INT// John Schwartz from Vengeance Clothing
Company: Vengeance Clothing Ltd.
Athlete Support Manager: John Schwartz
Accepting Sponsorship: All Year
Sports: All Sports
Spots Available: 25
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Tell us about your sponsorship program:
We are always looking for good athletes. We look for people who are passionate about their sport and also always looking to improve. We try to find people who we think will represent us well at all times.
Is there anything unique about your program? Why would someone want to be a part of it?
We pride ourselves in our personal service. We do not just send out the same cookie cutter replies and responses to everyone. We answer every e-mail, message and comment personally. We offer a great deal of room for the athlete to grow as we grow. The more the athletes help us and scratch our back, we scratch theirs!
What do you look for in a sponsored athlete or team?
Someone with good video always will catch our eye. People who are hard working and have a drive to improve. If you have a ton of sponsors already, we usually try to see if that person does well representing all those sponsors or if they just want to say they have a ton of sponsors. If you compete that is also a plus.
What is the most important information for someone to include in their application?
Definately a solid video. Pretty much any sponsor will tell you that. On top of that, we look for people who are actively competiting or praticing / training.
What is the most important thing for people to understand about sponsorship?
A sponsorship should work both ways, you should look to help your sponsor and your sponsor should look to help you. If you are not getting that on either end, then it usually won't work out. Sponsorship is not just about free stuff or discounts. It is a sponsorship not a freeride for either side (well most of time!). It should be a working relationship on both ends. You work hard for your sponsor and your sponsor should work hard for you on more ends then just merchandise.
Every company has a different method for how often they review applications. Do you have a methodology or schedule?
We try to do it weekly, which gets somewhat hard, so realistically, it generally takes about 2 weeks to get a turn around on things. The best way to go about things with us is to submit an application, then follow up a few days later if you haven't heard anything.
Has the internet changed the way you manage your sponsorship program or your sponsored athletes? If so, how?
Well we built a great core of athletes around people we have met off the internet. It is also much easier to check out an athlete, for things like video and photos.
Tell us about your newest or most exciting product for this / next year:
The Vengeance Hoodie!