NSGA Now May/June 2015

VOLUME 3 NO. 3 MAY/JUNE 2015

SPRING AHEAD WITH

NSGA RESEARCH A Profitable Banking Strategy Can Boost Your Bottom Line The Retailer’s Challenge of Getting and Keeping Shoppers with Kantar’s John Rand

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table of contents

Spring Ahead with 2015 NSGA Research The new “Shopper Playbook” is among this year’s offerings

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ceo corner

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ASSOCIATION NEWS NOW

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GLOBAL NOW

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ADVOCACY NOW

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OPERATIONS NOW

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LOCKER ROOM NOW

Information and data lead to business power Inaugural Innovations Arena backed by Shark Tank’s Daymond John; Former Board member Kep Harding passes away Kantar Retail’s John Rand on the impact of declining shopper visits Updating various issues NSGA is monitoring How a profitable banking strategy could boost your bottom line Mueller Sports Medicine receives NFL Recognition; A look at NCAA and NFHS rule changes

NSGA NOW May/June 2015

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CEO CORNER

NSGA OFFICERS

NSGA Research Gives You a Vital Advantage

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Numbers are more readily available than ever in sports.

There is statistical data for almost every situation in every sport to help athletes and teams gain the extra edge they need to succeed.

Randy Nill Nill Bros. Sports, Kansas City, KS

TREASURER/CHAIRMAN-ELECT David Labbe Kittery Trading Post, Kittery, ME

PAST CHAIRMAN Ken Meehan Dunham’s Sports, Troy, MI

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Salvador Colom Deportes Salvador Colom, San Juan, PR

Dale Donaldson Mallard’s Source for Sports, Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada

Pat Donnelley Donnelley Sports, Twin Falls, ID

Rhett Johnson Johnson-Lambe Co., Raleigh, NC

Cathy Pryor Hibbett Sports, Birmingham, AL

Pete Schneider Athletic Dealers of America, Viera, FL

Rob Summerfield MC Sports, Grand Rapids, MI

STAFF Matt Carlson President & CEO

Meghan Beach Director, Membership

Dustin Dobrin Director, Research & Information

Marty Maciaszek Director, Communications

Katie Nemec Director, Marketing, Social Media & Special Events

Darlene King Director, Business Development

Nick Rigitano Research and Information Analyst

Chuck Suritz Director, Education & Strategic Planning

The days of solely or primarily relying on “gut instinct” are gone. Those who do not understand the power of using as much information as possible often get left behind.

The same is true in the sporting goods industry. There is strength in understanding and using the numbers that are readily available in a way that puts you ahead of your competition.

That is why NSGA has produced comprehensive research reports for more than three decades. These are excellent tools to give you the best information available in the industry on trends in sports participation and sporting goods purchases.

Our annual “Sports Participation in the United States” and “Sporting Goods Market” reports will be available soon. These are tremendous resources designed to help you make better business decisions.

There is a lot of information to digest in these reports. NSGA Research and Information Director Dustin Dobrin and Research Analyst Nick Rigitano have done a fantastic job of capturing some of the key data points in a visually appealing way that is very user-friendly. The Sports Participation snapshots provide breakdowns into who is participating by gender, age, household income and region and how often people are participating in a particular sport or activity.

The NSGA Research Team also embarked on a unique project that will be a valuable resource titled, “The Shopper Playbook: Insights Into the Sporting Goods Shopper.”

This is the first time the association has taken an in-depth look at how consumers navigate the shopping process from a sporting goods perspective.

We are very excited about this project because it gives you another tool to increase your chances for success. Every edge matters, because as Kantar Retail expert John Rand points out in this issue, the number of shopper visits to retailers has declined since 2007.

You will be receiving more information soon about the availability of our 2015 research, which is available at a discount to NSGA members. You can also go to the website at www.nsga.org/research to learn more about getting your hands on NSGA research. This is one of the big ways where we can fulfill our mission of helping you grow your business.

Best regards, Matt Carlson President & CEO

Larry Weindruch Director, Team Dealer Division

Dan Wiersma Chief Financial Officer

Marty Maciaszek

Matt Carlson

Editor/Publisher

President & CEO

NSGA NOW (ISSN 1045-2087) is published bi-monthly for members of the National Sporting Goods Association, 1601 Feehanville Dr., Suite 300, Mount Prospect, IL 60056-6035; Phone: (847) 296-6742; Fax: (847) 391-9827. Subscription price of $50 per year is included in membership fee. Non-member subscription information available from publisher. Periodical postage paid at Mount Prospect, IL 60056 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NSGA NOW, 1601 Feehanville Dr., Suite 300, Mount Prospect, IL 60056-6035. © by NSGA 2013. Printed in the USA.

