DistrictWON provides quick solution to school team uniform challenges

Sometimes, it’s the last-minute uniform issues that cause sports programs the biggest headaches.

As any high school coach or athletic director knows, uniforms are what sports participants wear proudly to reflect that their team operates as a cohesive group. But when changes or additions to team uniforms are needed at the 11th hour, it can take the major apparel brands months to resolve those issues for high schools.

DistrictWON’s team apparel program, helps school athletic programs solve their uniform problems quickly and cost effectively, program director Danny Chalhoub said.

In one case, a coach turned to the company with just days to turn around an order.

Coach Scott O’Donnell, head football coach with Brookside High School in Sheffield Village, Ohio, said he discovered he needed uniform help just a week before the first game of the 2023 season.

“I needed white pants for our entire team and DistrictWON did a great job with customer service by getting those to us in a timely manner,” O’Donnell said.

The company was not only able to get the 18 pairs of pants to him, but also worked with a local decorator to get the team’s logo added to the pants and still complete the job the day before the game, Chalhoub said.

That ability to get coaches what they need when they need it is what differentiates DistrictWON.

“What sets DistrictWON and our brands apart are the three benefits our brands provide that the major brands can’t: 1) turnaround time, 2) customization without a price increase, and 3) the ability to replace ‘one at a time’ after the initial order,” Chalhoub said. “We pride ourselves on our customer service. Our clients only deal with one DistrictWON representative.”

DistrictWON can solve issues that other major brands may not be able to address, he said, and get high-quality uniforms to teams in less time. For instance, winter teams that find themselves with uniform needs in the fall may see the window of opportunity for them with other companies closing, he said.

 

“Without giving too much away, our clients still have time to place orders for winter season teams and receive the order before the season starts,” he said. “With the major brands, customers would have to place an order months and months in advance hoping to receive it by the start of the season. In many cases with the bigger brands, unfortunately, they can’t meet the deadline.”

Additionally, DistrictWON can provide a level of customization major brands can’t do, he said. Recently, a varsity football team in Ohio needed a very specific color for their uniforms. DistrictWON was able to help the team find the color it needed, he said.

“The client was very particular about the shade of one of their school colors,” Chalhoub said. “With our brand, we were able to provide three different color swatches of that particular shade so the client could choose the best option to meet his needs. None of the big brands would accommodate this and if they did, the cost would be extremely expensive. We provided the swatches free of charge and there was no additional cost to the specific shade added to the uniform.”

Coaches agree that the customized service provided for their uniform needs saved them during tight spots.

Michael Chiellino, the director of hockey at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio, said his women’s hockey team needed three new jerseys to replace older ones that were ripped. When he went to replace them, the previous uniform supplier had closed, so he turned to DistrictWON. While the typical minimum order is six pieces, he was able to work with his representative to get the three jerseys in time for the season.

“The rep approached us if we had any needs and I asked if this jersey replication was possible,” Chiellino said. “He was so accommodating. First class experience.”

Even larger orders can be turned around quickly, as well.

In the fall of last year at Avon High School in Avon, Ohio, athletic director Erich Frombach said he needed three jerseys for each of the varsity football team’s 20 new team members. Because the uniforms were a few years old, the major brand the school had previously dealt with was unable to accommodate the style it needed. Instead, Frombach turned to DistrictWON. He was able to get the team’s new uniforms in about two weeks.

Chalhoub said DistrictWON is able to work with school teams from just about any sport to provide them with uniforms, as well as warm-up gear, travel gear, practice gear and other needs. Providing uniforms quickly and at an attractive cost gives coaches and athletic directors one less thing to worry about, he said.

“Our clients can essentially eliminate the worry or fear of their order not being delivered on time,” Chalhoub said.

Farmers Insurance’s White pays it forward to Evans High School athletics 

 For Farmers Insurance agent Antonio White in Martinez, Ga., supporting the nearby Evans High School athletics department is all about paying it forward.

 White said as a child he benefited from the contribution other businesses made to his school sports teams.

 “When I grew up in school, one of my friends, Patrick, his uncle was a local business owner and he supported us when we played,” White said. “Even when we really weren’t that good – which we thought we were – he supported us. Then when we went to the local high school, he helped us out with incidental stuff that we didn’t realize we needed. He was helping kids get things that they couldn’t afford so they could play sports and have fun in high school.”

