Team dealers pay attention: Girls’ wrestling is taking over the mats in America, according to Chad Clark, senior VP at Cliff Keen Athletic. In fact, Clark predicts that girls’ wrestling is poised for another eye-opening year of growth.

Team Insight looks at the ‘specialty sports’ that keep dealers’ doors open year-round.

Soon after the completion of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, OK, in early June, which was broadcast again on ESPN, contributor Mike May caught up with ESPN softball color analyst/former two-time U.S. Olympic (1996 and 2000) Softball Gold Medalist Michele Smith...

It is certainly fair to say that Oklahoma City, OK, is the heartbeat of softball – both fast-pitch and slow-pitch – in the U.S. In fact, Oklahoma City has also been declared as the Softball Capital of the World.

It is certainly fair to say that Oklahoma City, OK, is the heartbeat of softball – both fast-pitch and slow-pitch – in the U.S. In fact, Oklahoma City has also been declared as the Softball Capital of the World.

According to research by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), participation in and fast-pitch softball is nearly back to where it was pre-COVID.

The best way to find out just how strong the baseball and fast-pitch softball games are faring in the United States is to go straight to the source — the major associations in charge of those two sports at the youth level.

As the governing bodies, players, coaches, fans, umpires, manufacturers, retailers, team dealers and sponsors in baseball and fast-pitch softball navigate their way through 2023, it’s fair to say that the negative impact of the COVID pandemic on both sports has...

Solid – if not quite spectacular – growth in sports apparel, sporting goods equipment and licensed products spurred a strong showing for sales in the U.S. sports and fitness market last year.

Any team dealer looking for a growth category in the traditional world of football need look no further than girls’ flag football. Yes, you read that correctly.

Team dealers certainly don’t need any more convincing on why they should put significant effort into selling to female athletes.

Baby boomers are getting more active. But too many Americans are still inactive. Yet overall, the outlook for sports participation and activity is good, with the silver linings darkened by a few storm clouds.

As the team sports business transitions on the sports calendar away from winter to the spring season, the outlook for fast-pitch softball couldn’t be better, especially at the high school level.

‍There are more girls playing sports in Texas and California than boys and girls total in 48 other states ... and other trivia.

Team sports participation trends in the U.S. are solid, but not spectacular, but at least they are improving. That’s perhaps the best way to summarize the most current figures in the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) 2022 U.S. Trends in Team Sports Report.

With its abundant sunshine and warm weather even in January, in Florida baseball is played year round, especially in the central and southern sections of the Sunshine State.

If you look at the facial expressions and body language of baseball players, the most enthusiastic ones are not the players who are winning the Little League World Series in Williamsport every August or the triumphant teams at the NCAA’s Division I College World Series in Omaha in June.

Team sports participation trends in the U.S. are solid, but not spectacular, but at least they are improving. That’s perhaps the best way to summarize the most current figures in the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) 2022 U.S. Trends in Team Sports Report.

For insight into the state of wrestling as the 2022-23 season winds down, it is best to turn to someone on the front lines of the sport. And his opinion is that the future looks pretty bright.

With Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers set to report to Spring Training in warm locales from Florida to Arizona, can the youth, high school and college seasons be far behind?

There’s a natural ebb and flow to the game of football that is familiar to everyone. After all of the pre-game pageantry, pep talks and refreshments, there are four quarters of action punctuated by some timeouts, two-minute warnings and injuries.

Man cannot live on bread alone. That is a tried-and-true belief passed down through the centuries. Now, in 2022, as everyone attempts to return to some sort of post-pandemic normalcy, in the world of team sports, that maxim can be expanded to say that team dealers cannot live...

On the surface, youth baseball and fast-pitch softball appear to be thriving — and they are in many cases if you take a look at playing fields and bleachers across America. But, to use an apt metaphor, in many cases both sports are chugging into third base...

While the major sports of football, baseball, softball and basketball continue to grab the most headlines and attention at high schools across America, participation is thriving in the so-called specialty sports in every corner of the country.

At all levels of play baseball and fast-pitch softball remain an integral part of the youth sporting scene in America. Sure, they all face their challenges in participation and product availability...