sportstyle

November 2021 • 57 sportstylemag.com • sportstyle delivers uniforms, soccer balls, corner flags, goals, shinguards, nets and many pairs of socks from Nike, Adidas, Pro Feet and Twin City. In Cedar Falls, IA, Derek Netten and his staff at Iowa Sports Supply keep high school soccer teams equipped with uniforms, goals, soccer balls, socks and shinguards. Iowa Sports Supply does not sell soccer cleats, simply because shoe styles change so quickly that it's nearly impossible to keep the hot styles in stock. "When it comes to footwear, many athletes can also order customized shoes from Nike, which makes it impossible for us to compete," says Netten. Down in Fort Worth, TX, many high school soccer programs in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area are purchasing their uniforms, socks and shinguards from Carey's Sporting Goods, but like at many other dealers the cleat business is minimal for Carey's. "About 99 percent of the high school players have to buy their own shoes, so they buy them elsewhere, usually online," reports owner Dan Carey. A Spike In Volleyball Sales With the club side of the business driving participation among the most serious players, volleyball continues to see participation increases even at the high school level. According to the latest figures from NFHS, girls' volleyball is the second most popular sport high school sport for girls behind only track and field. Many people don't know this, but the birthplace of volleyball is Holyoke, MA, and as you would expect the sport is an important niche for Holyoke Sporting Goods. In Massachusetts, volleyball is played by high school girls in the fall, high school boys in the spring and at the YMCA at various times of the year. For Frey, her high school volleyball sales are steady. "High school volleyball teams are buying uniforms, volleyballs, nets and knee pads," Frey says. "But, sadly, we don't have a new youth volleyball league in Holyoke. We should have a youth volleyball league since the Volleyball Hall of Fame is in our town." In Whitehouse Station, NJ, volleyball is not the biggest sport for Darrow's Sporting Edge, but it does generate consistent sales. According to Vinny Iaione, custom sales manager, Darrow's sells volleyballs, knee pads, compression shorts, nets, socks and undergarments. The one vol- leyball category that Darrow's Sporting Edge does not stock is footwear, but shoes can be included in an order, if necessary. The same can be said for larger volleyball items such as ball hoppers. In New Jersey, girls are playing varsity volleyball in the fall and boys are playing in the spring and in between many of those same athletes are playing club/travel volleyball. It's not unusual for volleyball players to visit Darrow's Sporting Edge on a Saturday morning prior to a weekend tournament in search of an extra pair of socks, knee pads or possibly an extra volleyball. Scholastic Sports Sales produces a steady stream of revenue from volleyball. "We sell uniforms, volleyballs, net systems, ball hoppers and knee pads to local high school volleyball programs," says Miller. In Indiana, volleyball is a major sport for Kratz Sporting Goods in Clarksville. According to salesman Jim Brown, girls' high school volleyball in Indiana starts in August and finishes in November and club volleyball runs from January to July, making it essentially a year-round sale. And now there's high school volleyball for boys in Indiana in the spring. "When you consider the number of small high schools in southern Indiana that don't have football and the fact that every school plays volleyball, the sport of volleyball is a very strong alongside basket- ball as our second-best category," says Brown. "Plus, we sell everything from head-to-toe in volleyball." While there's very little recreational volleyball in Indiana for children, many elementary and middle schools are fielding volleyball teams. "Volleyball is sold year-round for us," says Brown. In Ohio and West Virginia, the volleyball business is a steady and strong category for Zide's Sporting Goods in Marietta, OH. "We have some schools in our area that are really committed to volleyball and they purchase uniforms, volleyballs, nets, backpacks and knee pads," according to VP John Zide. While many team dealers around the U.S. strug- gled to sell anything related to volleyball in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that wasn't the case for Iowa Sports Supply in Cedar Falls. "Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is really progres- sive and did a great job of keeping school sports going because sports are important for the mental and physical health of our kids," explains Netten. As a result, high school sports continued to be played in the Hawkeye State throughout 2020 and into 2021. Naturally, sales of volleyball uniforms, net systems, knee pads and volleyballs were steady. However, while sports such as volleyball con- tinued to be played, the ability of booster clubs to raise money for big-ticket items suffered, according to Netten. "The biggest side effect of the pandemic was on the purchase of more expensive pieces of equipment, which caused schools to extend the life of certain items because the funds were not there to replace them," he says. In addition to catering to the needs of young vol- leyball athletes, Iowa Sports Supply also addresses the needs of volleyball fans. "We also have a strong online sales as we create electronic stores for fan wear," says Netten. Many high school volleyball programs in the greater Dallas Metroplex are purchasing their apparel and gear from Carey's Sporting Goods and, according to Carey, they buy a lot of uniforms, socks, shoes, knee pads, balls, ball hoppers, hair ties and nets. Now the majority of Carey's volleyball business is to area high schools, but he used to have a considerable number of sales to local travel volleyball clubs before they got too big "We used to sell a great deal to volleyball clubs, but they started getting their own contracts directly with manufacturers, which caused my club business to disappear," says Carey. Out in Hawaii, school sports have been shut down again, according to Stanley Costales, Jr., owner of Sports Line, in Hilo. That means high school volleyball for girls and football for boys are on hold. (In early August, the Hawaii Department of Education enforced a pause on sports until September 24 because COVID numbers were headed in the wrong direction in Hawaii.) "I think they will play sports this year, but I'm not sure when they will play and I'm just not sure how many games they will play," says Costales. "It's not good right now in Hawaii for school sports. The only schools that are playing football and volleyball are the six private schools on the island of Oahu."

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