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Inspirational Quotes from Black Sports Icons

As much as we all love to play various sports as kids, few of us are good enough to win a college scholarship, let alone become a professional in our sport. Even fewer go on to become true sports legends – athletes who inspire us, people we want to...

The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Mentorship

Our youth have lost so much social interaction throughout the pandemic, especially kids who have missed out on playing their beloved team sports. One way coaches can help young athletes resume meaningful relationships is through peer-to-peer...

7 New Year’s Resolutions for Coaches and Athletes

We laugh at making New Year’s resolutions. Yeah, right, we say. Our intentions are good, but our follow-through? Not so much. But with 2020 officially in our rear view mirror (and not a moment too soon!), we all hope 2021 will be a major...

4 Tips To Identify the Best Youth Sports Organizations in Your Area

The data from a recent Sports + Community survey we conducted paints a compelling picture: involvement in sports brings people together, nurtures connections, and increases happiness. So now that the benefits are clear, how can your or your child...

15 Inspiring Sports Quotes for Athletes and Coaches Alike

As a high school track runner, my coach always prepped me to greet my opponents and “kill them with kindness.” His words have always stuck with me, as he taught me how important it is to be kind to everyone you come across, whether a competitor or...

Why Flag Football is all the rage

What Really Matters to Youth Sports Coaches

Coaches serve the needs of their players – skill-building, strategy, etc. They also serve their organization, giving it a winning name even when it’s not a winning season. To accomplish all that, coaches need some things from their players in...

You Go, Girl!

A uniform is a powerful thing. Last yearGlamour magazine published a look back at early women’s sports uniforms, describing styles that were initially uncomfortable and outright sexist and noting that women’s sports gear has finally become more...

How to Be a Hit with Your New Team

Every year, returning to play as school gets underway again is exciting. Especially this year. You’ve been separated from teammates, at least in an up-close physical sense, and the rules relating to contact and health safety will make this season’s...

Youth Sports Help Shape More Successful Adults

It is easy to make a list of benefits youngsters derive from playing sports. Or is it? You might be surprised to find that the list is quite a bit longer than you imagined. The topic has been studied over and over again, so there is plenty of...

Staying Safe as We Return to Play

How are we to play it safe as we return to sports play? It’s the big question on everyone’s mind these days as we emerge from isolation and head back onto the field or court. It is so exciting to finally reconnect, but health officials are concerned...

Returning to Play – How Will It Feel? What Will It Mean?

We’re getting our lives back, bit by bit. For sports enthusiasts of all ages that means a return to play. This is exciting indeed, especially for youth that have been kept away from their friends and teammates as well as their favorite sports. But...

Why Losers Win

If winning is the only option, why do we compete? Losing is essential. Losing is an everyday experience, whether it's racing to make a traffic light or missing the game-winning shot. So why don't we focus on losing?After all, losing makes winning...

Gifts for the Fantasy Football Players in Your Life

As anyone who’s ever lived with a fantasy football player (or who just watches The League) knows, they can get very, very into their fantasy league. It’s the sort of hobby that can become the center of a person’s life. With the holidays coming up,...

Tips for Staying in Shape over the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be brutal on your body due to the amount of goodies that are readily available to you. Getting out of shape over the holiday season is something that most people just accept. However, this doesn't have to be normal for you....

Reducing Game Penalties

It’s rare that any sporting game be completely void of penalties or infractions of the rules. While it may be different to completely eliminate game penalties, there are ways to minimize game-day penalties. Let’s take a look at some tactics that can...

Holiday Nutrition Tips For Young Athletes

The holiday season is almost in full swing, and that means food, food and more food! With Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas ham, cookies, cakes and pies, it doesn't get more tasty than that!

Being Mentally Prepared For Sports

For every sport, regardless of what it is, you have to be mentally prepared for the game. You can't just decide to try out for a sport one day and expect to succeed—that’s not how it works for the majority of people at least. As much as sports...

Basketball Nutrition Fundamentals

At times, playing basketball is akin to running a marathon—running up and down the court. All of that running back and forth expends huge amounts of energy and calories, and if you aren't taking in the right nutrition, you're liable to flag in the...

Young Football Players: Choose What to Control

When you start out onto that field during your first football practice, it’s good to focus on your main goals for joining the team. Most likely, you love the game, you love team sports and you’re excited for the challenge that waits in the season...

Softball Drills: 10U Defense Fundamentals

The beginning of competitive softball begins in the 10U leagues, where winning and losing starts to make a difference. Lower league ages are more for fun than anything else, where as the higher youth ages signal the start where competition takes...

2016 2nd Quarter Sports Science News

Baseball Surviving the Final Inning

The final inning. You and the team have made it, and you are either going to have to score, if you are behind, or hang on for the win, if you are ahead. It doesn't matter whether it's softball, hardball, pee-wee, high school, college or pro,...

Sports Nutrition Trends of 2016: Feeding Your Body to Fuel Your Sport

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rolling out new food label standards in 2016, nutrition is bound to be a top-priority topic in America. As more of the general public becomes aware of added sugars in foods and actual amounts of vitamins...