 In recent years, White and Farmers Insurance have contributed to the school’s athletics department through a partnership facilitated by Ohio-based DistrictWON, a marketing consultant that builds community ties by linking company brands with schools. This year, White’s contribution helped the school purchase uniforms for the girls’ basketball team.

 “Over the past few years, the uniforms contributed by Antonio White have been a huge hit with our players and the students and fans,” said Kevin Kenny, head girls’ basketball coach at Evans High School located in Evans, Ga. “Each game we wear the ‘special uniforms;’ the kids love it and the student section usually does a theme like a ‘White Out.’ The players always want to wear them in tournaments in which we wear white, being the home team. You would be surprised how much a uniform means to a student-athlete!”

 White said that while the Farmers Insurance advertising displayed at school events is good for his business, he’s more concerned with the impact it has on the community.

 “It’s cool to have the advertising because you want people to see it, but from the standpoint of watching the kids and to see how much fun they’re having, that’s what’s good for me,” White said.

 That kind of support from area businesses helps with team spirit, said Richard Beale, Evans High School athletic director.

 “Having the support of the local community is huge to our athletic program,” Beale added. “Student-athletes appreciate having new uniforms and new equipment to use.”

 Local sponsorships like White’s have an enduring effect on the department as well.

 “Having a local sponsorship is huge for our athletic department. We have been fortunate to get new uniforms and with this year’s donation we will spread this to some of our other sports teams,” Beale said.

 It is a tradition that White and Farmers Insurance are happy to continue.

 “When I was a kid, those contributions taught me appreciation,” he said. “A kid may not have opportunities, but if we give them resources, it gives them the opportunity to make better choices. I’ve seen choices that my friends made that were not good. I would rather for the kid to have a choice to play versus going out and doing something to mess their life up.”

 Rocky River, Ohio-based DistrictWON creates meaningful brand connections within local communities through marketing partnerships between businesses and high schools. For more information on how to reach high school students, parents and administrators in a way that truly makes a difference in the community, visit https://www.districtwon.comhttps://www.facebook.com/districtwon, or follow https://twitter.com/districtwon on Twitter.

Thomas W. Harvey Red Raiders find team player in Classic Buick GMC Painesville

Giving back to the Painesville, Ohio, community by helping student-athletes is an important part of the Classic Buick GMC mission, says owner Ralph Wilson.

Classic Buick GMC provided funding to the Thomas W. Harvey High School in Painesville to outfit four entire teams in custom premium uniforms. For Wilson, the contribution meant helping kids in the community where his children grew up.

“I do have two children who are grown now and they did play sports in high school,” he said. “Sports itself is a wonderful thing in high school. It’s great with all the distractions there are and all the bad things that kids can get involved in. Being involved in sports is good and takes up their time so they’re not doing things we’d rather they weren’t doing.”

Mick Mohner, athletic director for Thomas W. Harvey High School, said the contribution facilitated through DistrictWON will make a positive impact on the program.

“The partnership with DistrictWON and Classic Buick GMC has been very beneficial to Painesville City Athletics. The cost of running an athletic program is not cheap, so to receive four sets of uniforms in which our coaches designed, eases some of that financial burden,” Mohner said. “The four sets of new uniforms definitely had a positive impact and instilled more pride in our athletic programs.”

Furthermore, an additional financial contribution from Classic Buick GMC was utilized to purchase graphics software to increase the high school’s social media footprint and also create a new website dedicated to Red Raider Athletics, Mohner said.

“This partnership will resonate as the public starting point for increasing exposure of Red Raider Athletics within the community,” Mohner said. “Our athletic administration’s job is like an iceberg: 90 percent of the work we do is beneath the surface and is not visible to the public. Mr. Marwin Walling, the previous AD, did a fantastic job of taking care of the below-surface work to put us in a position to take advantage of great partnerships like this one.”

For Wilson, having a positive impact on the local community was the driving consideration when deciding to partner with Thomas W. Harvey High School.

“The schools need all the help we can give them,” he said. “If we can help them financially, that’s money that they can spend somewhere else. I think it’s a great cause and I applaud DistrictWON for bringing this to us.”

Rocky River, Ohio-based DistrictWON creates meaningful brand connections within local communities through marketing partnerships between businesses and high schools. For more information on how to reach high school students, parents and administrators in a way that truly makes a difference in the community, visit https://www.districtwon.comhttps://www.facebook.com/districtwon, or follow https://twitter.com/districtwon on Twitter.