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May/June 2015 NSGA NOW

association news NOW

Shark Tank Star Swims with NSGA Innovations Arena

By Marty Maciaszek

Entrepreneur Daymond John understands the challenges and obstacles of getting exposure and turning an innovative new product into a business success.

John went from making hats for himself and his friends and selling them on the streets of New York to becoming one of the stars of the ABC-TV show “Shark Tank.” That is why NSGA was excited to receive the support of John for the inaugural NSGA Innovations Arena, which showcased new sporting goods products and retail technology products during NSGA’s 51st Annual Management Conference & 17th Annual Team Dealer Summit on May 3-6 in Austin, Texas.

“Daymond John is a true American success story,” said Matt Carlson, NSGA President & CEO. “Daymond knows how tough it can be to turn an innovative product into a successful brand, from getting exposure with the right people to creating a business model that works. These are the tools we are trying to give to the participants in the NSGA Innovations Arena.

“To have Daymond’s support is fantastic.

His success makes him a great role model for those who were selected to participate

in our NSGA Innovations Arena.”

John shared his success story as one of the featured speakers at the 2012 NSGA Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit. FUBU (For Us By Us), his apparel brand best known for hockey jerseys, sweatshirts and T-shirts, has grown to more than $6 billion in sales. In 2009, he joined the cast as one of five “sharks” on “Shark Tank,” where entrepreneurs make their pitches to get the backing they need to turn their product or company into a success.

“As a true believer in the entrepreneurial spirit, I am in awe of the unending supply of new ideas that business owners bring to the show,” John said. “The NSGA Innovations Arena is founded on the same concept – providing new products and technology companies with a platform to showcase their innovative concepts. I am proud to have a company in attendance that appeared on ‘Shark Tank.’”

John formed Shark Branding to give companies the marketing insights that have led to success with John’s companies.

He is the author of two books and has received prestigious awards, including the

Advertising Age Marketing 1000 Award for Outstanding Ad Campaign, Crain’s Business of New York Forty Under Forty Award and Ernst & Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

The NSGA Innovations Arena was created to give companies and innovators the opportunity to break into the sporting goods market. It also gave sporting goods industry leaders the chance to get the first look at innovative new products. Dean Donlon, who is the Director of Sports and Activation for John’s Shark Branding, was in attendance at the Management Conference and Innovations Arena.

The goal was quality, not quantity, so the 21 exhibitors chosen to participate in the Innovations Arena underwent an application process, were vetted for relevance and were reviewed by the NSGA Board of Directors. NSGA received a wide range of applicants from as far away as Spain.

Anne Marie Stephen, the Strategic Retail Innovation Advisor for AMS Retail Innovation Advisory, also played a key role in finding retail technology companies.

Stephen spoke at this year’s Management Conference.

Former Board Member Kep Harding Passes Away at 93 Nebraska-based Retail Owner Also Served on Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Committee

Willis K. “Kep” Harding, who served two terms on the NSGA Board of Directors, died March 28 in Lincoln, Neb. Mr. Harding was 93.

chairman of the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Committee in the mid-1980s.

Harding’s son Steve served two terms on the NSGA Board from 2004-10.

Mr. Harding owned and operated Kep Harding’s Sport Shops from 1965-2005, with two locations in Lincoln and another in Grand Island, Neb., before merging with Nebraska Sports. He also spent 19 years with Lawlor Sporting Goods in Omaha, Neb.

“Kep Harding and his family have played a vital role in the success of the sporting goods industry,” said Matt Carlson, President & CEO. “Kep was an institution in the Nebraska sports community and he was an important contributor to NSGA. We are very sad to hear about Kep’s death and extend our deepest condolences to his family.”

Mr. Harding was a member of the NSGA Board from 1976-82. He also served as NSGA NOW May/June 2015

Mr. Harding was born Jan. 13, 1922 in Washington, Iowa, and graduated from Lincoln High School and the University of Nebraska. He served with the 14th Armored Division of the Army in Germany in World War II and was awarded a Silver Star.

