Has anyone ever gotten sponsored for anything before?

I am trying to put together a local team of Highland Athletes that will train together for the Highland Games. I already have several who train with me now, and I got several more who want to when I was at the Queen Mary.

One thing we need though is better equipment, and that can get very costly. Some of the individual pieces can cost several hundred dollars each. I'd like to get a few sponsors together to help defray the costs.

I am figuring some of the energy drinks might, maybe some supplement of protein bar companies too. Maybe local gyms or sporting goods stores, or any scottish or irish merchandise stores too. Figuring out WHO isnt the problem, but I was wondering if anyone had done it before, and how it turned out.