World Tours

[Josedariom]

Many fencers from Puerto Rico are trying to travel the World Cup, Grand Priz circuit in an attempt to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Olympic Commitee has limited resources and can obviously not send all these fencers. I was wondering if anyone here knows of individual athletes that have had their world tours sponsored or have received endorsements from private companies in the form of discounts on airfare, free equipment, etc. If so, how did you go about this process and what recomendations do you have for someone anxious to travel the circuit but with limited funds and small amounts of help from the national federation and olympic commitee?

[eac]

Even the Italians, the best in the world (by rankings in Junior and Senior) in men's foil, have difficulty securing enough sponsorship money to train enough and travel enough-- I have heard that Sanzo, for instance, is a lawyer as well as a world contender. I suspect that barring government support, it's a hard problem, particularly if you don't live in Europe where fencing is higher-profile.

[Craig]

It's marketing - show them what's in it for them to contribute and support the fencer. If you are getting these benefits from a corporation, what benefit does it provide back to the corporation?

There are some documents on the Canadian fencing site (Canadian Fencing Federation / Federation d'escrime canadienne) that go over sponsorship and approaching sponsors.

Now is the time to get your presentation together and start making connections. December and January is when the marketing budgets get fully baked. If you're not on their radar by mid January, you shouldn't expect to get any funding in 2007.

Craig

[Li'l Bebe]

I'm buds with a guy with sponsor/athlete experience and he gave me some really good advice for getting funding.

There's essentaily two ways to go about sponsorship, either through private donations from individuals, or corporate donations from companies, and there are pro's and con's for each.

If you go the private route, you basically write letters to anyone you know with money or connections saying "be a part of my dream." It's generally a good idea to break up the amount. Say you need $12,000 for all the tournament expenses for a year. Go to 12 rich people or small companies, and say "would you be willing to donate $100 a month to help me reach my dream?" and before you know it, badda bing badda boom, you have $12,000 (assuming you manage to find 10 people). They get a nice tax write off, and get the warm fuzzies of helping somebody. Besides, who hasn't dreamed of learning to "sword fight"?

The corporate route is a bit more tricky as far as fencing goes because of our lack of ways to advertise. This would also be a great time to "divide and conquer" by requesting smaller amounts from many companies. Create a strong marketing plan estimating how many people, including fencers, friends, coaches, parents, referees, and bout committe members would be at each tournament, and how many tournaments you'll go to. This shows the different exposures to their product. Inform them of what advertising is allowed. (I'm not sure about international, but probably just whatever's on your warm-ups and bag, perhaps a patch on the arm). Also offer to pursue newspaper articles about your World Cup tournaments, and to use their company stationary.

Don't be afraid to tell people about your dreams. You'll be amazed how generous people can be in trying to help you achieve excellence if you just tell them about it.

[jjefferies]

Originally Posted by Li'l Bebe

I'm buds with a guy with sponsor/athlete experience and he gave me some really good advice for getting funding.
:deleted material

If you go the private route, you basically write letters to anyone you know with money or connections saying "be a part of my dream." It's generally a good idea to break up the amount. Say you need $12,000 for all the tournament expenses for a year. Go to 12 rich people or small companies, and say "would you be willing to donate $100 a month to help me reach my dream?" and before you know it, badda bing badda boom, you have $12,000 (assuming you manage to find 10 people). They get a nice tax write off, and get the warm fuzzies of helping somebody. Besides, who hasn't dreamed of learning to "sword fight"?
: deleted material
.

Include in your assumption, "they get a nice tax write off", the very necessary step of the fencer or their club creating a non-profit entity that can accept the money and provide the credentials for the donor to receive the tax writeoff. Otherwise they're out a tax write off.

[oiuyt]

FIE Publicity Code

Originally Posted by FIE publicity code

CHAPTER III. INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT

A. Principle
A fencer may bind himself contractually to a firm or an institution capable of helping him - including financially - in his preparation, but only with the specific written agreement of his federation.

