Posts Tagged ‘Youth Sports’
The Importance of a Mouthguard
August 23rd, 2010 by Ben Remington
With football season almost at full tilt, and hockey season just over the horizon, mouthpieces (or mouthguards) are of ultimate importance, as their role in protection from dental injury(Just ask Duncan Keith), and also head injury in general has grown over the years. Concussion prevention, as I have mentioned before, is a hot button topic from the NFL down to Pop Warner, and mouthpieces play an integral role in prevention, by providing a cushion between the jaws during impact. Many studies have been done to prove the benefits of mouthguard use to that effect.
Gone are the days of a flimsy molding of plastic coating your teeth to protect you, as innovations in the field have made leaps and bounds over the years, thanks to industry pioneers like Shock Doctor and others, who have breathed new research and technology into the construction of mouth protection. Some of the innovation comes from the materials used, as new plastics and differing properties of those plastics have allowed for multi-layered mouthpieces. Other innovations lie in the design, as breathing has been made easier, and comfort and reliability has been made a priority towards new models.
Mouthpieces typically come in either a youth or adult size, with the cutoff being somehwere around age ten. If a youth mouthguard does not fit, but an adult one is too big, trimming the adult piece is easy with just a pair of scissors, and then forming the mouthguard from there. Most mouthpieces are formed by quickly putting them into boiling water, with the amount of time differing by model, then applying the mouthpiece to your teeth, biting down and allowing the softened plastic to take shape.
Virtually every governing body in football and hockey require mouthpieces to be worn at all times all the way up to the high school level, so not only is it a good idea that you or your child have a mouthguard, it could be a 5 yard or 2 minute penalty if they don’t. The benefits clearly out weigh the usually affordable price of a mouth guard, as they’ll range from the basic $3 style to high end models around $20-$25 and even further up to full custom built mouthguards, like the one featured in our giveaway this week that rings in a whopping $150 retail.
Sports Authority Partners with US Youth Soccer
April 3rd, 2010 by Cale Loken
The top Sporting Good Retailers seem to battle it out when it comes to getting their name out there. Whether it is display or search advertising online, tv commercials or good old fashion working with the communities, they go toe to toe to try and get the most customers coming to their stores. I cant blame them, this is always the case, which seemed to be dominated by Dick’s Sporting Goods(DKS), but recently The Sports Authority(TSA) has made a push with tv commercials and reaching out to the local community. I noticed that in a recent survey, when you ask a customer what is the first sporting goods store that comes to mind; around 42% said Dick’s Sporting Goods and 32% said Sports Authority. This is true because Dick’s Sporting Goods has been everywhere including spending a lot of time on ESPN.com as well as the ESPN Network.
Dick’s has done a great job in local communities, mores specifically high schools, middle schools, athletic associations including youth sports. 
Over the years, Sports Authority has been slow to get their message out. They take a more of a wait and see approach on where to spend advertising money. So it takes me to the title of this article, which is the partnership with US Youth Soccer. I like the move by Sports Authority, which will get coupons and specials out into the local youth soccer communities much easier. Sports Authority will be featured on USYouthSoccer.org and at US Youth Soccer events. Related member benefits will also be communicated through the US Youth Soccer e-newsletters. “We are very excited to be the official sporting goods retailer of US Youth Soccer,” said Jeff Schumacher, Chief Marketing Officer of Sports Authority. “This partnership has long-lasting potential because we share the passion for our nation’s youth being active in sports, promoting the development of a healthy lifestyle, and the growth of soccer in the U.S. We look forward to providing great value to US Youth Soccer members for years to come.”
As far as Sports Authority’s soccer selection goes, it is fairly decent, they usually have a large assortment of soccer products in stock at every store. Maybe this move will make Sports Authority expand into other brands or more specialty soccer items. Although I do believe Sports Authority is behind Dick’s Sporting Goods on message and connecting with customers, I believe they will play catch up with them and this was a move to help them do that.