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Real sports sponsorships: The great absence in national bodyboarding.

To talk about sponsorships, the first thing we should understand is that a sponsorship involves much more than a commercial relationship between a company or brand and one or more athletes for mutual benefit.

It should be clear that sports sponsorship is an important marketing tool used by companies as a communication formula that guarantees commercial dissemination.

In our country, there are several companies that use this tool to seek notoriety, brand positioning, and open new markets, among other advantages.

Some national athletes have been fortunate enough to be sponsored and achieve significant accomplishments in their sporting careers thanks to this media impact, just as brands or companies have obtained a functional improvement with the expansion of markets.

However, not all national sports or talented athletes are supported in the same way. A prime example is the national bodyboarding discipline, which, despite having important athletes who often travel abroad to represent Costa Rica in world competitions, must do so with their own resources and under limited conditions for high-level competition.

In this article we will discuss the reality of national bodyboarding with an important exponent of the discipline, Yazdanny Castro, a native of Quepos.

Do you find your discipline difficult for you to grow as a professional athlete?

Yazdanny: Looking at it from a positive perspective, I don't think so. It's difficult because we clearly lack sponsors. No bodyboarder in the country has a real sponsor. I'm talking about getting something every month, getting paid—that's sponsorship. Getting a couple of stickers, a hat, or discounted prices isn't sponsorship. Nothing personal, I'm just trying to speak in the third person, seeing it as if I weren't part of the movement, just someone who went through it. And from another point of view, I think it is possible to reach a professional level since we have good waves in our country, but for a career it's different, because, as I said before, you need sponsorships.

What do you consider to be the most difficult thing about being a national bodyboarder?

Yazdanny: I believe that the lack of real sponsorships makes it very difficult not to have some support as an athlete, let's talk about a scholarship or some monthly sponsorship so that one can dedicate oneself fully to the sport.
I have a daughter, and I've been trying to balance my life with work, studies, and sports. I'm 20 now and have won five national titles. I'd love to dedicate myself fully to sports, but I have to choose between continuing to work and live a normal life or pursuing something I dream about almost every day. When I don't see any opportunities opening up, I lose the desire to try, and my spirits flag. However, I don't plan to give up, and I have faith that things will eventually work out.

How have you been able to improve yourself and compete internationally?

Yazdanny: This year, thank God, I went out again and was able to be on a date of the World Tour, and this was mostly thanks to Beatriz Arleo who helped me with a (GoFundMe) campaign and my grandfather who were the ones who helped me the most to be there. I also made some savings and other people from my town who supported me to be able to cover the expenses.

If you could change something about the profession, what would you change?

Yazdanny: I would like them to open their eyes more to the positive side, even though we know how difficult it is to succeed in our discipline, we cannot let ourselves be swayed by negative comments from people who have been in this for a while. If nobody tries, everything will stay the same, and if it is not achieved, at least a mark will be left there and one day someone will come along who will finish what is being sought today, to put a Costa Rican in the Tour.

Written by and media by: Enrique Hernández - Surfing Republica