Mr. Harding is survived by his wife Kay, his son Steve and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Ada Brookover.

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GLOBAL NOW

Retailers Challenged by Declining Numbers of Shopper Visits

By John Rand, Senior Vice President, Kantar Retail

In the course of the next year I am very pleased to share some observations on retail trends and concerns with the members of NSGA. For my introductory offer, I can think of nothing more important than the following trend of retailers visited by the average shopper: Since the start of the recession in late 2007, shoppers have gradually but steadily reduced the total number of retail outlets and websites, regardless of type, they visit in a month. Shoppers used to visit 12.4 retailers every month, and now that number is only 9.7. Meanwhile, the “core� portfolio, those outlets a shopper visits repeatedly, month after month, has been reduced from 5.8 to 4.6.

Getting shoppers into stores has been a bigger challenge for retailers since 2007.

This may not sound like all that much at first glance. Look at it another way, however: shoppers are visiting almost 28 percent fewer retailers each month than they did seven years ago. And if you are

one of the two or three retailers that shoppers have eliminated from their portfolio, your ability to sell to those shoppers is now zero.

Getting a shopper is hard. All the marketing and circulars, all the media and advertising we do is designed to get that shopper to come to the store. But getting a lost shopper to come BACK is even harder. Every moment a shopper is in your store is significant and precious.

No matter what tools you deploy for digital communications or social media, for mobile targeting or geo-location apps, no matter how much traditional print or TV, and no matter what loyalty promotions you run, the bottom line is still going to be the experience in the mind of the shopper. In the store or on the website, at the register or in the aisles, your total brand to the shopper is on the line every time.

John Rand is the Senior Vice President of Retail Insights for Kantar Retail, one of the leading retail consulting firms.

Rand focuses on supermarket, club and value discounter channels and advises retailers and suppliers with nearly five decades of experience in store operations and design, branded product sales, purchasing, merchandising, marketing, category management and consulting.

NSGA NOW May/June 2015

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Advocacy now

Monitoring the Variety of Advocacy Issues

By Larry Weindruch

March was a big time for the NSGA Advocacy team to spring into action. There were a number of national and state government issues as well as a rule-making issue where NSGA was fighting for your interests.

In that regard, NSGA reached out to its members whose businesses are located in the districts of House Judiciary Committee members and freshman Republican representatives to provide information that will “put a face” on the issue for these representatives. This is important, because opposition to e-fairness is aggressively working to prevent passage of any sort of legislation that would level the playing field.

PEP and PHIT NSGA President & CEO Matt Carlson and Director of the Team Dealer Division Larry Weindruch lobbied Congress in March on behalf of the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) and the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act, H.R. 1218.

They asked Congress to continue funding the 15-year-old PEP grant program, which provides funds to schools and community organizations for enhanced physical education programming. The PHIT Act would expand the definition of the

allowable expenses using pre-tax Health Savings Accounts to include health club fees, home exercise equipment, youth sports equipment and “pay to play” fees for interscholastic sports.

Illinois School PE Mandate On the state level, Weindruch attended an Illinois House committee hearing in Springfield to oppose a bill that would remove the physical education mandate in Illinois public schools. Unfortunately, Illinois is one of just five states that requires PE in grades K-12. The bill, introduced by Illinois State Representative Ron Sandack, faced strong opposition from the Democratic majority on the education committee, as well as overwhelming opposition from educators.

NSGA has advocated for the health and fitness of schoolchildren in Illinois through Physical Education classes for more than a decade. Scientific studies show that physical activity directly and positively influences academic achievement.

E-Fairness Nationally, NSGA continues to work on behalf of brick-and-mortar retailers to support e-fairness. On March 10, the U.S. Senate introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015, S. 698, which the Association hailed as the best solution to the ongoing challenge of competitive disadvantage created by a governmentsanctioned loophole in the sales tax collection system. This bill is essentially the same as the Marketplace Fairness Act, which passed the Senate in 2013 with an overwhelming bi-partisan majority.

Unfortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives did not consider the bill, which died at the end of the last legislative session. Earlier this month, the House circulated a draft of the Remote Transaction Parity Act of 2015.

NSGA will work with its Marketplace Fairness Coalition partners to achieve passage of a bill in 2015 that brings about sales tax fairness.

