sportstyle

58 • November 2021 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com Lacrosse Sticks It Another sport working its way out of the ranks of "specialty" is lacrosse for both boys and girls. In fact, boys' high school lacrosse is now played in 25 states, led by New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Florida. Girls' lacrosse has similar reach, now played at the high school level in 26 states — New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania lead the way. Overall, according to the NFHS, girls' lacrosse is the 10th most popular high school sport for girls. With New York being one of the hotbeds of high school lacrosse, it's no surprise that Scholastic Sports Sales in upstate Manlius sells a great deal of lacrosse apparel and gear to local high schools. "We have a pretty decent lacrosse business," says Miller. "High school lacrosse teams are buying uni- forms, helmets, gloves, balls, cleats, custom socks, rib pads and lots of lacrosse balls. We sell some sticks, but many of the players are buying from lacrosse specialty retailers." At Darrow's Sporting Edge, most of lacrosse clients are the youngest players. "We cater to younger players who are new to the game and they are looking for the basic necessities such as helmets, protective gear, sticks and gloves," says Iaione. According to Iaione, as lacrosse players get older and better their brand preferences change and they usually get more expensive tastes, leading them to purchase from more extensive online sites. For decades, lacrosse was not a major sport in Florida, where football and baseball have consistently ruled the roost, but that is changing in the Sunshine State. This growth is reflected in the in-store inventory for Jupiter- based team dealer Medallion Sporting Goods. "For us, lacrosse is getting bigger every year," reports manager Kevin Licata, who sells to boys' and girls' rec, travel and high school lacrosse teams. "Most of our lacrosse business is done with the local rec program in Jupiter, plus a number of local high schools." Like other team dealers, his success in lacrosse is mixed. "We sell more equipment than apparel as many teams purchase their uniforms online from lacrosse specialists," says Licata, who mentions that he has noticed a migration of youngsters from baseball to lacrosse in recent years. "Lacrosse is like a real-life video game, where the stick is the joystick and you are trying to get the ball to hit the target, which is the net," Licata says. "And, as one of my salesmen says, 'Lacrosse is a game with a stick, a ball and a net. How can you not have fun?'" The only issue that Licata (and other team deal- ers) is experiencing right now is inconsistency with deliveries of product from the supply chain in all sports, not just lacrosse. Running For Sales Social distancing has been the norm for the past year-and-a-half and no sport is more socially distant than track and field, so as expected high school-level track remains at the top of popularity polls. In fact, NFHS reports that girls' track and field is the most popular sport for girls and the second-most popular sport for high school boys. Scholastic Sports Sales has a vibrant business equipping local high school track and field teams with whatever it needs to participate in the sport. "We sell spikes, singlets and a wide variety of hard goods like custom hurdles, discuses, shot puts, pole vault pits, pole vault poles and the cross bars for the pole vault and high jump," says Miller, who also sells team sportswear to fans and family members through its online store. Track and field is also a very consistent category for Zide's Sporting Goods. According to Zide, schools in Ohio and West Virginia are purchasing uniforms and all the necessary hard goods such as hurdles, relay batons, pole vault poles, shot puts, discuses and the padding for the pole vault and the high jump pits. Many of Zide's track and field customers order player packs that contain the basic necessities – team T-shirts, sweatshirts, customized practice gear and warm-ups – that are required by the school. Zide believes that the key to continued strong sales in a sport like track and field is to maintain consistent contact with the head coach throughout the year, reminding him or her that you are available to assist with a customized or regular order at any time. Any high school track and field participant in Iowa is probably using some equipment purchased from Iowa Sports Supply. According to Netten, he and his associates keep participants and their schools in Iowa equipped with uniforms, spikes, hurdles, relay batons, measuring tape, shot puts and discuses. "We supply many high school track and field pro- grams with what they need to compete," said Netten. In Terre Haute, IN, Clausen and his sales associates at Coaches Corner do their best to maximize their track and field sales, but the problem is that many hard goods in the sport have a long lifespan before they need to be replaced. "Every three or four years, we'll get a call to replace hurdles or install a new pole vault pit and it can be every seven years before a timing system is replaced," Claussen says. "To extend the life of some hurdles, many schools will simply replace the kick board on the hurdle, which is cheaper than buying a new hurdle." Every year Claussen will receive orders for uni- forms and singlets and spirit packs, which will usually include a pair of shorts, a cotton/fleece warm-up, jogger pants and possibly a sublimated team singlet. And Coaches Corner is selling more fan gear these days for fans, fellow students and family members through its own electronic stores. The track and field business is steady and strong for Carey's Sporting Goods, according to Carey, who says whatever a track and field team needs, he will deliver it. "We are head-to-toe in track and field," Carey says. "We sell singlets, spikes, relay batons, starting blocks, hurdles, shot puts and discuses, plus the padding for high jump and pole vault pits." n • TEAM: SPECIALTY SPORTS

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