I noticed a recent trend lately. Some sponsored players have made the decision to leave their companies, in some instances making a big announcement on their Instagram. Others choose to leave quietly or slowly fade into obscurity. I know this is probably due to realignment of priorities; life happens after all. Still, I want to hear everyone's thoughts on the matter, especially in the wake of people like DWesty, Alex Hirota and Bryan Scagline leaving their respective sponsors after they repped their companies so hard.
This is the nature of the meandering paths of peoples' lives. They are not leaving kendama but rather progressing towards their personal goals. The kendama community is small and tight-knit, however it includes people from so many different walks of life with innumerable interests. There is almost a transient nature to kendama and some peoples' interest in it, but that is a good thing. Kendama can help see that you have tons of potential, and that dedication, perseverance, and patience are the tools necessary for achievement. If you take that lesson to heart you can apply that to reaching your dreams in life.
Hirota doesn't really play much anymore, not like he used to. He's been doing twitch and going to school now, so that's what's been going on with him.
Not sure if this counts or if anybody noticed but didn't Edwin James get added to the DWI team at some point and was repping their kendamas but then suddenly started repping Krom and got sponsored by them
Another one you may be able to speak on is Chelsea May Perez. She was on the Sweets team as it’s called now but formerly Focus Team then Homegrown Team for a long time if I remember right. Recently, within the last 6 months or so, she has been repping Analog. I don’t know if there was ever a formal departure from Sweets. Also with Alex, I always assumed he was gonna go to Analog especially during his brief endorsement/involvement in Ball & Stick co. and being so involved in the OJ crew.
Sounds similar to the case of Zach Magnuson. He was originally sponsored by Atlantic Kendamas but he suddenly got picked up by KUSA. Then again, it's probably because Atlantic's owner realigned his own priorities as well and stopped running the company.
Correct, he was on Analog before. I don't know Chelsea like I do Alex, but she did announce she was leaving, I think it was to focus on school, if I remmeber correctly. Alex was part of Ball and Stick Co, and was more so 'sponsored' in a way by Analog, he's good friends with the owner, and most of the OC Crew rep it hard.
Ball n Stick was run by Analog, right? I was under the impression it was their american-manufactured option? I remember seeing them announced, but not much after that
I had so much hope for Ball and Stick, but I guess the owners decided that sticking to the Analog brand was a better business decision. Hard to distribute funds between two companies when you can put all your weight behind one successful brand name.
Did TJ leave KUSA as well?? I just saw his promod isn’t listed as out of stock any more kind of like Dwesty’s did when he left.. the V2 TJ mod was just listed as Out of Stock last wk maybe when I checked?
If TJ left, it was never officially announced. I always thought he was just sidelined due to injury and/or took a step back to focus on his other passions (modelling, photography and videography). If that's the case, then KUSA is bleeding pros. They're losing a lot of their players.
There are a number of KUSA players who didnt make an official announcement of leaving afaik. Or at the very least just arent active for one reason or another (on social media anyways)
One possibility for any personnel shifts or losses in the last several months could have something to do with the worldwide situation concerning COVID-19. A lot of businesses are suffering and if they are carrying a big roster of underutilized folks it is hard on the ledgers.
from personal experience (and this may not be the case) but if you do something you love as a hobby and then start working for said hobby in a business setting, sometimes it ends up becoming a job and not what you once loved, if pros are stepping back from that it could be that they are burned out or perhaps they simply want to enjoy the game now, just my 2 cents on the matter