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This article will focus on high performance athletes seeking a corporate sponsor for financial aid or even free running gear. For high school athletes, getting an Athletic Track and Field scholarship would be ideal.
Obtaining a corporate sponsor is the same as looking for a job, or what I call “trading time for money”. For example, I show up 40 hours a week at an office, and I get paid every 2 weeks. So the best and traditional approach is the resume. Work resumes are usually 2 pages (never more) but for an Athletic resume, a simple one page will suffice.
Unless you have stunning good looks, I would avoid a photo. Performances, rankings and medals are more important to highlight.
A good example is Australia’s Fiona Cullen Resume. (PDF file, created pre-Beijing 2008)
It’s a single one page resume with all the career highlights. No photo.
Like a work resume, you list your achievements in chronological order. Wind aided performances okay (but please note them!). Add any Youtube videos if possible, but only if they are high quality or HQ in quality.
In short, it’s YOUR work resume. But most of all, make sure everything is accurate!
You can even “answer” some interview questions like: Proudest Moment, Life Goals, Best Sporting Moment, “How would you like to be remembered?”
As well, you should show the qualities of a well rounded person, so any charity or volunteer work should be listed. Character, charisma, and marketability goes a long way.
You don’t need a fancy website (see How to Setup a Blog or Start a Website for under $7 ). Get a free WordPress account, register your domain name, and point your domain to the WordPress blog.
The Olympian
There is one gray area, however, and that’s the term “Olympian”.
If you were selected on the Olympic Team (by place at the Trials or by committee), but didn’t step foot at the Olympics due to injury or Boycott, should you write down the term “Olympian” ? You can clearly say “Member of National team” or “Member of 1980 Olympic team”. But to some people, the term “Olympian” means setting foot at the Olympic Ceremonies and taking part of the preliminary rounds of your your event.
This applies to the 6 member relay pool for the 4x100m and 4x400m. You’re selected, you go, you practice handoffs, but watch the races from the stands (I could name a few… )
Everyone will have their interpretation of Olympian. Just don’t mislead the corporate sponsors.
Jimson Lee
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Hello Jim,
Thank you for the writing, heaps of cool information in there it helps me too much!!
All I want you to do is set a personal best!