From flow to pro, young riders are encouraged to submit content throughout the season, which will be promoted through new O’Neill channels

Montreal, Canada (November 6, 2012) – O’Neill, the original surf, snow and youth lifestyle brand for 60 years, is pleased to announce ‘O’NEILL UNITED’, a program that supports the brand’s flow riders from across North America and offers opportunities for young athletes to showcase their skills in front of audiences worldwide.

Primarily located at http://www.oneillunitedteam.tumblr.com and through Instagram (@oneill_united_team), the program recognizes a group of young skiers and snowboarders who are chosen by O’Neill for their active lifestyle, distinctive riding skills and most importantly, their passion for the sport. These flow riders will then receive O’Neill gear to wear and are invited to participate in ‘O’NEILL UNITED’ by submitting video and photo content during the 2012-13 snow season. Select content will also be promoted on the O’Neill Snow Americas Facebook page, with additional prizes rewarded to the best submissions each month.

Members of the ‘O’NEILL UNITED’ team can submit as much video and photo content as they would like, from Instagram photos in their newest O’Neill outerwear to Tumblr videos of riding at their local mountains. he O’Neill athlete marketing team will also include pro rider content on these pages from well-known names including Seb Toots, David Wise, Celia Miller and Aspen Spora, making the ‘O’NEILL UNITED’ page the new North American hub for O’Neill Snow team content.

“With the creation of this program, we felt it was important to support those riders who ski and board for the love of the sport, and give them the tools to become more involved with our athlete team,” said O’Neill Snow’s Juliet Korver. “O’NEILL UNITED’ offers these kids the freedom and exposure to promote their riding styles, personalities and enthusiasm for the snow and our brand.”

Once chosen as an ‘O’NEILL UNITED’ team rider, members are given information on the structure of the overall O’Neill athlete team to explain how they can advance from ‘flow to pro’ through performance results, frequent content submission and participation in program contests. The path from first-year team rider to globally sponsored athlete includes incentives along the way, such as O’Neill apparel credits, entry to rider contests and more access to media support from O’Neill Snow.

In addition, O’Neill will invite one (1) rider from the program on an all-expenses paid trip to ride with the O’Neill pro riders during Summer 2013. This past summer, skier Mitchell Brower from Salt Lake City won a similar O’Neill contest and joined the pro team for a week of riding during the O’Neill Experience in Whistler, BC.

“Many of the biggest names on the O’Neill global athlete team started as flow riders, so this is a new opportunity for us to recognize the best new talent from around North America,” added Korver. “Those who show the most dedication to their riding and a true appreciation for snow sports will be recognized for their hard work and really benefit from the ‘O’NEILL UNITED’ program.”

For more information about O’Neill team riders, events and apparel, visit www.oneill.com, www.oneilleshop.ca, http://www.oneillunitedteam.tumblr.com, the O’Neill Snow Americas Facebook page and O’Neill Snow Twitter page.