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May/June 2015 NSGA NOW

NSGA advocated for many months on behalf of members who rely on West Coast ports for timely delivery of their products.

NSGA urged the leaders of labor and management to reach a fair and timely agreement. When that didn’t occur, we wrote to President Obama and the Secretaries of Labor and Transportation, as well as other key administration officials.

When negotiations proved unproductive and the pace of work at the ports slowed, NSGA urged the President to send in a mediator, and eventually the Secretary of Labor helped settle their differences.

West Coast Ports Negotiations Now that a tentative five-year agreement has been reached between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), all that remains is for the rank and file membership of the union to ratify the agreement, which is expected to take place later this Spring.

NSGA NOW May/June 2015

Healthier America Summit NSGA attended the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit, which works with schools, industry and philanthropic organizations to provide an environment for America’s children to develop healthy eating and activity habits at a young age.

NFHS Baseballs The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Baseball Rules Committee is investigating how baseballs perform to determine if they need to meet a performance standard. The important issue would be an implementation date of any rule, so NSGA contacted retailers and team dealers about the length of time it would take them to clear their current inventory of baseballs, and also alerted them with a clarification about the situation.

For information on these or any issues affecting your business, please contact Larry Weindruch at NSGA, (800) 815-5422, ext. 1290, or email: lweindruch@nsga.org.

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insights now

2015 NSGA Research Reports Offer Something Familiar and Something New

By Nick Rigitano, NSGA Research Analyst

The lineup for the 2015 portfolio of NSGA research is all set. One of the big new additions NSGA is excited to introduce is its first-ever sporting goods shopper study: The Shopper Playbook: Insights into the Sporting Goods Shopper.

Understanding how consumers move through the shopping process is essential for revealing business growth opportunities. This study will explore key insights related to shopper influences, behaviors,

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and decisions along the purchase journey.

These insights will lead to recommended actions intended to maximize purchase conversion and customer satisfaction.

NSGA will also be releasing the latest editions of the Sports Participation and the Sporting Goods Market Retail Purchase reports. These industry leading, long-standing studies are essential tools in understanding participation and market trends, drivers of participation and

purchases and category adjacency and cross-promotional opportunities.

NSGA’s highly successful sports participation study has been executed for more than 30 years and is highly respected in the industry. The newest edition will measure the annual number of participants in a variety of sports/recreational activities and the frequency of participation during the calendar year of 2014.

May/June 2015 NSGA NOW

• Examine retail sales by channel of purchase (for calendar year 2014).

• Analyze consumer-reported purchases to support sales forecasting, inventory management and market sizing.

How can the Sports Participation Report be used?

• Research sport specific data for more than 50 sports/recreational activities.

• Provide statistical participation information to make educated decisions about participants, including market size and composition.

As part of NSGA’s research offerings, an easy-to-understand quick view snapshot is provided for each sport/activity. As an example, the Sports Participation Report includes a snapshot for each sport/activity that allows users to easily see a 10-year participation trend (when available) in addition to key demographic and geographic drivers of participation.

For more information on all of NSGA’s research reports please go to the NSGA website at www.nsga.org and click on the Research tab.

• Ideal for manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, and academics to determine how organizations should evolve in response to changing participation in sports and recreational activities.

In addition to the Sports Participation in the US Report, NSGA’s participation research includes Cross Participation, Lifecycle Demographics and Single Sport reports.

NSGA’s Sporting Goods Market Report is the most comprehensive original research on consumer-reported purchases of sports equipment and footwear. Based on an annual consumer survey, the report tracks more than 90 types of sporting goods equipment and 20-plus styles of athletic footwear, including demographics of these product users.

Did the trend of declining participation in tackle football continue in 2014? The 2015 Sports Participation Report will have the answer.

How can the Sporting Goods Market Report be used?

• Research category specific data for over 90 types of sporting goods equipment and 20+ styles of athleticfootwear.

• Uncover long term trends within segments and categories using 10 year history of overall sales (when available).

• Expose purchase demographics including household income, age and gender of major user, education of household head, and region of country for targeted marketing.

NSGA NOW May/June 2015

Purchasers of the 2014 Sports Participation Report would have learned there were 1.2 million participants in ice hockey between the ages of 7 and 17 in 2013.

