free. i think some other sports were able to get funding to organise trips/travel to events. now being european champ i'm pretty sure lowri should at least be taken into consideration for these sort of things.
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Old 06-05-08, 03:30 PM   #7
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

Yes that has been looked at. Redbull are a problem as they sponsor the Dagger Pro Team - Lowri paddles a Jackson All-Star (sponsored by Square Rock the UK importer). Also these companies seem to prefer to sponsor events rather than an individual in the UK. Will double check to see if any of these companies might be a way forward though, many thanks.

WRT access to facilities, the WCA, Lowri's Uni and Ceredigion CC have been very helpful. Basically it's the cash to get out to Spain and train on the feature for a couple of weeks before the event that she is desperate for. When she won the title she trained at HPP for three weeks before the event and so was fully prepared for pretty much any water conditions. She lived on beans etc and camped by the course for that time supported by sponsorship from her mum's firm, the bank of mum and dad and money she had made as a raft guide. Unfortunately the bank of mum and dad are not able to support her quite so much these days and previous sponsorship deals have run out (but under negotiation).
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Old 06-05-08, 03:44 PM   #8
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Default Re: Help My Daughter Defend her European title

Sponsorships are a real pain in the **** to get, although I'm suprised Lowri is struggling to get some high profile ones given her profile .

I started off writing to local businesses and included local/national press cuttings which included a sponsors bit thanking current sponsors etc. I used to get about £1750 a year from several companies normally contributing £250 - £500 each.

I then had a main sponsor which was YAK when they were a big well known brand (although they still are to be fair but more commonly known as Crewsaver in sailing), they used to provide me with about £5k's worth of equipment, some of which was useful, but some of it was so heavy duty it was useless for slalom so they just wanted a picture of me in it then I could sell it on.

Try the smaller, lesser known drink brands like Relentless or even bigger ones like VK etc......several slalom paddlers now have sponsorship through car manufacturer, granted not brilliant ones (Skoda, Proton, etc) but thats another route to try, but for vans Maybe?

Fortunately with slalom having olympic status, grants and lottery money came in all over the place as well through Sport England and World Class Performance .

Last edited by G; 06-05-08 at 03:55 PM.
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Old 06-05-08, 03:48 PM   #9
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Ill sort you out with some dosh at the NW3.5 Mike, has she been in touch with sportsbank ? if not Ill get me missus to get you the details, our first grant with then was for £9000, for this lot http://www.cheshirecadets.org/. you never know your luck, but its not an overnight thing and could take months.
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Old 06-05-08, 03:52 PM   #10
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Sorry its actually called sponsorbank not sportsbank
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