Luge for sale; Canadian team uses their heads to raise funds for 2010
CALGARY — Canada’s luge team are slapping “For Sale” stickers on their helmets in hopes of becoming a sliding billboard for someone before the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
The sliders will race in Viessmann World Cups in Calgary this weekend and at the Olympic track in Whistler, B.C., next week with those signs on their foreheads.
“We’re looking for someone to be a title sponsor for our sport and join us in our Olympic journey and push towards a podium finish at the Olympics,” explained Calgary’s Alex Gough, a 21-year-old who finished fourth among women at the world championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., last week.
Luge is the forgotten sister of sliding sports in Canada. The Canadian bobsleigh and skeleton teams win world championship and Olympic medals, so they get more money from Own The Podium and have a team sponsor in Visa.
While the luge team has made gains on the international stage, they haven’t turned in a world or Olympic medal that captures the attention of the public and the corporate world.
“Bobsleigh, skeleton and speed skating are sports who have a lot of sponsorships and they’re not quite as obscure as luge,” said Regan Lauscher, a Red Deer, Alta., native who won a World Cup silver medal in Lake Placid in 2004.
“Obviously medals and results help. People want to be associated with successful athletes, but it’s kind of a catch-22, because in order to get that success, they’ve had that support.”
In an attempt to demystify the sport of luge, the Canadian sliders held a news conference Tuesday on a toboggan hill. They also held a demonstration by sliding down the slope with youngsters on store-bought sleds.
“There isn’t buzz around luge because people can’t relate to it that well,” said Vancouver’s Jeff Christie. “It’s seen as some obscure thing that the crazy guys do, which is why we’re here at the toboggan hill to show this is the grassroots of our sport and everyone does it.
“More people toboggan than they do alpine skiing or hockey.”
The sliders know it’s an uphill battle to get corporate sponsorship in this difficult economic climate.
“We’re really got to put it out there and say ’We are for sale,”’ Christie said.
“Everyone is struggling for money and companies are having a hard time and we’re out there asking for money, but I think of it as an investment. You can invest in the Canadian luge team, invest in us for the future and the return on it is priceless in my opinion.”
Luge Canada received $754,000 in funding from Own The Podium this winter compared to the $1.3 million that went to the bobsleigh team and the $921,000 to the skeleton racers.
“We’re still for sale for that company that’s looking to get involved in the Olympics,” Luge Canada executive director Tim Farstad said. “We’re a bargain-basement price. We’re $299,999, but you could get us for $250,000.”
Germany is the world power in the sport of luge. Canadian head coach Wolfgang Staudinger, who came from that country’s program, estimated the German luge team’s travel budget at $1 million. Their national team has about 16 coaches compared to Canada’s three.
But home-track advantage can make a difference, as American Erin Hamlin demonstrated in Lake Placid. She won the world women’s title, which broke up the domination of the German women.
“Extra support helps put athletes on the podium,” Lauscher said. “So having that extra support is really critical if we want to have a good showing in Vancouver.”
The sliders aren’t Canada’s only prospective Olympians looking for creative ways to raise money. The women’s biathlon team launched a nude calendar late last year.
The World Cup in Calgary kicks off Thursday at Canada Olympic Park with the Nations Cup, followed by the women’s races Friday and the men’s singles and doubles Saturday.
Calgary’s Meaghan Simister joins Gough and Lauscher in the women’s field. Christie and Calgarians Ian Cockerline and Sam Edney race men’s singles. Calgary brothers Chris and Mike Moffatt will race doubles, as will Grant Albrecht of Red Deer and Calgary’s Nick Olson.
