Team Insight

says Davis — uniforms, cleats, helmets, foot- balls, shoulder pads, tackling dummies, tackling wheels, scoreboards, goal posts and even the special customized tarps that cover the tracks surrounding the football fields. "In football, we are a full-line team dealer," stated Carey. "If teams need anything, we pro- vide it." And even though most helmets have a shelf life of 10 years, Davis sells some every year to most of his teams. "By replacing five or six helmets a year, a school is not having to replace an entire set every 10 years," Davis says. "That makes it easier on school budgets." Uniforms are usually on a three-year rotation, with older uniforms passed down to JV and freshman teams. Despite the evolution of electronic stores, Carey says the majority of his football business is still done the old-fashioned way. "In Texas, most of the football business is conducted between the head coach and the sales rep," he says. Davis does cater to local youth football leagues, but there are some hurdles to over- come. "You are often dealing with different decision makers every year and there's no annual consistency with people in charge of the leagues," he explains. "And, the local leagues need a bigger window of time to place their uniform orders every year." But, Davis says, because youth football is a family affair, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters are a source of additional team and spirit wear sales. Also helping the bottom line is the growth of 7-on-7 football, which is played in May and June. "7-on-7 football is now a big deal, though it's not school-sponsored," says Carey. "The coaches are volunteers, usually some of the parents of the players." He is also a big proponent of flag football at the youth level. "Young kids need to start out playing flag football and not play tackle football until they reach middle school," he says. "We need to focus on teaching them the game of football and don't make it a physical game with blocking and tackling." Football on Ice In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, football is popu- lar, but it's got competition for another contact sport."Football in Minnesota is big, but not as big as ice hockey," reports Mike Klinnert, man- ager of JK Sports, Fergus Falls, MN. "Football is not our niche, but we do sell a few shoulder pads, mouthguards, footballs, knee pads, thigh pads and a few accessories, as well as selling T-shirts and sweatshirts through online stores." For Universal Athletic – with offices and salesmen in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota – football remains a strong and vibrant category. "Our early order business has been strong with equipment and uniforms and our focus currently is finishing up our spring football and 7-on-7 league business," says sales manager Brian Pepper. "Once that is done, it leads us right into our summer camp season and putting together our team spirit pack and fan apparel sites. There is not much down time for football sell- ing anymore." Pepper believes the heightened awareness of injuries in football and, more specifically, concussions, has allowed his sales team to easily sell the benefits of better equipment. "Really the biggest decline for us has been in the practice pant, girdles and biolight pad category," added Pepper. "We have not lost sales, just replaced them with integrated pants, girdles and shorts." n 18 Team Insight ~ May/June 2019 teaminsightmag.com TEAM FOOTBALL C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Douglas-Pads-ad-Nov-2018.pdf 1 10/6/18 12:30 PM

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