Football: Surviving Spring Training

You've got to make it out of spring training before you can play real football, but you don't want to beat yourself down to the point that you won't be any good for the regular season. So here is the way to survive spring training and be ready for...

Softball Drills to Train the Eye

Unlike hardball, softball is really a different game altogether. The ball is bigger, the game plays out a bit slower, and fielding is easier. That said, it is still a very competitive sport, and it is one of the more popular types of baseball around...

Sports Nutrition For The Youth Athlete

Nutrition is important for any athlete – especially the young athlete. But, are sports nutrition requirements different for children? “Largely no,” say the experts. Adult athletes and children athletes need the same basic sports nutrition: excellent...

Baseball: Coming Back From the Loss

Going into every season, we all like to believe that our baseball team is invincible. No one thinks their team is going to lose, yet losing is as much a part of the game as winning is.

Which Lacrosse Position is Better For You

Okay, let's cut to the chase here. You've just started playing, you are looking at all of the Lacrosse positions on the field, and you are wondering where you are going to fit in. Attacker, middie, defender or goalie, you may think you are right for...

Developing the winning baseball mind

Let's put the ball on the mound here and figure out what it takes to play baseball. If you can't run, hit or pitch, perhaps it's time to rethink your goals.

Choosing the Right Body Fuel for Endurance Running

So, maybe you're a good distance runner. You do a lot of miles in training, you keep yourself in shape and you don't gorge yourself during meals. It's all good, right? Like I said, you're a good distance runner, but if you want to be a great...

Super Foods for Athletic Endurance

Great nutrition is one of the building blocks that make a great athlete. Performance, practice and conditioning aside, it comes down to simply what you are putting in your body that truly affects your abilities and endurance as an athlete. Super...

5 Tips for Being a Great Teammate

As a member of a sports team, it’s more important than anything to work as a group and strive for the same goals. Part of those goals should be to become the best teammate you can be to your fellow players. Here are 5 tips for being a great...

Women's Lacrosse Training Tips: A Modern Twist

Getting ready for the upcoming Lacrosse season should include a mix of cardio and strength workouts, as well as ball throwing, catching and stick training to improve your game. If your team is a bit sick of the typical 5-mile endurance run or the...

5 Ways to Get Faster for Track

If you’re a runner, you’d better be running. Every day, because running is not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle without seasons. I remember a sentence in a Tony Veney article (Veney is the coach for the Bruins’ men’s sprints, hurdles and relay teams.)...

Baseball: The Pitching Advantage

As you all know, in baseball land, everything starts with the pitcher. Until that first pitch is thrown, you might as well be having a tea party, because nothing else is going to happen.

4 Killer Tips to Master Your Lacrosse Shot

We are going to give you 4 killer tips on how to master your Lacrosse shot, and if you follow them, you'll be a better shooter. If you don't, and the opposing team does, well, good luck to you on defense. You'll need it.

Take the Advantage: Top Ten Reasons to Prepare for Baseball Spring...

The season is almost here – that nice green season with budding trees, chirping birds and fresh cut grass. The smell of the field… the mud on the shoes… That’s right – it’s almost time for baseball spring training. There’s no time like the present...

The Best Pre-Season Prep Drills for Lacrosse

The Lacrosse season begins soon – in April – and you’d better get moving if you want your team to be prepared for the season ahead. Any good Lacrosse coach knows that performance during the season is affected by the players' off-season training....

The Lacrosse Faceoff Specialist: Fan or Foe

The Lacrosse faceoff specialist. Now there's a topic for debate, isn't it? It's the only time in a game when you get to actually clamp a ball and pin it to the ground before making a move to get it up and out onto the playing field. Some like it,...

Don't Be the Kanye of Your Sports Team

Personal achievement is what every athlete strives for, human beings are competitive and want to be the best. A well coached and cohesive team can evolve past that most basic need of personal recognition to foster a team environment in which the...

2016 First Quater Sports Science Report

The year has just begun, and there are already some great sport's science trends that are making headway in the training world. Some of them are useful, and some of them I am not so sure of. Anyway, hold on to your hats while I go over this with you.

10 Sports Nutrition Tips

No matter what your sport, diet is as important as anything else, including training. If you want to eat your way to better health and sports performance, it’s not that difficult.

Staying Focused For A Full Season

Not every game of the season is that championship, ten seconds left on the clock, the whole town is watching drama fest that you see in movies.. However, every game of the season is crucial and needs your full focus. You want to work your hardest,...

Reclaiming the Basketball Court After Injury

So you were injured in the middle of your basketball season, and have to sit out a few games. It sucks-- no one is denying that--but you need to prepare now to be fully recovered and ready to go, you need to do all you can to fully immerse yourself...

Transitioning from Off-Season Mode: Hitting the Baseball Drills

Reggie Jackson once said, “I’m human, and I’ve played my butt off for ten years. I’m not a loafer, I’m not a jerk, I’m a baseball player.” If you play your butt off every game, it’s just normal to want to take a breather during the off season. And...

