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In five words or less how would you describe the year 2020 for NSGA and its members? That is an impossible mission! But here are five words that come to mind: Challenge, Historic, Acceleration, Uncertainty and Flexibility. Challenge: In some locations, business is booming and our retailer/dealer members are meeting the challenge. In other areas, seasons have shifted and unfortunately, ath- letes may have to select participating in one sport rather than multi-sport participation spread out over a historically "traditional" season. Does that mean other kids now have a chance to participate at a higher level? We hope that is the case. But smaller schools and areas with fewer athletes may face big challenges to field teams in circumstances where football and basketball or volleyball and softball are played at the same time. Historic: The pandemic, social justice struggles, economic downturn and polit- ical conflict have contributed to making this a historically challenging time for not only our industr y, but our countr y. The historic governmental investments in advancing vaccine development, unem- ployment support and business assistance is still required so our country can continue to recover. Providing temporary emergency assistance does not have to fundamentally change our economic system — short-term pain for long-term gain. Acceleration: Business owners were faced with accelerating use of technology, considering capital investments in facilities and fixtures, and cost-containment strategies this year more than ever. Quick decision-making was a critical component to survival and those business owners who were nimble, quick to adapt to the new reality and willing to take a bit of risk with inventory seemed to navigate this year most successfully. Uncertainty: As events unfolded throughout the year, rapid change in direction for sports seasons increased uncertainty. In some regions, football was started, then stopped, then started again. In others, the seasons were pushed to the spring and now those seasons are threatened again. Clearly the caseload growth contributes to both the duration and depth of the uncertainty, but further vaccine and treatment development will help reduce the uncertainty. Flexibility: The pandemic definitely disrupted customer interactions, employment patterns and supply chains. As a result, NSGA devel- oped information and resources to help owners navigate through the return to play, product availability and offering alterna- tives to their customers and economic tools ONE-ON-ONE WITH ... Matt Carlson President & CEO, National Sporting Goods Association, Retail/Team Trade Association Q&A Sessions With Leading Executives In the Business Of Team Sports Team Insight has been the voice of America's team dealers ever since our first issue 15 years ago. There have been some significant changes in the world of team sports since then – even before a pandemic changed the entire world – and we have always been there to document it in the words of team dealers across the country. Now we decided to really let these leaders speak in their own voices — to address the challenges and opportunities in team sports and how they and their businesses are addressing t h e m . We a re c a l l i n g i t T h e 1 O N 1 P ro j e c t . These are their insights into the world of team sports in their own words. —Michael Jacobsen 66 • sportstyle • March 2021 sportstylemag.com TEAM

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