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operations now

A Profitable Banking Strategy How It Can Help to Boost Your Bottom Line This Year and All the Years to Come

By William J. Lynott

penalty-free cash are never very far away when interest rates start their inevitable climb.

Don’t allow yourself to think that your bank will give you the best available rate when you allow a CD to roll over automatically It almost surely won’t. Always call or visit the bank to review all current interest rates for CDs, including any promotional rates that might be available. Banks often run promotions offering interest rates higher than their posted rates. An automatic renewal isn’t likely to get the better rate unless you ask.

Today’s challenging economy is forcing banks to find new ways to strengthen their bottom lines – and much of their success in that effort is coming at the expense of business customers like you. Hidden fees, higher service charges, confusing account options and wildly varying interest rates are just some of the techniques banks are using to pump up their profits - at your expense.

Most banks are quietly experimenting with different types of fees while watching one another closely to see how consumers respond, and you can expect their efforts to intensify. According to Kiplinger Reports, overdraft and credit-card fees jumped 5 percent in 2014, double the 2013 increase.

Late fees for credit payments are soaring and ATM fees jumped another 20 percent in 2014.

How will this affect you and your store?

One former banking executive estimates that you will likely overpay your bank through service charges, mortgages, credit cards, loans and checking and savings fees by thousands of dollars in the lifetime of your business, unless you learn how to play by the new rules of the game.

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Whether you’re paying interest or receiving interest, never be satisfied with the first offer Shop around before you sign. Bank deregulation has produced a competitive environment with wildly differing interest rates and bank charges. If you can find a better deal than your present bank is offering, take it. There is no reason for you to stick with a bank that isn’t competitive.

Consider certificates of deposit (CDs) as a place to stash your extra business or personal cash Considering today’s anemic interest rates, one of the best investment choices through your bank are CDs. One popular way to gain maximum advantage investing in CDs is to break up your total kitty into several equal parts and invest them in CDs with staggered maturity dates. This technique, called laddering, will allow you to take advantage of the highest available interest rates while ensuring that a maturing CD and its

Your bank will send you a reminder when each CD approaches its maturity date.

The notice will dutifully explain that you aren’t required to do anything at maturity.

If the bank doesn’t hear from you, they’ll just roll it over. That is, they’ll renew it for the same period as the original and pay you their current interest rate.

Sounds fair, so millions of busy business owners take that easy road. The banks love customers like that, but those people are making a mistake that you should avoid.

Keep a lid on bank charges According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), banks collected an astonishing $38 billion in 2014 in service fees from such things as assessing bad check charges. Estimates for 2015 call for more than $40 billion.

Some banks make you pay big penalties for small errors. Let’s say you accidentally overdraw your checking account. You have $500 in the account and you write three checks in one day. The first is for $10, the second for $20 and the third for $520. Some banks process such checks in order of size. In such a case, the $520 check would be processed first. That would mean all three checks, not just

May/June 2015 NSGA NOW

one, would bounce. Then you’d be hit with three separate bad check charges.

Besides an overdrawn account, you’d be out as much as $105 in painful overdraft charges (some banks are now charging $35 for each overdrawn check).

Never allow any of your money to lie idle If you don’t already have one, open a money market account at your bank and ask to have it linked to your business checking account for telephone or online transfers.

Deposit all of your daily receipts into the money market account where they will immediately start drawing interest. Never deposit receipts directly into your checking account. Keep a minimum balance in the checking account and transfer cash by phone or online only as needed to cover checks to be written.

whenever they use an ATM owned by a bank other than our own,” he said. Once that word got around, nearly every bank in town joined the cause. At last count, nearly 90% of banks are assessing ATM surcharges. Fees now average from $1 to $2 per transaction.

This outrageous situation presents another opportunity to keep the bank’s hands out of your pockets. If you’re paying anything at all for the use of ATMs, stop using them.

Cut up your ATM card and resume that old-fashioned practice of stepping inside the bank to transact your business.

treat you better? Will it exercise economies of scale in order to bring you better services?

Not likely. Experience is showing that some of the huge megabanks resulting from merger mania are raising inefficiency and customer alienation to undreamed of heights.

Is this an unthinkable step backward?

With your busy schedule, would it be a frightful inconvenience for you to do without ATMs? Of course not.

This isn’t the work of charlatans intent on robbing you blind; it’s simply the classic symptom of unwieldy bureaucracies grown to a size that defies the best of management intentions. Now, with new laws blurring the line between banks and other financial institutions such as insurance companies and stock brokerages, financial behemoths can only grow even larger.

