This has to be my favourite videos of the month, Nigel’s new Animal ad featuring his signature line which is available soon. It’s got me thinking about how sick this dude is, not just in terms of riding, or being the model professional but the huge favour he’s doing BMX by making it look credible to the wider audience.
If it’s not contest dudes, who equally do a good job in representing BMX, then it’s Nigel who’s the first port of call. Nike, G-Shock, Gatorade and many more use his image to push their brand in the BMX world and he doesn’t even partake in contests. He’s managed to market himself and his character as the unique selling point. But obviously, it helps being handy on the bike!

Every day we get letters sent in asking “how do I get sponsored”… It’s actually worrying that many riders have this on their mind for most of the time as opposed to just having a good time riding (which, ironically is always the best route to being noticed). However aiming high and wanting to be sponsored or have a career in BMX isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact BMX is crying out for the best people to represent it and move it forward, so if anything we need you. But there’s a way to go about it, and how Nigel does it is inspiring.

This route is not for everyone, having big corporate companies involved with BMX is often frowned upon, but it does open the door for people in BMX, the more the general public know about what we do, coupled with the likes of Nigel doing his job the more kids we’ll see riding a BMX. And this is always a good thing.
I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Nigel, he was younger and much less well known at the time. We were riding for Wethepeople and we went on this sick roadtrip in old Volvo cars. We picked him up from the airport and right away you knew he was a character, an injection of fun was suddenly abundant in the car. I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, and no doubt he found my Yorkshire slang a nightmare to decipher. The whole trip was great and Nigel was the ultimate pro, in his late teens you could tell he got it, he understood what it takes to make a career in BMX and now he’s leading the way. So today is Nigel Sylvester Appreciation day, we have a bunch of his web video’s up for you to watch. We hope that keeping a close eye on how Nigel is forging his life in BMX inspires you too, and will go some way in answering the ton of letters we get asking the age old question “how do I get sponsored”.

—Cleggy