Schutt Sports Tabs adidas Veteran for New Leadership Position

World's #1 Helmet Maker Builds on Momentum with Restructuring

We already had a tremendous foundation of talent waiting for us

Litchfield, IL (PRWEB) April 18, 2008 -- Trying to capitalize on some of the hottest new products to hit the sporting goods market, Schutt Sports, Inc. has created a new all-star management team that hopes to break into new markets and product lines, while solidifying the company's dominant position in the industry.

Robert Erb, a 15-year veteran of adidas North America, was brought on board as CEO in October of 2007, with the task of assembling world-class talent that would strike while the iron is hot for Schutt.

"We already had a tremendous foundation of talent waiting for us," says Erb. "The company has always made the best products in their categories. We just needed to bring in a new vision of how to keep the company's momentum moving in the right direction, along with some fresh ideas about how to leverage the assets we already had."

Kip Meyer was announced as Vice-President/General Manager of Schutt Sports, a new position at the company. Meyer is another adidas veteran, having excelled in various roles in their North American business unit for 12 years, including roles as Director of Sports Marketing, Director of Licensing and New Business Development and President of Valley Apparel, a subsidiary of adidas.

During his tenure at adidas and at Valley Apparel, Meyer's teams were always noted for their aggressiveness and tenacity at going after new business and strengthening existing relationships.

"At adidas we were able to extend our reach with a multi-tiered program that included endorsements by high profile athletes, as well as bold deals with colleges and professional leagues. The entire program significantly increased brand awareness in the promotional and retail channels," said Meyer. "While at Valley Apparel, adidas distinguished itself as one of the leading providers of NCAA licensed apparel in the United States."

Meyer has wasted no time in utilizing that deal-making experience at Schutt, signing a series of ground-breaking new sales and distribution partnerships that will revolutionize the way the company takes products to market.

"Our focus for the next few months wills be 'How do we best take advantage of these great team dealers we already have?'" says Meyer. "We have these great organizations that we do business with and we wanted to find a way to just give them the ball and let them run. What we want to do is give them the tools, the opportunities and the incentives to perform the best they ever have."

Schutt has already finalized two of these new deals and has more planned for the near future. These new partnerships, according to Meyer, are going to give Schutt a tremendous advantage in several key areas.

"First, it's going to greatly enhance the products we carry and what we can make available to our customers," says Meyer. "It sets us up to drive into new categories in the future. Plus, geographically, we're going to be able to concentrate our best resources in the areas of the country that are going to generate the best return on our investments."

Meyer will also be overseeing the newly formed Sports Marketing and Business Development Division at Schutt, under the direction of Chief Marketing Officer, Dave Rossi, who's been with Schutt for nearly three years.

"Schutt is the world's #1 maker of football helmets and faceguards already," says Rossi. "We're going to leverage the brand equity we have in those categories and push into other categories. With our new programs and agreements, we're definitely headed in that direction."

Meyer and Erb are both hoping all that exposure, all the new products, all the new initiatives and all the new partnerships will, as Erb says, continue to push the company and its employees.

"We're are the best helmet maker in the world but we're going to get better. We're going to take on one challenge, conquer it and then move onto the next challenge. We'll crush that one and move to the next. When we've run out of challenges in our own space, we'll move into other spaces and crush those, as well."

###