26th January 2007
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Jake Whitaker
We have known Jake for the past three years and he has visited our Academy on numerous occasions being involved in the Trials High Performance Squad coached by NonStop’s Stephen Oliver and NZ seven times Champion, Warren Laugesen.
Although only fifteen he has shown himself to be very dedicated and passionate about his sport of Trials and reaching the highest level that he can both Nationally and Internationally.
He has already visited the UK in 2006 to observe the World Outdoor riders in action as a precursor to his visit overseas to ride in four World Junior Championships, one European Junior Championship and a British Championship round in 2007.
We have always found Jake to be courteous and helpful in both a team and home environment when he has been in Nelson. He has a good sense of humour and is a likeable young man. Having said this he takes his sport very seriously and is always looking to improve on his performance and take himself to the next level. He shows no fear in attempting new and challenging obstacles and leads the way with other young high performance riders being caught up in his enthusiasm.
His level of ability has far exceeded his age, and previous young riders in NZ in the last decade, and we see in him the opportunity for NZ to excel in Trials achievement in the near future. Like Josh Coppins and Stefan Merriman before him he has great potential while achieving his goals to also put NZ on the map among International riders.
By Jake visiting Europe and gaining this much needed International experience he will help benefit the whole Youth team in NZ upon his return. Jake will be able to pass on the techniques and skills that he learns and bridge the gap between the riders here and overseas. This in turn will help NZ Trials to achieve one of its future goals of sending a Trials de Nations team back overseas to compete. To do this we need a depth of experience among our young riders which has not occurred as riders have fallen behind in New Zealand with lack of international competition.
We would highly recommend Jake to any potential sponsor and would be happy to answer any further questions you may wish to put our way. We see this as a unique opportunity to aid our High Performance and Youth members to take their riding to the next level.
In today’s environment our Governing Body of Motorcycle New Zealand has limited funding, and this is also the case for Sparc and other funding bodies, making it necessary to source sponsorship from the general business community. Any sponsorship should be seen as an investment in the future of Trials in New Zealand.
Stephen Oliver
Managing Director
NonStop Adventure