Is Vitamin D really that important to the athlete?

So the question remains, is vitamin D really that important to the athlete? Let’s break it down and examine what we know.

The SquadLocker Difference #3: Establishing a TeamLocker™ Close Date

The SquadLocker Difference: This 8 part series details the ways SquadLocker is the best online store for team gear and apparel. For part 3, we dive into the ability to set the launch and close date of your TeamLocker™ online store.

The SquadLocker Difference #2: Instant Stores for Athletes

The SquadLocker Difference: Instantaneous TeamLocker™ Store Launch

The SquadLocker Difference #1: Check Out the GearMatching Selector

The SquadLocker Difference: World’s Best Gear Matching Selector Who Benefits? Coaches, League Organizers, Parent Volunteers, and Athletes

Take-Aways from Start-up CEOs: 4 Core Values for Coaches & Athletes

In August, 2015, SquadLocker, the nation’s leading provider of technology-enabled athletic apparel solutions for teams, announced that it had recently closed A-round financing securing $2.25 million in equity capital which the company will invest in...

4 Ways Today’s Coaches, Athletes, and Retailers Are Driving the...

We know of your interest in the sportswear industry, so we wanted to ensure that you saw the recent article, “Nike vs. Under Armour, Which Is the Better Sportswear?”. The article states that the “popularity of sportswear and apparel has reached a...

Why Athletes Dominate in Under Armour Team Uniforms and Apparel

Under Armour consistently churns out new, impressive athletic apparel and uniforms. In previous years, the brand added new functionality and design to their apparel. The ArmourVent™patented mesh fabric that came out in 2013 enhanced their HeatGear®...

Promoting Team Values through Community Partnerships

There are a lot of teams and athletes who put time and effort into community outreach, that's not always recognized by the public. At SquadLocker, we are dedicated to forming partnerships with local organizations and nonprofits, especially when it...

The Top 10 Things Your Team Dealer Should Practice Everytime

Have you ever wanted to purchase top brand gear for your team, but can't seem to find it for a good price from a local vendor? Perhaps you aren't happy with the service that your current dealer provides, or want to create a new logo and aren't sure...

SquadLocker™ Picks First Donation Recipient for US Lacrosse First...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 27, 2014

Better Than the Rest: What it Means to Retire an Athlete's Jersey

It doesn’t take long for most professional athletes to become a distant memory in the minds of even the most diehard fans. However, those who are blessed with the health and ability necessary for long, hall-of-fame-level careers have a way of...

Chicken, Gold Thongs, and Other Bizarre Game-Day Rituals

If you have played sports at virtually any level from youth leagues to professional, then you have probably developed a few superstitions along the way that you would swear up and down make you a better athlete or at least make you perform better!...

Should the Washington Redskins Change their Name, Mascot and Uniforms?

The controversy isn't new. Simply stated, Native Americans are urging the owner of the Washington Redskins NFL team to change their name as the word Redskin is an offensive and derogatory word to most Native Americans. Daniel Snyder, the current...

A Cure for the Hockey Bag Funk: Antimicrobial Warm Up Suits

In hockey—and in all sports—keeping players and coaches healthy is vital to being successful. Teams spend an inordinate amount of time together, sharing locker rooms, water, and food. In other words, they are ripe for the many viruses and bacteria...

The NCAA's Refusal to Pay Student Athletes, Total Hypocrisy

With Johnny Football's recent suspension for allegedly getting a small payment for signing autographs and last week's admission by NFL player Arian Foster of receiving payments while playing in college, the controversy and hypocrisy of paying...

Learn These Important Tips About Laundering Your Team Uniforms

Nothing shows your team's pride like investing in a new set of team uniforms. With so many options available at many pricing and performance levels, your team apparel dealer can assist you in finding the right look that meets your specific budget.

How Antimicrobial Team Apparel Fabrics Keep Your Athletes Healthy

In high school football, every game counts. You only have seven to ten games in the regular season. Can you stand to have your starting quarterback out sick for even one game? When a key player misses even one practice, it can derail the whole...

How to Care for Team Uniforms to Make Them Last

School athletics and league budgets are limited, especially in today's challenging economic climate, so finding uniforms your team can enjoy for years is vital. Fortunately, team uniform care is easy and helps keep apparel fresh longer. If you...

A Team Uniform Secret for Extended Wear Between Washes

Do your team’s football uniforms leave a lingering stench in locker rooms, even after they've been washed? Do you wish you could save money your cross-country team equipment and apparel budget by not washing your uniforms as often? Antimicrobial...

How High-Tech Fabrics Manage Moisture for Maximum Team Performance

Moisture management (how well clothing can transfer moisture from a person's skin to the outside air) is not always considered when coaches and athletic directors make team gear purchasing decisions, but this factor is important. In fact, those who...

Why the Right Team Apparel and Gear Improves Cold Weather Training

Early-morning practices and evening games in the fall and early spring can get pretty chilly. Your athletes will struggle if you ignore the effects of cold weather. You know what it’s like trying to perform your best in cold conditions....