....infact I know of some that haven't attended their first big game but go out of their way to gain such sponsorship or support deals.
I know exactly what you mean Craig. You and I both know that most of this 'supported by' and 'sponsored by' is mostly old tosh.
We know there are only a few teams that have sponsorships that are really worth anything.
We've personally avoided all this chasing support stuff as we know it's worth nothing really. We can get enough discounts just through numbers and buying power.
As a team, we've been offered stuff before and turned it down and had the people involved look at us as if we were out of our minds!
However, at some point an offer will emerge that is worth seriously thinking about and those are the ones that matter.
As far as the sup-air teams go I think the main issue is the fact of competing in small numbers. In the scenario side we often see the bigger teams taking new comers under their wings and letting them run alongside them at games. Sometimes these people get invited to apply to teams after some prolonged association if they are good enough.
Maybe the sup-air side should do more of this to encourage new players to to tag alongside an established team and train with them. It will give them an opportunity to get known in the community and meet different people.
The club first, team emerging idea sounds particularly good. Maybe some kind of system in club training where every guy works for their place in a training league table to make the main team. That's how a lot of squash teams work.
Not sure how you guys work the sup-air side but the scenario works more for most like the social side comes first and the game is a bonus.
