Hillsborough nearing deal with Reebok

The Armwood football team will be outfitted by Nike next season, but they likely won't be the only county program with a high-profile sponsorship deal.

Hillsborough is in the preliminary stages of an agreement with Reebok that would give the Terriers jerseys, pants, shoes, etc, Terriers coach Earl Garcia told the Times Wednesday.

Garcia said he's meeting with the Reebok people next week, and will make sure that proposed jerseys meet the county's specifications, but all indications are that one of the county's oldest schools in Tampa will have some fresh gear.

"Reebok is the supplier for the National Football League, so our kids will be wearing the same thing as the pros," Garcia said. "We're very excited about it."

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Times photo of Hillsborough football coach Earl Garcia. Reebok image from Google images.

Comments

Does Reebok know they haven't been past the 2nd round of the playoffs in 10 years??

[joe]

The county pays for new jerseys every 2 years for county schools. So when these "deals" are cut with individual schools, does the county split the alotted funds between other schools or still give the money to the school? If it still goes to the school even though they have been given jerseys, that is an unfair advantage of money from the county going into their program they don't have to spend on uniforms like all other non sponsored schools.

[County Coach]

The county does not pay for new uniforms every 2 years. The county gives a small amount to the school every two years to offset the exorbitant cost of uniforms. For instance, an entire set of home and away jerseys and pants costs in between 12-15 thousand dollars. The county provides about 2 thousand dollars every two years to help. If a kid truly wants to switch schools or teams based on a Nike or Reebok logo, is that a kid you really want?

[joe]

So if the amount is $2k the county provides and now a school has "cut a deal for uniforms" from a sponsor like Reebok or Nike, that $2K now can be appropriated for weight room improvements or cameras, filming equipment, etc that other county schools not sponsored do not have the same funds for. I am not concerned over recruiting because it is obvious that is going on and tolerated by the county already with apt leases in Seffner for a well know player that wanted to jump on a bandwagon his last season to try for a championship after a coaching change at his school he didn't like; or getting special assignment at Plant for a QB who lives in Pasco and a NFL coach's son who is a receiver living in Gaither's district although Plant is already at 114% capacity; but if you think it doesn't impact kids and attract them, why do you think Nike and Reebok are doing it to the prominent teams? If it was charitable, they would be donating to lesser programs so obviously they believe they are marketing to high school kids. Recruiting is not the issue though. Now we are talking about directly contributing funds from the county at an unfair advantage to some schools verses others. If these corporations are seeking to market to high school kids, let them provide jerseys for the entire county instead of handpicking. Individual programs should not be negotiating these deals, the county should or they should forfeit their jersey budget from the county.