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Intro to Business Commercial, critiques and comments are always appreciated as long as they are constructive.

Volleyball Clothing and Equipment

Taking a break from recruiting and team training, how about some thoughts about volleyball clothing and equipment? My team/school does not have a contract with any manufacturer of shoes or clothing (i.e. Nike, Adidas, etc.), but we do have a ball contract. Because of the contract we enjoy, I am not going to review/put forth my opinion about volleyballs, for simple conflict of interest reasons. As for clothes, shoes and bags, we are paying for the merchandise and my schools have always paid for the merchandise, so I feel comfortable sharing my opinion.

Arguable the most recognizable volleyball product line is Mizuno. Every volleyball player knows them, as they are worn by some of the top flight college teams along with sponsoring our Olympic teams. I like the Mizuno uniforms and the company does a good job of presenting new styles that are fit to a woman's build. I am slightly less impressed with the game sweat suit options, as the quality of the material has broken down easily. The most negative item of Mizuno is the shoes - We purchased the most expensive court shoe they offered this season and we have had a number of players comment on how little cushion there is for the foot. To remedy this situation, we had to purchase cushioned inserts. One major drawback of Mizuno has always been price, they are usually the most expensive volleyball supplier in the industry.

A few teams in our conference wear Nike product. I like the minimalist cut of the uniforms and think they fit well. The Nike brand tends to be a mix with regards to women's volleyball. I believe the uniforms are good, but I have been less impressed with the shoes and sweats. For many years, Nike farmed out their volleyball product to Nike Robinson (I don't know if this is still the case), which put together the volleyball line. This association was frustrating, because the discounted prices available for college teams were only for the Nike Robinson items; you could not jump...

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