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GCT teams to don Under Armour gear next year
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| From left, Shane Lamb, a sales representative of Southwest Sporting Goods, Tech head football coach Jeff Conaway and Under Armour regional sales manager David Mansfield, display Under Arnour gear at the GCT multi-purpose building Wednesday. GCT’s football team will be wearing Under Armour uniforms next season, Conaway said. Mike McKinney/Daily Press |
By Mike McKinney
sports@paragoulddailypress.com
Greene County Tech’s athletic teams will be sporting a new look next year.
No, the Eagles aren’t veering from their traditional green and gold colors. Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, GCT sports teams will don Under Armour apparel.
David Mansfield of Broken Arrow, Okla., regional sales manager for Under Armour, and Shane Lamb, a sales representative with Southwest Sporting Goods of Arkadelphia, were on the GCT campus on Wednesday and met with coaches to discuss “special pricing” for Tech sports teams and work out other details. They brought along several Under Armour jerseys and other sports gear that GCT coaches and athletes were able to view in the lobby of the multi-purpose building.
Standing next to a table covered with Under Armour gear, Mansfield said, “It’s a deal where we’re going to give them special pricing and give them a few things to boost their program, for the next couple of years ... we hope.”
Lamb and Mansfield talked with Tech basketball coaches Scott Bowlin and Ted Cunningham, softball coach Scott Wright and head football coach Jeff Conaway. Cunningham, the school’s athletic director, said coaches in every varsity sport at GCT will have the option of discussing the purchase of Under Armour gear for his/her team, and deciding whether their team will wear Under Armour apparel in the near future.
“We’ve got an agreement with them simply to provide us great pricing on Under Armour team wear,” Cunningham explained. “That’s basically the agreement. There is no contract. There are some of our teams that are definitely going to wear Under Armour next year. Some may be all and some may be part. There are some that might wear quite a bit, and that’s OK, if they choose to do that.”
Conaway said he was looking forward to seeing GCT athletes outfitted in Under Armour uniforms next season.
“This is going to be great for our kids and big for our school and big for our community. We feel like Under Armor is a very well known and prestigious company and we’re honored to be chosen to wear their logo,” Conaway said.
Tech would become the only northeast Arkansas school and the fifth in the state to have an exclusive agreement with the Baltimore, Md.-based company. The other Arkansas schools are Fayetteville, Springdale Har-Ber, Shiloh Christian and Greenwood.
“It’s obviously the best gear going. The other schools they’ve allowed to wear their logo have done very well for their programs,” Conaway said. “So it not only does it look great, it also kind of a stamp of approval and a sign of prestige for those teams that are lucky enough to get to wear them.”
The GCT coach said he was approached by Lamb a few months ago about joining the Under Armour “team”. Lamb and Conaway first became acquainted when Conaway was on the Shiloh Christian football staff. Conaway became GCT head coach last season after serving as an assistant in the Shiloh program
“Shane and I worked together at Shiloh, ordering different things,” Conaway explained. “Basically he contacted me one day and said ‘I’ve got one school to sponsor in north Arkansas and I would like for it to be you guys’. And I said ‘let’s do it.’”
Over the past 10 years, Mansfield said, Under Armour has been the fastest growing sports apparel company in the United States.
“We don’t try to do this with everybody,” Mansfield said of the agreement with GCT. “We try to find dealers who have good relationships with schools that are in the forefront of their classification and go with those guys.
“We’re extremely excited,” he added. “It’s a great deal for each program that takes part in it, and it’s going to be good for the school as a whole.”
Cunningham said the association with Under Armour is a reflection of the overall success of GCT’s athletic programs.
“The success of our total program is why they are here,” Cunningham said. “All of our programs, cheerleading to dance team and so forth, they have all been successful. We have had a good run here over the last three years. That’s where you gain the interest from Under Armour.”
In 2008-09, Tech has won state championships in cheerleading and boys basketball. GCT teams also qualified for state in volleyball and girls’ basketball.
No, the Eagles aren’t veering from their traditional green and gold colors. Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, GCT sports teams will don Under Armour apparel.
David Mansfield of Broken Arrow, Okla., regional sales manager for Under Armour, and Shane Lamb, a sales representative with Southwest Sporting Goods of Arkadelphia, were on the GCT campus on Wednesday and met with coaches to discuss “special pricing” for Tech sports teams and work out other details. They brought along several Under Armour jerseys and other sports gear that GCT coaches and athletes were able to view in the lobby of the multi-purpose building.
Standing next to a table covered with Under Armour gear, Mansfield said, “It’s a deal where we’re going to give them special pricing and give them a few things to boost their program, for the next couple of years ... we hope.”
Lamb and Mansfield talked with Tech basketball coaches Scott Bowlin and Ted Cunningham, softball coach Scott Wright and head football coach Jeff Conaway. Cunningham, the school’s athletic director, said coaches in every varsity sport at GCT will have the option of discussing the purchase of Under Armour gear for his/her team, and deciding whether their team will wear Under Armour apparel in the near future.
“We’ve got an agreement with them simply to provide us great pricing on Under Armour team wear,” Cunningham explained. “That’s basically the agreement. There is no contract. There are some of our teams that are definitely going to wear Under Armour next year. Some may be all and some may be part. There are some that might wear quite a bit, and that’s OK, if they choose to do that.”
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“This is going to be great for our kids and big for our school and big for our community. We feel like Under Armor is a very well known and prestigious company and we’re honored to be chosen to wear their logo,” Conaway said.
Tech would become the only northeast Arkansas school and the fifth in the state to have an exclusive agreement with the Baltimore, Md.-based company. The other Arkansas schools are Fayetteville, Springdale Har-Ber, Shiloh Christian and Greenwood.
“It’s obviously the best gear going. The other schools they’ve allowed to wear their logo have done very well for their programs,” Conaway said. “So it not only does it look great, it also kind of a stamp of approval and a sign of prestige for those teams that are lucky enough to get to wear them.”
The GCT coach said he was approached by Lamb a few months ago about joining the Under Armour “team”. Lamb and Conaway first became acquainted when Conaway was on the Shiloh Christian football staff. Conaway became GCT head coach last season after serving as an assistant in the Shiloh program
“Shane and I worked together at Shiloh, ordering different things,” Conaway explained. “Basically he contacted me one day and said ‘I’ve got one school to sponsor in north Arkansas and I would like for it to be you guys’. And I said ‘let’s do it.’”
Over the past 10 years, Mansfield said, Under Armour has been the fastest growing sports apparel company in the United States.
“We don’t try to do this with everybody,” Mansfield said of the agreement with GCT. “We try to find dealers who have good relationships with schools that are in the forefront of their classification and go with those guys.
“We’re extremely excited,” he added. “It’s a great deal for each program that takes part in it, and it’s going to be good for the school as a whole.”
Cunningham said the association with Under Armour is a reflection of the overall success of GCT’s athletic programs.
“The success of our total program is why they are here,” Cunningham said. “All of our programs, cheerleading to dance team and so forth, they have all been successful. We have had a good run here over the last three years. That’s where you gain the interest from Under Armour.”
In 2008-09, Tech has won state championships in cheerleading and boys basketball. GCT teams also qualified for state in volleyball and girls’ basketball.
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