sportstyle

56 • September 2021 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com While Frey did sell a wide range of baseball and softball uniforms, gear and equipment, sales were not a home run — probably more like a ground rule double. "Many people didn't buy new items because they had unused and leftover gear from last year," says Frey. "The one area that was strong was batting helmets because every youngster needed their own helmet." Another issue that Frey and other dealers had to contend with was untimely delivery of product. "We are having a hard time getting what we need for these teams," says Frey, who nonetheless is delighted with the current situation that is light years ahead of 2020. "Hopefully, kids will start playing sports and things will pick up in the fall," says Frey. "I have already seen signs for soccer sign-ups for the fall." Playing Ball in the East In Delaware, baseball and soft- ball teams were busy playing ball, but sales at Al's Sporting Goods in Wilmington were not as brisk as in previous years. "Overall, baseball and softball sales were good, but they were down a little because many teams had merchandise from 2020 that was not used," says owner Bob Hart. "But I expect baseball and softball sales to improve next year." He says he has already heard from some high school athletic directors about ordering new uniforms for next spring. Meanwhile, down in Florida, where high school baseball and fast-pitch softball teams normally play 25 reg- ular season games, schedules were reduced to roughly 15 — and many of those games were cancelled or postponed because of COVID out- breaks. Still, the regular season was played and state champions were crowned at all levels. So while uniforms, bats, balls, gloves and cleats were sold, the bottom lines for team dealers were hurt because many teams delayed their uniform purchases for a year. "Many teams are putting off their next team uniform purchase until next year or possibly later," says Kevin Licata, manager of Medallion's Sporting Goods in Jupiter, FL. "We are still feeling the pinch from the abrupt cancellation of baseball and softball in Spring 2020." Overall, Licata says his baseball business was about 70 percent of previous seasons. "The local youth leagues had a strong kickoff, they played their regular season games and the players are now transitioning to all-stars and travel ball. All things considered, baseball was strong this past spring," he says. Licata, too, has concerns about the reliability of the supply chain, particularly for hardgoods such as baseballs, mitts, cleats and bats. Another issue for fast-pitch softball in south Florida is the com- petition for athletes from lacrosse and flag football. "Many softball players are leaving softball in favor of lacrosse and flag football," says Licata. Since, NAIA colleges – many of which are in Florida – have started girls' flag football programs and they have scholarships to offer, it's an incentive for a high school-aged girl to leave softball in search of flag football's greener pastures. In Vero Beach, FL – the location of the Los Angeles Dodgers' former spring training home known as Dodgertown – baseball fared well during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 for Dave's Sporting Goods. And business has been solid this year. "Everything shut down for about six weeks last year, but baseball was the first sport to return," says co-owner Becky Whipp. "So far, it's been a regular year for us selling baseball and softball because those two sports have rebounded well from the pandemic." Whipp's youth baseball programs had an abbreviated season back in 2020, while local high school teams played about a dozen games before their seasons were abruptly halted, but the local travel baseball teams never really stopped playing. Two other baseball clients for Dave's Sporting Goods are local • TEAM: BASEBALL/SOFTBALL "I'M EXPECTING RECORD TURNOUTS FOR ALL SPORTS, BUT I'M NOT SURE IF OUR SUPPLY CHAINS CAN DELIVER WHAT WE NEED IN TIME FOR ALL ATHLETES ON ALL TEAMS IN ALL SPORTS." STANLEY COSTALES, JR., SPORT LINE, HILO, HI.

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