sponsorship is weird. it’s very much the kind of thing where if you’re not enough without one, you’ll never be enough WITH one. a lot of people don’t get that and they rush into situations that aren’t a good fit. and then the issue is compounded because, since we tend to place a lot of importance on being sponsored, people don’t want to leave a situation even if it’s not working.
i’ve always been approached by the companies/people i’ve worked with. honestly, i’ve always been surprised to have been asked, which has been good because it’s helped me clarify expectations going in. your job (and it does feel like one) is to raise the profile of the company in a positive way. if you don’t have the interest or ability to do that, you’re not going to be worth the company’s attention. but if a company’s image, business practices, or expectations are not everything you would look for, they’re not worth YOUR attention. the second part is lost on a lot of players, especially the younger ones.
i’m not a competitor. i have competed, but that’s never been an expectation for my sponsors, which is unusual. our market is so small though that almost everyone who stands out in some way is potentially marketable. i mostly stood out for playing a lot of fixed axle, which is funny because the first 3 companies i worked with were really about selling metal yo-yo’s. from the beginning, my situation with spyy was about developing an interesting throw that i could use for my own responsive style, which became the flying v. it was a really awesome risk for him to take, as was allowing me to play fixed for a year and designing the eh for me. that was a really successful situation for me, because spyy wanted to actively encourage me to play the way i wanted to (which was way less popular in 2009). also, spyy built up a team full of players that were all unusual in some way and it felt like a perfect little xavier’s-school-for-gifted-youngsters kinda home. when a sponsorship feels like that, it’s a no-brainer.
after spyy folded and werrd asked about my joining them, that was 90% about me liking the team. they are just about the best people on the planet. but it all comes back to your yo-yoing, and a sponsorship can’t JUST be about the people. it became a grind to feel like the playing i was most interested in was not really possible with their products. i didn’t need to be sponsored at all, so i walked away, which you’ve gotta be able to do. it sucked because i have so many good friends on werrd, but they’re still my friends. my current situation with tom kuhn developed about a week after i left. that’s a company i’ve been enamored of since i started yo-yoing. it’s also a different situation because it’s not a “team” at all - it’s just about my connection with the products, the people who have made them, and the company’s super-cool history. it’s the most like a job of any arrangement i’ve had, but also the easiest for me to do because of the connection/investment.
anyway, apologies for the length. i really do think it’s important for beginning yo-yoers to be willing to HAVE a beginning (by which i mean 5 years or so where you’re figuring out your approach and how you really feel about yo-yoing). trying to go from 0-sponsored as quickly as possible is counterproductive, because then you GET sponsored and you realize that yo-yoing was never really just about FUN for you. it was just a scramble to get something, and you have none of that joy to draw from when you’re trying to rep a brand. getting sponsored is really nice, but don’t lose sight of what you’re being sponsored to DO, which is play with a toy and make it look fun.