B. Restrictions
The contract may only relate to the use of the image of a fencer. In particular, it may not contain any provision relating to the method of training of a fencer, or to the choice of competitions in which he fences. To be approved by the national federation concerned, the contract must expressly mention that the demands of the federation or of the club take priority systematically and in all circumstances over those of the firm or the institution with whom he has signed the contract.
It is obligatory that any sums of money intended for the fencer must pass through the hands of the national federation.

Also note JJefferies's point above.

And for those considering pursuing NCAA participation you need to be EXTREMELY careful to maintain amateur status. Endorsement deals, such as described by Li'l Bebe almost certainly would end those hopes.

With the active assistance of the NGB and proper care it is possible to do thing like this, but go into it eyes open and watch for the i's to be dotted and the t's to be crossed. It's also not likely to be particularly easy.

-B

[Josedariom]

Thak you so much for your comments guys, they have been extremely helpful. Do you think any small fencing companies would take a risk on something like this to get international exposure at World Cups or is that a little idealistic?


And by chance to any of you know when the qualifyng for the enxt Olympics start because the FIE site denotes when it ends but not its official start.

Thanks in advance

[HDG]

This is a very naive question, but does Puerto Rico get to field Olympic teams though they're not a country?

[oiuyt]

PR had 44 athletes in Athens.

You might remember their basketball team embarassing the US team in the opener.

They compete as an independent nation. PR athletes may compete on either the PR or US team.

-B

[Army Fencer]

Originally Posted by Josedariom

And by chance to any of you know when the qualifyng for the enxt Olympics start because the FIE site denotes when it ends but not its official start.

Thanks in advance

The race starts in May with the Paris Grand Prix.

[HDG]

Originally Posted by oiuyt

PR had 44 athletes in Athens.
They compete as an independent nation. PR athletes may compete on either the PR or US team.

This is really interesting; are there other non-state entities that field Olympic teams?

[Josedariom]

No idea. I know that Puerto Rico has fieleded many great teams and many great Puerto Rcian athletes have competed for US for one reason or another.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by HDG

This is really interesting; are there other non-state entities that field Olympic teams?

According to:
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_283.pdf

The XIX Winter Games of SL City had Olympic flag bearers from:

• Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (disputed state)
  Hong Kong, China (part of other independent country)

For the 2004 Summer Games, there were competitors from:

* American Samoa (unincorporated U.S. territory)
* Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
* British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory)
* Cayman Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom)
* Chinese Taipei (disputed state)
* Guam (organized unincorporated territory of the United States)
* Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)
* FYR Macedonia (Not complete nationhood at the time)
* Netherlands Antilles (autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
* Palestinian Authority (interim administrative organization)
* Puerto Rico (United States territory with Commonwealth status)
* Virgin Islands (insular area of the United States)

A few of those got medals.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[HDG]

Originally Posted by PeterGustafsson

Hi!




According to:
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_283.pdf

The XIX Winter Games of SL City had Olympic flag bearers from:

• Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (disputed state)
  Hong Kong, China (part of other independent country)

For the 2004 Summer Games, there were competitors from:

* American Samoa (unincorporated U.S. territory)
* Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
* British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory)
* Cayman Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom)
* Chinese Taipei (disputed state)
* Guam (organized unincorporated territory of the United States)
* Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)
* FYR Macedonia (Not complete nationhood at the time)
* Netherlands Antilles (autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
* Palestinian Authority (interim administrative organization)
* Puerto Rico (United States territory with Commonwealth status)
* Virgin Islands (insular area of the United States)

Peter Gustafsson

Thank you very much for this Peter; I'm a professor of International Law, and I'm beginning to think that there is an interesting article in all of this.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by HDG

Thank you very much for this Peter; I'm a professor of International Law, and I'm beginning to think that there is an interesting article in all of this.

In that case, it might be of interest that the Faroes Islands have competed in several qualification rounds to the men´s Soccer World and European Cup. Greenland has at least once made it to the final round of the team Handball World Cup, knocking out USA in the qualification. In the Commonwealth games, Sark and the other Channel Islands have competed as separate entities.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson