Over the course of my blog entries I have truly gained a much more extensive knowledge of the snowboarding sport as a whole and the team. I never realized how important the fans are to the sport and how the snowboarding sub culture has helped shaped the sport and made it grow in popularity. Snowboarding is a growing sport, “By the launch of the more aggressive youth movement by the (International Olympic Committee), snowboarding is now one of the coveted sports, Snowboarding has the staying power.”
The snowboarding team I have learned is appearing all over the media, particularly in snowboarding magazines and print ads. These traditional forms of media are a successful way of generating awareness however it is necessary for the use of social networking sites to further promote the brand and reach a larger audience.
Sponsorship programs of the team are very popular and many companies want to be associated with life style sport and cool, hip image that that the team represents. As well as these aspects the team stands for competitiveness, determination and winners.
I have learned also that although snowboarding is growing in popularity, it will never be a sport such as football. Snowboarding is considered an extreme sport, which many people are afraid to try and some will never try because it is deemed too difficult to learn. With injuries and scandals of the team members definitely sets the team back at a disadvantage, as many people worry that the sport is becoming too extreme for the riders with career ending injuries.
The snowboarding team represents two of its most famous athletes Shaun White and Gretchen Blieler that have benefited the team and the support by generating buzz and awareness. The team is promoting itself through sporting goods and apparel trying to get the logo out there in front of the public.
Learning the history of the sport and seeing how snowboarding over the years has differentiated itself from other similar sports such as skateboarding has given me a new found respect for the sport and the riders. Snowboarding did not always have the best image however today it has grown to be one of the most popular Olympic events and is only rising.
