An All-Student Partnership, a new logo,
and a reimagined school store help drive Vallejo High School revenue
Working on a
tight budget, Vallejo High School has come up with an innovative way to
capitalize on its All-Student Partnership uniform program and increase revenues
for the school.
Athletic
Director and Head Baseball Coach Josh Ramos runs the athletic department like a
business. When he took over as AD three years ago and looked at the operation,
Ramos realized the school needed to visually upgrade the Redhawks logo,
consolidate athletic purchases to get a larger discount, and enter into an
All-Student Partnership Nike uniform deal. The annual rebates from the deal
allow Vallejo to stock the school store with Nike gear branded with the new
Vallejo logo.
“Each sport
used to individually buy whatever was on sale,” Ramos says. “We decided to go
to Eastbay Team Sales, and Matt Pantazes, an Eastbay Area Sales Manager, helped
us put an all-school program together around Nike. It was a great opportunity
to partner with Eastbay and Nike. The whole school has head-to-toe Nike gear —
the band, phys ed. classes, leadership classes…”
Working with
Eastbay, Vallejo created an on-campus school store stocked with Nike product
such as hoodies, backpacks, shorts, tees, and hats branded with the new logo.
“We sold out of everything at orientation,” Ramos says. “We bought back into
more product, and it’s gone again. The kids love it.”
The plan was
for Vallejo to maximize its uniform purchase with Eastbay each year and use the
Eastbay rebate to stock the store, Ramos says. “It took just one year to build
our rebate level, and since 100% of the rebate goes to restocking the student
store, we don’t have to pay anything additional for student store product,” he
says.
Selecting
product for the store is done by a leadership steering committee made up of
Ramos, Activities Director and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Andrew Johansen, and
Head Finance Officer and Women’s Soccer Coach Mallory Walton. (The three are
frequent collaborators on larger athletic department decisions as well.)
Sales aren’t
limited to students. A physical school store is set up at athletic events to
sell Vallejo-branded gear to parents, supporters, and alumni.
Small Business Challenges
For Ramos, the
parallels to the business world range beyond driving revenue for the school.
“As I look at
the athletic department as a small business, I’m the owner, and my job is to
train everybody,” Ramos says. “My job is to get the coaches on the same page,
teach our kids how to conduct themselves, set the expectations, and establish
the procedures.”
Challenges
vary each year, Ramos says. Finding great coaches is the first priority and
setting up regular communication with them follows suit.
Vallejo hosts
one large meeting at the beginning of the year with every coach, assistant, and
volunteer to get everyone acclimated with new rules and new staff. In addition,
Ramos meets with coaches three times a year for the fall, winter, and spring
sports programs.
“We also have
pre- and post-season meetings with coaches to review performance, to discuss
what they want to accomplish for the season, and whether they met those goals,”
Ramos says. “It’s a very positive atmosphere. Every coach needs to receive
constructive feedback on their performance through someone else’s eyes to help
them build their program.”
Innovative leadership programs have
helped Johns Creek athletes create a path for life after high school
Since Jason Holcombe took over as
athletic director at Johns Creek High School (just northeast of Atlanta), the school
has made a name for itself not just through its athletic programs, but from its
approach to education and creating leadership opportunities for its students.
Academically, Johns Creek is among
the top 2 percent of schools in Georgia and has a graduation rate of 97
percent. The school is a proponent of athletics, arts, and academics, and its
high standards are reflected in its athletic program.
Johns Creek is competitive in every
one of its 16 sports. Three years ago, the school was reclassified into a
smaller tier and was able to face schools its own size (enrolment of 2,100)
rather than schools with twice the population. It now regularly sends teams to
state finals in 90 percent of its sports. And Holcombe works to make sure all
sports are equally supported.
“As an AD, the goal is to make
school pride infectious for all sports,” he said. “We are all Gladiators, and
we want to make sure the school and community provide support to all programs.”
While the school strives for
athletic excellence, Holcombe sets the bar higher for Johns Creek. “Our job is
to prepare young men and women to be equipped to face life’s challenges after
graduation. They learn to win and lose with grace and how to come back stronger
when faced with obstacles.”
