The second day of the 15th annual SFIA/NFHS/NCAA Team Sports Rules Conference featured two of the most anticipated sessions of the virtual event. Mike Oliver, Executive Director of NOCSAE, reviewed the progress in standards NOCSAE has achieved in its 50 year history. Tom Cove, President & CEO of SFIA, presented his annual State of the Team Sports Industry Report reviewing a year of COVID-driven challenges.

Many years ago, SFIA (then, SGMA) played a decisive role in the foundation of NOCSAE and its growth over the past 50 years and continues to serve as a key partner in the development of…

“The purpose of sports is to have fun, teach, learn and engage the kids,” said Dr. Karissa Neihoff, Executive Director of the NFHS, as she opened the virtual SFIA/NFHS/NCAA Team Sports Rules Conference last Tuesday. Dr. Niehoff addressed the wide range of issues, while reminding people of the purpose of interscholastic sports.

In a year marked by the COVID -19 pandemic shutdown, the NFHS has worked aggressively and jointly with many governing bodies and associations, including SFIA, to create protocols and guidance that allowed high school sports to continue in many states.

Many state associations suffered through budget crises as…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Alli Schulman
aschulman@sfia.org
301.495.6321

SILVER SPRING, MD (April 8, 2021) — Ten finalists have been selected by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) selection committee to present their start-up at the 2021 SFIA Start-Up Challenge. The application pool included entrepreneurs in various aspects of the industry, ranging from sports tech to fitness equipment to health and wellness products. Over the years, this event has showcased the most competitive, innovative businesses in sports and fitness. To date, previous finalists have raised over $150 million in funding.

All finalists will present a five-minute pitch video, created in…

In response to the military coup in Burma, the U.S. announced several actions to address the removal of a democratically elected leader. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai suspended U.S. trade engagement with Burma and the suspension will remain in place until a democratically elected leader is seated. With the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program lapsed and under review for renewal, U.S.T.R. Tai stated that the situation in Myanmar threatens the country’s GSP status due to concerns over workers’ rights under the military regime.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Treasury banned U.S. companies from conducting business with two Burmese companies…

The SFIA continues to work diligently with The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to notify the industry first-hand of important rule and standard changes that affect manufacturers, retailers and organizations in team sports. The SFIA and NFHS are committed to pursuing the safest playing environment for athletes with regard to sports equipment used during play.

In discussions with Elliot Hopkins, Baseball Rules Editor for the NFHS, it was brought to our attention that certain brands of baseball shoes worn by the pitcher that have a mirror-like finish on the sole plate have distracted batters with the light…

In 2019 SFIA launched a campaign to secure tariff relief on industry products via the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). SFIA members provided all the relevant information for review in their MTB petitions and met every deadline for tariff relief consideration. The U.S. International Trade Commission fully vetted the MTB petitions to determine if there was domestic production and recommended all but four SFIA petitions for tariff relief. The USITC delivered their recommendations to Congress in August of 2020 for approval before the MTB expired at the end of 2020. …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Alli Schulman
aschulman@sfia.org
301.495.6321

SILVER SPRING, MD (March 25, 2021) — Despite an economic recession in 2020, the U.S. sports and fitness market, including footwear, apparel and equipment, grew by 0.6 percent in 2020. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) released the 2021 Manufacturers’ Sales by Category Report today, reporting major growth in consumer fitness, as well as a strong sports equipment category. Traditionally, sports and fitness sales patterns tend to mimic GDP growth; however, as the national GDP decreased 2.3 …

How long ago was FlipGive founded?

Mark Bachman: FlipGive was founded in 2015. FlipGive was a spin off from insights developed from helping large brands, retail and loyalty companies build enterprise-level community giving programs and digital marketing programs.

Can you tell us more about FlipGive? What does your company do?

Mark Bachman: FlipGive is on a mission to help youth sports teams and parents save time and money spent on their kids activities. To date, FlipGive has been focused on helping teams raise money with fundraising, and we’re now launching a Team budgeting and Team spending apps.

Today FlipGive is best known as a safe, easy and free virtual fundraising tool. Teams set up an account on FlipGive…