Deal provides Nike apparel for Skaggs Catholic Center

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

+ Enlarge

Shown at the Sept. 4 signing of the five-year contract at Juan Diego Catholic High School are Chris Long, athletic director; Roy Bordner, Eastbay regional manager; Dr. Galey Colosimo, principal; Brian Sackinsky, Eastbay's western regional senior sales director; and Scott Gorringe, Eastbay's field sales representative.

DRAPER — Juan Diego Catholic High School signed a five-year deal with Nike and Eastbay on Aug. 7 to help provide for students’ athletic apparel needs.

As a result, the Skaggs Catholic Center’s athletic teams will be suited in Nike team uniforms, apparel and footwear; Nike apparel also will be sold at the campus store.

“The reason that we do this is because we reached a point where we were very frustrated by how our apparel and sports gear looked and felt,” said Dr. Galey Colosimo, principal of Juan Diego CHS.

Dealing with so many vendors and ideas and qualities became very frustrating, Colosimo said, adding that at sports contests the Soaring Eagle uniforms were sometimes high quality and sometimes not.

“It was mix and match, and I thought to myself, ‘Our students should conduct themselves at all times with a high degree of class and integrity, and they can do that in a red-tag outfit, but is hard,’” he said. “The idea is that the way you look, the way you carry yourselves as a student of Juan Diego or the Skaggs Catholic Center is very important not only in terms of how you play but, more importantly, in how you represent the institution.”

As part of the search for vendors, the Juan Diego Young Entrepreneur students met with Scott Gorringe, field sales representative from Eastbay, on several occasions to research and select options for the high school.

Eastbay is an direct mail vendor of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment.

Choosing one high-quality vendor was important, Colosimo said.

“The idea was to get them to look good and get our uniforms to be uniform. If the brands that we chose were high quality, then we could rely on them for consistency” and it would allow students to represent the school well, Colosimo said.

The Eastbay and Nike contract will provide team wear, protective gear and shoes approved for school uniforms for the entire Skaggs Catholic Center campus, which serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade.

“What we have been able to accomplish with this unique partnership is to partner with a strong name brand to attain high-quality merchandise at competitive pricing inside our own school store,” Colosimo said.

At the contract signing, Brian Sackinsky, western regional senior sales director for Eastbay, said that there were not many agreements like this one in Utah, and “we are committed to provide great service and looking forward a great and long term partnership.”

Chris Long, the high school’s athletic director, was also enthusiastic about the new partnership.

“This is going to take us a step farther. … When you show up playing for a Juan Diego team, it is going to be very different, new and unique to high school athletics,” Long said.