Team Insight

FOOTBALL we're preparing for a normal year. But we're not condent with the delivery end of things." For dealers that focus more on football sogoods, such as Michael Bodart, owner of Columbus, IN-based Hoosier Sporting Goods, this is turning out to be a normal year and he's upbeat about the Fall 2022 season. "We don't do a lot with football equipment, but we do sell uniforms for middle schools, travel teams and leagues, as well as sports- wear and spiritwear," he says. "Participation is strong and people are eager to get out and support their local schools." Like most other dealers, Bodart believes the biggest challenge going forward will be the availability of goods. "I was optimistic [regarding supply issues], but now I'm almost afraid that vendors will use this as a go-to excuse for years to come." Signs Of Improvement ere are many positive factors that are fueling excitement for football and chief among them is soaring enthusiasm to play. "ere's been a bounce-back at the youth level. Kids need to get out of the house and back on the eld, and football's going strong again," Fawley says. Also, he supports rule changes that are taking the head out of the game, making the sport safer and more appeal- ing, especially to parents of younger players. Garretson is seeing more opportunities for early play. "ere's a little bit more spring football for youth and leagues are still sched- uled to go on, but there's not enough product," he says. "People will have to scramble. I'm hoping that the issue will correct itself by the end of Fall 2022 and that we'll get back on schedule next year." And in California, Karsh notes that more programs are now back on schedule, resulting in a lot of in-store trac. Ongoing Challenges Supply chain issues remain the biggest concern overall for dealers, followed closely by the continuing labor shortage. "Product availability and accuracy of turnaround times are big challenges," says Karsh. "Delays are a sore subject with customers, especially when ship dates get pushed back by months." Shortages of helmets and hardgoods are the biggest hurdles to overcome because manufacturers haven't come back to producing the same quantities that they were churning out prior to COVID. One reason for this, Karsh explains, is that during the pandemic some overseas manufacturers shied their use of plastics to medical supplies and away from sporting goods and they haven't yet shied back. "I really hope that the last two years have rearmed the positives of being able to pro- duce things domestically. Maybe we can renew some American manufacturing," he comments. "The numbers and par- ticipation are there, sales and customers are there, but we need product," agrees Garretson. "A lot of products are built overseas, which is part of the problem, and we're at the mercy of all those guys." He adds, "e prices of foot- balls and other products keep going up, but it's not yet putting a damper on demand. Price will probably be more of a factor when things calm down, but now there's such high demand for product, price isn't really an issue. "We'll be okay with accessories and we do a great job with spirit packs in conjunction with football season, but for hardgoods the only thing we can really do is tell customers to get orders in early; aim for January 1 instead of waiting until March or April." Like many other dealers, Fawley continues to not have everything running on full cyl- inders. Balls, uniforms and helmets are still hit or miss, especially with bigger companies such as major shoe brands. On a positive note, he says some of the team-focused companies performed extremely well during Covid. The Helmet Reconditioning Biz e pain points for most helmet and equip- ment reconditioners are a lack of parts as well as having to make do with a small and increasingly expensive labor pool. At Capitol Varsity Sports, reconditioning comprises about 50 percent of business and Fawley reveals that the company's plant has been 20 to 30 percent short on its labor pool since November. "We're running about 60 percent of helmets every week compared to our normal produc- tion and the labor shortage is aecting what we can get out the door. It's a universal problem," he says. "We don't want to disappoint people or create enemies by overpromising, so we feel it's better to take a little less business. Our core customers haven't felt much pain." Fawley adds that as of April, his backlog has doubled from the previous year. "We're having one of our biggest and best years ever. ere's tremendous demand for what we do and what we sell, but there will be a time in the future when school budgets will tighten," he says. As a result, "we need to nd out how to x the labor issue before we start up again in November. For reconditioning, it's hard to pay $15 an hour for someone to take screws out of helmets." Fawley understands that all of the helmet manufacturers are suering with parts shortages and as a result, "things will be pretty dicey until the end of August regarding reconditioning. Also, the helmet companies are all delivering late which is creating a challenge for the summer." Garretson concurs. "It's hard to get replace- ment parts because manufacturers are relying on overseas production. I thought it would be resolved this year, but it wasn't." California Pro Sports has been dealing with the problem by setting strict deadlines for customers. "We got ahead of it last year but had to give very rm deadlines," Karsh says. "A lot of coaches got helmets in at the end of last season which put us ahead of the curve." Looking ahead, Karsh echoes the sentiments of his dealer colleagues. "I hope to get out to the games again and have more engagement with my customers. Connecting with coaches directly and being more present physically will help." 14 • Team Insight ~ May/June 2022 teaminsightmag.com There are many positive factors that are fueling excitement for football and chief among them is soaring enthusiasm to play.

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