a special report
All Pro Sports Center
Rich Weiss
A Lifetime of Kent Memories
“You know what I remember as a child growing up with All Pro in downtown Kent?” Tami Van Dyne, owner of All Pro Sports Center, hearkened back, then continued, “The Halloween … and eating pizza … and watching the costumes go by. Van Dyne is picturing the store’s first location, before the store moved to its current location in University Plaza, at 160 Cherry Street. She’s picturing a time when she was not quite a teenager, but the prime positioning of her father’s storefront window – right on East Main Street in downtown Kent – bestowed upon her the title of Judge by the age of 13. “We’re inside the front window – we actually were judges for the college kids who walked by in their costumes. I was probably 12, 13 … It was awesome! By the age of 15 or 16, Van Dyne had made the career move from judge/mannequin to fullfledged store employee. She grew up knowing the athletic supply business and the vitally important relationships with recreation centers, colleges, and schools. Van Dyne squinted, as if peering through the racks of clothes, the sports equipment, the shelving units of spirit wear, the store walls, until she could see clear through to another time, and then continued, “Many shops have a
season they need to gear up for, or a process that requires all-hands-on-deck. Ours would be numbering.” Numbering? She explained the short-hand term: “Numbering jerseys…heatpressing the baseball uniforms for the kids to wear … yeah. We did have silk screening, we do here as well, but it was pretty much numbering the uniforms for the community games – press numbering for all the community and park rec. games,” Van Dyne paused, “ … this takes me back!” When walking in the front door of All Pro Sports Center, it is hard not to be struck by the abundant inventory of sportswear and sports equipment, the smell of baseball glove leather and every imaginable size and shape of sporting gear. Less noticeable is the full-service nature of this sporting goods store, and its plethora of sports services, including custom screen-printing, sewing and embroidery. Even less noticeable is the ecosystem of team sports around Kent depending on All Pro Sports Center for their every need. There is something else special about this shop. Though it is palpable when walking in the door, it’s difficult to put a finger on, and, for Van Dyne, it’s difficult to articulate. She felt it was an important point to communicate during this exclusive interview with aroundkent
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magazine, so Van Dyne drew a breath, and, though her eyes welled and her throat tried to close off each word, she persevered to say, “I think I want people to know that it’s still a memoir to my dad.” Her father, Ed Waller, opened All-Pro Sports Center in 1970. Waller felt the weighty responsibility of providing a lifeline of sustaining sports equipment to the many Kent-area athletic programs he loved – not just for kids, but for all ages. He felt so strongly about it that Waller came out of retirement in 2010 to help his daughter and son-in-law, Wayne Van Dyne, open the store’s new location in University Plaza. Waller died recently, on December 3, 2012. There is something else special about this shop – Waller’s presence here is still palpable. After a pause, Van Dyne summarized her and her husband’s work by saying, “His daughter and son-in-law are still promoting All Pro in a memorial, and fighting the good fight to keep my father’s dream alive.” All Pro Sports Center is located in University Plaza, at 160 Cherry Street, and is open Monday and Thursday: 10am - 7pm, and Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am - 6pm, and Saturday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. The store is closed on Sunday. For more information, please call 330-673-1968.
spring 2013 • www.aroundkent.net