Hey Everyone,

You may get an email from a company called Atac Sportswear about their
custom clothing. They will send out emails under either the "
ataccustomjerseys.com" or "customjerseysource.com" domains.

Just a heads up - UC Santa Cruz tried this company two years ago, and the
clothing was horrible. From the awkward sizing, misaligned seams/graphics,
and so on, this is one company to steer clear of. You get what you pay for,
simple as that.

Another warning. Be wary of small companies in general that you've never
heard of before. Cal Poly SLO ran into a problem two years ago when the
company they went with supposedly went bankrupt...and the team had paid for
their order in full.

My recommendation - go with established companies. Order what you can
afford. Cut down on colors - you'd be amazed at what you can do with just
two colors (most companies don't charge for white - which can be your third
color). Use a percentage of a color to get two colors out of one (clothing
companies should be able to do this with one screen).

No matter who you go with, ask lots of questions first. Ask about delivery
times, quantity breaks, and anything else you have concerns about. Consider
selling team clothing to alumni as a fundraiser, as well as to help you get
to quantity breaks in pricing (but remember, if that's your goal, keep in
mind your design for the kit as well - it needs to appeal to the people you
want to buy it, not just the members of your team).

And lastly, if you haven't already placed your clothing order for the year,
get on it ASAP. At this point, we're looking more at the road season.
Please consider placing your order with Hincapie Sportswear
(www.hincapiesports.com), who generously provide us with the Leader's
Jerseys for the conference individual omnium competition. They've increased
their production facilities threefold, and now feature online tracking of
your order, so you can keep an eye on things every step of the way.

You'll find their pricing to be quite competitive, and the product to be
excellent. George Hincapie has a lot of input into the product, from the cut
of the garments, to the subtle things, like deep jersey pockets for those
long rides.

If you have any questions, let me know. For those of you who will be going
to Interbike, I'll be there all three days. You can find me for half the day
helping out at my USCF sponsor's booth, Cyfac-Velo Europa Imports (booth
#4803), and the other half will find me walking the floor, working for the
collegiate program.

One tip for the Vegas-bound folks. Interbike is all about SALES. As someone
who used to work for Giro, I was concerned with sales and nothing else. The
folks responsible for sponsorship are almost never available. That said, the
best thing you can do (and this will go a long way with people) is to
introduce yourself, ask for contact information for the appropriate person
at the company for sponsorship, then thank them for their time and let them
know you'll contact them after the show. Then walk away. If they ask for
some sort of proposal or resumé, then give it to them. Otherwise, send that
stuff to the companies & sponsorship folks after Interbike. The stuff that
gets handed to booth people at the show oftentimes get lost between Vegas
and their company headquarters.

Cheers,
Alden




Alden Tanaka | Conference Director

Western Collegiate Cycling Conference
t: 408.379.5412
e: atanaka@...