Dumping your ATM card requires nothing more than a slight change in your timing.

Fortunately, solving this frustrating problem is relatively painless. Just search out

Once you arrange your schedule to visit your bank during banking hours, you’ve won the battle. With the extended banking hours offered by most banks these days, the whole process is a non-event.

the smallest FDIC member bank in your neighborhood and give it a try.

The banks have made this technique so easy to use that there is no longer any reasonable excuse for not using it. While even money market interest is anemic now, interest rates are bound to start their climb soon and you’ll be set to benefit when they do.

Get a divorce from those ATMs Remember when automatic teller machines (ATMs) came on the scene? That’s when the banks embarked on extensive marketing campaigns designed to persuade you to help them lighten their payroll load. Of course, they didn’t put it quite that way. Instead, the ads trumpeted how convenient and time saving it would be for you to use an ATM instead of bothering to visit a live cashier. What’s more, this new service would be free.

Millions of us took the bait. Once the public became hooked on ATMs, the predictable happened; some anonymous bank executive had a brainstorm. “Let’s levy a charge on customers’ accounts

Chances are you and your business has been a victim of merger mania at least once. That’s when you wake up one day to find out that the bank you’ve been doing business with is no longer around. It’s been merged with a strange new bank that promptly laid claim to your accounts.

NSGA NOW May/June 2015

However you do it, don’t allow your bank to charge you for withdrawing your own money.

Consider firing your bank Chances are that you and your business have been a victim of merger mania at least once. That’s when you wake up one day to find out that the bank you’ve grown comfortable with is no longer around. It has merged with a strange new bank that promptly laid claim to your accounts.

They’ll be delighted to welcome you and your business. They need you and they will appreciate you. You’ll receive more personal attention from a neighborhood bank than you’ll ever get from a financial goliath, with exactly the same insurance protection you receive from the largest banks.

Even at a small bank, you should follow the principles outlined here. But you’ll be doing it in a friendlier atmosphere. Fewer banking frustrations will leave you better prepared to enjoy your stroll down the path to increased profits.

Will this new bank, which is larger than the gross national product of some countries, 11

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CONGRATULATIONS @IanDesmond20

Mizuno Ambassadors on finding the next level of greatness.

VICTOR MARTINEZ 2014 Silver Slugger

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Team Dealer Market Finds New Home in North Carolina

locker room now

Mueller Sports Medicine Recognized by NFL

The 10th annual Team Dealer Market on June 8-10 is moving to a new location at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, NC. The show is attended by team dealers and sporting goods stores from the North Carolina and South Carolina areas and has spawned similar shows in Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

The Team Dealer Market concept began with a group of sales agents meeting at a team dealer football show in 2003 where attendance was very slow. Matt Navarro, the North Carolina/South Carolina agent for Wilson, Chuck Overman, the President of Overman and Associates and Don Leonard, the President of Crown Sports Sales, Inc., led the creation of the Team Dealer Market.

The June show has grown to where more than 150 team salesmen and buyers from North Carolina and South Carolina come to the show and use it as a way to increase their product knowledge.

The first Fall Team Dealer Market was held in October, 2011 in Charlotte, NC, and this year it will be Oct. 26-28 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.

The shows include many dealers from various buying groups. They are able to preview show specials with sales agents and it is also a great way for independent dealers to meet with various manufacturers and see all product lines in a two- to three-day time frame.

For more information about the Team Dealer Market contact teamdealermarket@gmail.com.

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Mueller Sports Medicine President Brett Mueller and Executive Assistant Sharon Barrett with the NFL recognition award.

Mueller Sports Medicine received NFL recognition for its long-standing support to the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society. For more than 15 years, Mueller has been a key partner, providing the support needed for the society to ensure that the highest quality of health care is provided to the National Football League and its players.

Mueller was founded in 1959 and is based in Prairie du Sac, Wis., and has been a long-time supporter and sponsor of the NSGA Management Conference and Team Dealer Summit. Sporting Goods Industry

Hall of Famer Curt Mueller, the founder of the family-owned company, was instrumental in launching the Team Dealer Summit.

