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M an cannot live on bread alone. at is a tried-and-true be- lief passed down through the centuries. Now, in 2022, as everyone attempts to return to some sort of post-pandemic normalcy, in the world of team sports, that maxim can be expanded to say that team dealers cannot live on football, baseball/soball and basketball alone. Just like man needs those veggies, fruits and grains to survive, the team business needs the nutrition provided by the so-called "specialty" sports — you know, lacrosse, volleyball, soccer, wrestling and track and field, with a little cheerleading or rugby thrown in to liven things up. It is this overall specialty category that oen makes or breaks the bottom lines of team dealers across America as they expand beyond the bread-and-butter sports of the so-called Big Four. They approach these sports as a category with the same sets of challenges and opportunities – school budgets, booster club fundraising, declining/increasing participa- tion, coaching shortages and, of course, those continuing supply chain disruptions. Yes, team dealers could not thrive and survive by just selling the four major sports. Treating Every Sport Equally While all sports are certainly not the same, or offer the same opportunities, savvy team dealers know that every sport, athlete, coach, athletic director and parent needs to be treated equally. at's the approach taken by Doc Claussen, manager of Coaches Corner in Terre Haute, IN, who points out that wrestling parents are spending money just like basketball parents — so every sport is a major sport for this dealer. Claussen has a unique perspective on the professional and personal life of a team dealer. Not only does he work at least 50 hours a week in the team sports business, he also spends much of his free time on the front lines as a game official for three high school sports — football, basketball and wrestling. So if he's not making a product delivery to a school, then he's oen showing up to be a referee that aernoon or night. And, sometimes, he does both. "ere are days when I make a delivery to a school for one sport and then walk across campus to officiate another sport," he says. (As an aside, this will be Claussen's 23rd year of being a high school wrestling official.) "I use my downtime to officiate games," he continues. "I use games to decompress from my day-to-day responsibilities in the sporting goods business. And, I get a little bit of exercise, too." As he gets older, he's realizing that the life of a wrestling official is a little less taxing on the body than being a whistle blower in football or basketball. "ere's less running around on a wrestling mat than on a football field or basketball court," said Claussen. While wrestling sales for Coaches Corner are oen limited to singlets, headgear, compression shirts and fight shorts, a major source of the wrestling sales is from wrestling parents who buy fan gear in support of their son or daughter's school wrestling team. Yes, in the state of Indiana – and many other states, for that matter – high school girls are now wrestling as well. "This past winter, we had the first Indiana High School Girls Wrestling State Championship, so girls in Indiana now have their own state wrestling tournament," Claussen explains. In volleyball, Coaches Corner has been selling a greater number of knee pads and elbow pads to its high school and travel volleyball clientele, according to Claussen. Unfortunately, when it comes to selling shoes for wrestling, volleyball and soccer, Coaches Corner is not part of the sales equation anymore. "Sales of volleyball shoes and soccer cleats are all purchased through the Internet," says Claussen. "Online purchases of footwear are the best option because manufacturers can't deliver footwear orders to us in a timely manner. Supply chain delays remain an issue." Meanwhile, the soccer business for Coaches Corner is limited to uniforms, socks and soccer balls, while in track and field sales are limited to singlets, shorts and shoes. "We have roughly a three-week window to sell track cleats," says Claussen. And, like the wrestling scene, while track SPECIAL How America's team dealers are turning to specialty sports in a post-pandemic world. By Mike May TEAM SPORTS 48 • November/December 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com

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