Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1490102
constant challenge," says Dan Cordi, owner of Zappia Athletic Products, Vestal NY. "The majority of headwear is produced in China and they continue to experience COVID shutdowns. Combined with labor shortages in domestic warehouses, customer service and transportation, it should make 2023 another difficult year." Like the others, Cordi says he too has been encouraging coaches to place their orders early in hopes to alleviate some of the possibility of delays due to backorders. "We will continue to make customers aware of the ongoing delays and backorders. We encourage them to order as early as possible and to select second, third, and fourth style preferences in the event of backorders," he says. So while the pains of 2022 are definitely more severe for some than others, nobody is home- free and back to pre-pandemic levels with their orders. Even with ordering early, Frey reports she's still had to push simpler styles to avoid any possibility of backorder and that because of the lingering supply chain issues there were no promotions running for this year. The Trends Up Top Even with simplicity, headwear trends have begun resurfacing in 2023 as teams have more flexibility in which styles they can choose. "New stock has done very well. Perforated backs are highly sought after," says Clark. "Sideline sales are primarily trucker caps and families are supporting teams now more than ever." Last year, to compensate for the uncertain availability of sideline caps, teams were bump- ing up the orders for their players so they would be able to hand out the extra stock to families. During most years, dealers could typically rely on selling family apparel around the holidays; however, in 2022 there was no way to be certain that these orders would arrive on time. The good news: In 2023, it sounds like families will have more luck getting caps and other team-spirited apparel. On the topic of trends, the prediction that the popular trucker mesh would still be un- available by January 2023 was a concern for dealers last year, though it seems that might not actually be the case. "Trucker mesh remains a popular option both for corporate and team," says Cordi, who has also seen trends return despite the ongoing supply chain issues he continues to experience. Another returning pre-pandemic design choice are those all-important, but harder to fill, custom orders. In 2021 and '22 custom uniforms were nearly impossible for teams to get and only those like Cordi with in-house embroidery were able to accommodate cus- tomization to some degree. Now, other dealers have seen custom orders coming through their business once again. With the 2023 spring season nearly here, it feels like COVID-19 concerns in the team sports business are in the past as far as varying state mandates, disrupted season schedules and smaller team sizes. n teaminsightmag.com January/February 2023 ~ Team Insight • 23 Log into your Dashboard at richardsonsports.com to learn more about our Can of Corn program, and why this Cap and Jersey combo is the easiest play in the game. FEATURING: • The Richardson commitment to quality and fit. • Color shade consistency across all Richardson PTS products. • Simple, all-inclusive pricing on uniforms for both HYPR Twill and Sublimated models. H E A D W E A R | U N I F O R M S | T E A M W E A R PC: Mike Eyster