Athletics, Organized and Such

A little Rowdy history of athletics, competition and sponsorship.

I wrestled in 8th grade, I did awesome in practice and got crushed in matches. I learned I liked grappling stuff but I just wasn't ready for it at that time. This is the first time I exerted myself soo much that I fainted while running.

(if you don't puke, pass out or die, keep going!)

Also starting in 8th grade I played tennis. All the way through my senior year when I quit the team right before the end of the season, for a stupid reason I can't even remember now. In college I also played club and league tennis for a year.

For high school graduation I bought myself my first mountain bike. So of course I started racing it. Then I got a job at a bike shop. Then I rode and raced more. Then I started getting parts for free. But I stopped. Changes in life and school.

I started rock climbing. I became a president of a rock climbing club. I taught rock climbing. I wrote articles that were published in climbing papers and news letters. All of my friends were from climbing, male and female. I mentored 3 kids for a senior project about climbing. I wrote a guidebook for the local area as a 33 page paper for a technical writing class in college. And then I moved to where there was no climbing.

But I found brazilian jiu jitsu. And you know the 5 or 6 year story there. Medals on the national level. One trip to the world championships, Mundials, losing to a guy who has won them three times now. Got free private lessons, free t-shirts, extra attention, free patches, my picture here and there. That sort of thing.

Then back into bike racing. Won two local Super D championships. Started working at a bike shop again. Tons of medals. Free stuff. Actual sponsorships for tires and some other things. But then the schedule of the season changed and I couldn't do it as much. Then one series folded Super D. Time to move on....To BMX bike racing. A concussion and not a single trip to the main, I decided that was enough bike racing.

So here I am now shooting competitively. It is athletic, but in a different way. I'm competing often. And as happened in the pedal bike and jiu jitsu world, people are starting to know me. People I don't know. A shooting instruction company here in the area just gave me tons of free targets and some ammunition. And a hat, saying "You're a good shooter, please wear this for us." A local Master class shooter who works in the industry has taken the time to mentor me in my practice specifically for IDPA.

Which got me to thinking..... I probably talk to at least 300 people a month at these shooting competitions. I have the ability to make essentially what is a face to face sales pitch for any company 300 times a month. To a group of people who aren't afraid to spend money. Meaning, I need to start working on my sponsorship proposal package. It's time to turn my name, reputation, charm and competition results into free ammo, training, entry fees and clothes.