Team Insight - March, 2008
4 Girls Only
The four things that female athletes want – Respect, Attention, Product and Understanding – are the very things that team dealers and vendors are trying so hard to give them. But are they successful?
Like any successful relationship, the sometimes fragile peace between team dealers, equipment and apparel manufacturers and the female athlete takes a bit of understanding, compromise and respect on all sides. It is a relationship that has gotten pro...
Double Play
Softball continues as a key team sport, but dealers report it is becoming increasingly a two-tiered business.
While there’S LITTLE doubt that women’s softball has established itself as a major sport, it can be a mixed bag for team dealers. Some report strong and growing sales. Others view sales as steady but leveling off. And some team dealers lament the l...
Performance Anxiety
Team dealers are wondering if the success of boys’ performance apparel and undergarments can translate to the girls’ side.
At the Table ... Mark Mertens, president, A4, Vernon, CA Patti Hopp, CEO/president, Cuzz Athletics, Saginaw, MI Sarah Gholston, senior director-team merchandising, Russell Athletic, Atlanta, GA Steve Arensdorf, COO, Stromgren Supports, Hays, KS...
Cheer Up
Is cheer a legitimate sport for team dealers?
For team dealers who still haven’t gotten on the cheerleading bandwagon, successful vendors and other dealers have a cheer of their own: G-E-T — Get With It! That’s because what started out as an organized expression of team spirit and cheering fo...
A Tale of Two Sports
Is women’s lacrosse on the rise? Has women’s soccer plateaued? Is there room for both in the team market? What isn’t up for debate is that both sports play an important role.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Charles Dickens covered the full spectrum of human emotion in his epic, “A Tale of Two Cities.” Fortunately, the landscape isn’t quite so dramatic for team dealers when it comes to women’s soccer a...
The New Wave
The custom sublimated uniform look is a natural for girls' and women's sports as manufacturers improve the technology and dealers find the right market for the high-end look.
Custom sublimated uniforms are certainly making their mark in team sports again, this time led by women's sports ranging from softball, lacrosse and soccer to volleyball and basketball. Dealers are getting on board and making healthy margins in...
What Girls Want! What's New for 2008
Here is a collection of the most interesting new girls’ and women’s team sports products for 2008.
What do female athletes want? It’s simple. They want products that are as good as -- heck, even better than -- what manufacturers are making for the boys. As the 2008 spring seasons arrive, it is obvious that vendors to the team sports business have ...
Tackling The Impossible
Most of my friends think I have a pretty cool job. After all, I get to talk sports and sporting goods all day, often get to try out the latest and greatest new products months before they hit store shelves, and get to go to places like Louisville, Bu...
The End Zone
Russell Named NCAA Replica Supplier A three year partnership agreement has been approved by Russell Athletic and NCAA Football designating Russell as the “Official Supplier of NCAA Football Youth Products.” As part of the deal, Russell Athletic has ...
Congress Awards $75.7 Million in PEP Grants in 2008
In an important election year, the U.S. Congress has seen fit to actually deal with the epidemic of childhood obesity by approving $75.655 million in PEP (Carol M. White Physical Education Program) grants to be awarded in 2008. That’s almost $3 mill...
Youth Sports Contribute To Bottom 10 Moments in Sports
Unfortunately, youth sports made up exactly half of one organization’s list of the “Bottom 10 Moments in Sports in 2007.” While the release of the Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball, and the accusation of gambling by an NBA refer...
Full Metal
While there is certainly no shortage of sports medicine products that claim they help athletes rejuvenate, repair and restore (although some of them have caught the attention of George Mitchell and members of Congress), a new product is offering some...
Russell Is In The Pink
Russell Athletic recently partnered with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “Think Pink” initiative to provide uniforms to schools across the nation in an effort to increase breast cancer awareness. Russell Athletic donated a portion of the...
College Takes A look At Its Own MRSA Challenges
It seems that concerns over MRSA continue in schools around the country. Sometimes they fly under the radar and only make the news when the bug hits the fan. Others, such as Fairfield University in Connecticut as profiled in this recent article in Th...
The Last Word
Long-time NSGA president and CEO Jim Faltinek is set to retire in May after 28 years with the sporting goods retail association. In one of his final interviews, he reflects on how the industry has evolved, what he wishes he could have changed, and wh
In good health and looking forward to spending more time traveling to visit his family, Jim Faltinek is retiring as president and CEO of the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). He has been with NSGA 28 years. Faltinek joined NSGA in 1980 afte...
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