Some of you may have noticed in other posts of mine, about my daughter and her bmx racing. She is currently sitting #4 in the Nation in her age group, #1 amongst ALL girls in our district, yada yada yada.

Needless to say, getting her to the level she competes at takes money, and lots of it. She is always traveling, and has attending a 3 month sports performance program, which I had to pay for all of it. She has a Factory sponsorship, but for now, that sponsorship is extended to discounts on parts/equipment only. The team does not have the money to pay entry fees, travel expenses, etc.

To pay for all that stuff, I work two part time jobs, one of which is Friday and Saturday nites. Which means, I never get to go see her race.

Well, at her request (she never asks, as she is smart enuff to know where the money comes from), I took tonite off, and rode to Blue Springs Mo, to watch her races. In her class (girls her age) she got 2nd. In the mixed open event (9-10 yr old girls and BOYS), she took 3rd. Not too shabby. After races we went out to eat, and had a good time.

Now......only a 15% chance of rain, and not a freakin cloud in the sky when I left, so didn't bring the full face helmet. Just my shorty. Lucky me, I had my rainsuit in the bottom of the saddlebag. I got about 1/2 mile from the restaurant when the gates of hell opened up. Rained all the friggin way home. 90 miles took me just a bit over 2 hrs, after having to stop to clean the glasses a few times.

Still glad I took the nite off tho!!!

 

good for you, thats to bad, congrats, I'm sorry to hear that,terriffic,ok, next time,,
I'll agree,,, sorry for your loss,, makes me happy,, till next time!!!

 

Yup, good for you. Sometimes you have to say...... to hell with the money; ....... to sometimes enjoy what the money's paying for. If you know what I mean.

Big congrats to your girl.

 

Hope she sees continued success!!

 

Thanks all. The intent of this post wasn't to brag up my kid, or holler about how much money I spend on her. It was to simply say that getting rained on for nearly 100 miles and giving up an evening of income was worth it, to go to one of her races.

 

Ah, the sacrifices we make for our kids . And if ya were able to get any action shots of her racin', post 'em up! Love to hear when kids make good

 

Who is she getting help from right now? I know quite a few people in and around the industry still.

I raced BMX bikes as cross training for racing sportbikes growing up. I loved it and traveled the nation racing. Your right about costs... local races around 10-15 bucks an entry, state races 30-50 and national jevents 70+. then you have her racing in a few classes and BAM you can have a 500 weekend in racing.
Sitting in a top 8 spot nationwide is very impressive. For those that do nto know their are over 300 ABA tracks around the country. Figure on average as the girls class is smaller 4 girls per gate that means she is pretty darn quick.
Things you can do on your wown to get her more help with things. Even something as simple as a Gatorade or some sort of sports drinks sponsorship really really helps.
Write up a Resume of her racing and big results. Post what you plan to race over the next year focusing on state and national races. A sports company will not float you a lifetime supply but quite often they will include a gatorade banner and a few cases of gatorade or what have you. It does make things quite a bit easier when you like a few of these up throughout the year.
If you do score some sponsorship take some quality photos in gear posing and in action. Email photos (focusing on the sticker on the numberplate, your race trailer, or clothing. Lots of action shots may score that one pic they will like. i would have 100 photos per day of racin trying to find a pic that a sponsors photo was easily visiable for them to see. I would email off my results on a bi weekly basis. I did this with lots of companies before i started getting faster to score more help.
You would be surprised how many companies their are out their that are willi to help. They get hundreds and thousands of letters each year. Make sure to make your different, professional, and detailed.

Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

 

She currently rides for Factory Fusion Force/Mike's Bikes. While we get great discounts on bike parts, apparel, equipment etc, most riders and parents on the team are beyond the point where they need discount parts. Most of the racers at this level already have very good equipment, so the next step is a sponsorship package that helps pick up some entry fees and travel costs for the racers and a parent.

Her team has really come alive as of late. Day One at Rockford (last weekend), they took #1 Factory Team, and just won BOTH days at the National in North Carolina (just this past weekend).

 

and yet, all us folks want to hear is how good your kid does. Brag her up man, youearned it and she deserves it.
Too bad about the rain though.

 

Most of my photos are on a computer that is currently sittin in the closet. This weekend, I may pull it out, and copy my photos off of it.

For now, I was able to find a video from a National early last year, when she was 8. She ends up 3rd, I think.

http://www.millenniumbmx.com/videos/...1/8g_1500k.wmv