Bont Returns as Wheel Sponsor of NROC

Big news for NROC today. Bont has signed on as the official wheel sponsor for 2009.

The Australian skate maker will give a set of Bont G4 mint green 100 or 110mm wheels (a $120-128 value) to the first 100 skaters who sign up for the race series.

To raise money for a cash purse and prizes, NROC will charge skaters $50 a piece to take part in the series. (This represents a change from last year when there was no charge to compete in the series.)

The cash will be distributed back to skaters in proportion to the number who sign up in the various divisions. (For instance, if 20 skaters sign up for the men's pro open division, $1000 will be awarded to the division in cash and prizes.)

Cash prizes will go to the top half of the skaters in each division.

More details to come later. (We had planned to post a more extensive story today, but a computer crash has slowed us down.)

Please join me in thanking Bont for its support of the National Roller Cup. Bont doesn't just make great skate products, it also engages deeply in our sport with an eye to the future. (Thanks go particularly to the company's international marketing director, Alexander Bont.)