​ A Passion for Team Sports

In addition to servicing our corporate and local business customers, Trophy House has been supplying youth sports organizations and schools with sporting equipment, uniforms, and fan gear for generations. Many adult customers who come in share stories of how they used to come to Trophy House for sport equipment when they were in school.

Our Brick-and-Mortar location is always filled with chatter about local and even pro sports events. And “who won the game last night” is as common a conversation as the topic of the weather is in most businesses. Sports is a team passion at Trophy House. For most of us, it’s not just what we do, but who we are. We have team members who have been working in the team sports industry for decades. We have hockey, football, baseball, and wrestling parents, a former sports reporter, and former athletes on staff. The pandemic may have changed how we are able to service the team sports industry, but the passion has always been there.

MLive published an article recently intitled - “COVID pandemic brings down Michigan high school sports participation ,”. This article offers statistics recapping the MHSAA reports for 2020-21 participation of area high school sports, and shares numbers about the decline since the pandemic. Yes, it seems to be a fact that the numbers are down.

But our experience at Trophy House, after talking with customers who are local sports fans, coaches, and AD’s, we think it’s safe to say that the passion is up for most team sports in Michigan.Even though the pandemic has caused a decline in numbers and some hurdles, the passion is still a driving force. Kids have practiced and played with face shields or masks. Coaches have navigated testing, cancelled games, and parent concerns, to keep our youth playing. We have all pivoted to support our passion of sports.

Trophy House has done a lot to service our team sports customers. Stock for equipment and apparel has been a challenge to say the least. But our reps do everything they can to find solutions and replacement products and to get creative for coaches and teams that need equipment, team uniforms, and fan gear to play. In fact, we have seen quite an increase in fan gear sales both in store and online via our custom online storefronts. It feels like the community is rallying behind those who are playing. Way to go!

In addition, we have made many of our products for sale online and continue to add sports equipment, fan gear, and custom options for folks to shop online. Heck, if it is more comfortable for folks to stay at home and shop, we get it! We are working with our vendors to supply better information as to when more products will be in stock – just like you, we need that product off the ships, manufactured, and shipped on time; and communication regarding these delays is getting better. We will continue to do what we can to pivot and get through this while meeting our customer’s needs.

While the total numbers may be down, team sports continue to be very strong! Locally, we have seen a huge increase in the needs for the 2021-22 season and are grateful for the continued uptick. We are focused on the positive and are riding the wave of this passion while we continue to support team sports. We are thankful to have been a local staple for sports equipment, uniforms, and fan gear for many generations and we will continue to do so!