Mueller offers a complete line of patented braces, supports, tapes and taping supplies and Quench Gum. The Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) is a professional association representing the NFL’s athletic trainers. PFATS serves the players of the NFL, member clubs and other members of the community with the purpose of insuring the highest quality of health care is provided to the NFL. May/June 2015 NSGA NOW

locker room now

NCAA Bans Football “Crop-Top” Jerseys, Overbuilt Facemasks; Explores Use of Technological Advances more frequently fail NOCSAE certification tests. Four NFL players wore non-standardized/overbuilt facemasks because of medical exemptions in 2013.

Research conducted by the University of New Hampshire for the NFL produced four reasons why the helmets with non-standardized/overbuilt facemasks are unsafe: • The added weight affects the helmet’s structural integrity during impact certification tests.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved rule changes March 5 which addressed a pair of illegal equipment issues in football. Jerseys tucked under shoulder pads or exposed back pads, known as “crop tops” and non-standard/overbuilt facemasks are prohibited for the 2015 football season.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott drew attention to the “crop-top” jersey by leading Ohio State to the national championship. In the 2015 season, a player whose uniform is in the “crop top” style will have to leave the field for one play. The equipment must be corrected for the player to come back into the game or he can stay in the game if his team took a timeout to correct the issue.

Ohio State fans even went so far as to start a petition on Change.org to convince the NCAA to reverse its ban on crop-top style jerseys. The issue also provided a rare common ground for Ohio State and its biggest rival as Michigan kick returner Dennis Norfleet also prefers the crop-top style jersey.

“You know, it seems like a silly rule, but it’s something you really can’t make that big of a deal about,” Ezekiel told ESPN. “It’s just a jersey. I love the game of the football, and it’s such a minute detail, so it’s just like, whatever.”

Non-Standard/Overbuilt Football Facemasks Banned: The NCAA decision to ban non-standard/overbuilt facemasks was based on research findings by the NFL, which banned them for safety reasons before the start of the 2014 season.

The NFL said the non-standardized facemasks present particular safety risks and NSGA NOW May/June 2015

• The added weight of the masks shifts the head’s center of gravity forward, which could fatigue the neck and result in a head-down posture during tackling.

• The smaller spaces in the mask increase the risk of another player’s finger getting caught between the bars, which could potentially result in a serious injury.

• The additional material may negatively affect a player’s behavior during contact and tackling from an added false sense of security.

Exploring technological advances: The Football Rules Committee also announced it is looking at the possible use of helmet cameras, tablets, computers and wireless communication during games.

The NCAA said the Football Rules Committee is interested in gathering data on the use of tablets and computers in team bench areas, coaching booths and locker rooms for coaching purposes. Teams are currently not allowed to use tablets or computers in the team bench area or coaching booths. Those devices are only allowed for medical personnel to collect student-athlete health and safety data.

Helmet cameras would be used to show footage from a player perspective. Wireless communication being considered would be from a coach to one player on offense and one player on defense.

Several conferences proposed experimenting with these rules and are hoping

for support from the Rules Committee, which formed a subcommittee to further explore these issues. Committee members see some positives in the technologybased proposals but want to gather more data.

Field Hockey Rule 1-6-5, which already required all field players to wear eye protection that meets the current ASTM standard for field hockey, will now include a note stating that, effective Jan. 1, 2019, all eye protection shall be permanently labeled with the current ASTM 2713 standard for field hockey.

Rules 1-5-6, 1-6-11 and 1-7-7 were also updated to alter the penalty system following the removal of a player for an illegal uniform or illegal/insufficient equipment.

Coaches will be assessed misconduct penalties as opposed to the player, and the player will be substituted out under normal substitution patterns. Previously, the offending player’s team was also required to relinquish possession to its opponent.

Rule 2-2-4 was altered to require a visible clock to be the official clock, if available.

If no visible clock is available, time will be kept at the officials’ table. Either way, the umpire’s whistle will signal the official end of each half. This was done to ensure that teams, officials and fans all have access to the same information.

US Lacrosse Extends Implementation Date for Women’s Eyewear Standard Change to 2017 The US Lacrosse Women’s Game Rules Subcommittee has agreed to extend the implementation date of the ASTM F3077 women’s lacrosse eyewear standard to Jan. 1, 2017.

The ASTM F803 and F3077 women’s lacrosse eyewear standards will be legal for play through Dec. 31, 2016. Starting in 2017 only ASTM F3077 will be considered legal for play.

15

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