BSN/Conlin Bros. Sporting Goods and the Commission on Athletics have agreed to a three-year contract making the sporting goods manufacturer the exclusive official hard goods equipment supplier of the COA.
BSN/Conlin Bros., which manufactures heavy duty athletic equipment like batting cages, gymnasium wall padding and outdoor tennis court wind screens, is also the official sports licensee for McGregor Sports, Port-A-Pit, Champion Barbell Equipment, and many others, noted John Bals, national sales manager for Sport Supply Group, the Dallas-based parent company of BSN/Conlin Bros.
Among many other large-scale items now available at discount prices to COA member colleges through BSN/Conlin Bros are baseball and softball backstops, pitching machines, soccer goals, track and field pit areas and hurdles, free weight and station-to-station body-building equipment, basketball goals and backboards, indoor and outdoor scoreboards, and volleyball net standards.
"We've been a direct supplier, not a retail dealer, to institutional markets for the past 25 years," Bals said. "This agreement gets us closer to the high school and college market. We're very excited to be the official supplier of these kinds of hard goods to the California community colleges and we think that the colleges will be pleased with the value-added services that will mean great discounts to them."
BSN/Conlin Bros now has a link on the COA Web site home page, www.coasports.org., which will take visitors to the COA's own sign-up and ordering page on the BSN/Conlin Bros web site. The direct URL address is www.bsnsports.com/coa. Bals said the COA product ordering page would be structured for the convenience of college athletic purchasers.
He noted that BSN/Conlin Bros has recently branched out into athletic and coaching apparel and is offering Reebok uniforms for athletes in several sports and Antigua gear for coaches.
BSN/Conlin Bros can also help college athletic departments with fund-raising projects through its internal sales department, Bals said.
As an exclusive supplier, BSN is entitled to a host of COA benefits, including banners at COA championship events, full-page advertisements in all championship programs, ad banner on the COA web site and exhibit space at the annual spring membership convention.
"We are extremely pleased to bring a company with the versatility of BSN/Conlin Bros into the COA family as one of our growing number of corporate partners," said Commissioner Dr. Joanne A. Fortunato. "We are impressed with the large array of products this innovative company has to offer and we are certain our membership will appreciate the value that is provided."