As part of a holistic leadership
philosophy, Johns Creek has created several innovative programs:
Rebranding,
school pride, and new revenue
“We needed to modernize our
branding,” Holcombe said. “It was time for all our teams to have a unified
look. Consistency and feel are important. When the kids get off the bus or walk
down the school hallway, they should look like Johns Creek athletes.”
Eastbay helped adapt the primary
logos to specific sports. “Eastbay created an online photo repository for
different variations of the logo for every sport,” Holcombe said. “Coaches were
inspired to suggest new ideas for their own logo variations.”
Once finalized, Johns Creek began
building online team stores to help promote the school and drive revenue.
“Coaches have done a tremendous job
of getting their online team stores live,” Holcombe said. “They work with
Eastbay to pick out the product, which is posted for the parents and community
to look at. The ordering is online, and items ship directly to the customer, so
they don’t have to do any physical work. Eastbay’s been a great partner for
us.”
Special
Needs program support
Johns Creek has created a
remarkably inclusive and supportive relationship with special needs students.
In addition to mentoring the students academically, members of the athletic
teams embrace the opportunities to get them involved with sports programs.
“Special needs students have served
as managers on our teams,” Holcombe said. “One student in a wheelchair — we
call him Coach — attends every baseball game, home or away, and presents the
line-up card to the umpire. He’s really part of the team. It wouldn’t be a
Johns Creek baseball game without that student in attendance.”
Johns Creek organized a send-off
for the Special Olympics basketball team. “The drumline and cheer team were
there, and 150-250 students made a tunnel for those athletes as they were getting
on the bus,” Holcombe said. “It was huge. The look in their eyes was amazing.”
Strong promotion of multisport participation
Getting athletes involved in more
than one sport is a key component in the Johns Creek philosophy, Holcombe said.
“Studies have shown that
multiple-sport athletes are more involved, get better grades, and have a more
positive outlook. The experience and discipline helps them develop their
problem-solving, leadership, and interpersonal skills for later on in life.”
The athletic department tracks
athletes’ grades and brings in guest speakers (including local pro athletes and
alumni) to talk about topics such as social media awareness, managing
schedules, and leadership. “The guest speakers help students understand that they’re
held to a higher standard and how to prioritize and deal with pressure,”
Holcombe said.
The Sierra Canyon High School boys’
and girls’ program is in elite territory
Sierra Canyon High School
(Chatsworth, Calif.) pulled off a rare feat in spring 2019 — both the boys and
girls teams took home California State championships on the same night in
March.
In fact, the Trailblazers can make
the argument that the basketball program is one of the best in the country.
During the 2018-19 run, the boys’
team, led by first-year coach Andre Chevalier, outpaced Sheldon High School
(Sacramento) in the title game. The girls took the banner with a convincing win
over another historically strong high school team, Pinewood (Los Altos Hills).
“We have a culture of success
here,” says Boys Head Basketball Coach Andre Chevalier. “Our guys compete on
the court and are pushed in the classroom too. That’s one of the things that
was attractive to the players and their parents.”
The girls’ team has arguably been
even more dominant than the boys’ team in recent years. The state championship
marked their fourth in the past seven years under Head Basketball Coach Alicia
Komaki. The girls’ program had a single loss all year and took a run at an
overall national #1 title.
“That team was special,” Komaki
says. “They worked hard. They didn’t take days off. They wanted to learn and
get better. “I enjoy seeing the growth as a person and an athlete,” she says.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure these girls are prepared for life after
high school.”
Eastbay
partners with Sierra Canyon
Eastbay has an all-school deal with
Sierra Canyon and helped the team fulfil their uniform needs.
Sierra Canyon wears the Nike
Digital Unlimited home and away uniforms, and seniors pick and design the
jerseys.
The relationship began in 2015 when
Eastbay Team Sales Rep Tony Cubillo provided uniforms to Komacki and the girls’
basketball program. “From there, other sports started seeing the service I
offered, and eventually it turned into an all-student partnership in 2018,”
Cubillo says.
“I’m just very happy to work with a
first-class program like Sierra Canyon,” Cubillo says. “I appreciate their
trust in me to service the sports programs.”
Cubillo works with Sierra Canyon
Assistant Athletic Director David Soble to coordinate the timing for all school
orders, and works with individual coaches on sizing, delivery, and other needs.
Coaches also partner with Eastbay to organize team stores and spirit pack bulk
orders.
