This year, the SHS sports teams agreed to a three- to four-year contract with Nike. This agreement allows all of the teams to buy uniforms from Nike for a 25-40 percent discount off the retail price.
Head football coach Tim Lugo was connected with Nike when he met one of their reps, Carlos Trujillo, at a clinic for football coaches.
"Carlos had serviced the boys' lacrosse and basketball teams last season, and I talked to him about ordering coaches' polos," said Lugo. "One conversation led to another and I eventually found their pricing and the quality of their merchandise too good to pass up."
Athletic director Peter Jordan has been buying from the same Nike vendor ever since he has been a coach at Saratoga. He said they have offered the agreement to them in the past, but coaches of other sports team were insistent on buying from different vendors for personal preferences. This year, the coaches have agreed to all buy new uniforms from Nike.
"This agreement is a lot more convenient for me because all the teams are buying from the same vendor. I don't have to look for which vendors all the uniforms are from," said Jordan.
In previous years, if there was an extra player on the team, the entire team would have to get new uniforms because the vendor would no longer sell the uniforms they were using. With this Nike agreement, the extra player is ensured a new uniform without having to buy the whole team a new set of uniforms.
Lugo said Nike is also unique in that if a school needs just one uniform, there is no additional cost to produce it. Other manufacturers have minimum ordering requirements or customers pay a surcharge.
Although the agreement is highly beneficial to many teams, the water polo team is upset about the change of vendors because the Nike attire for water polo is not as high quality as other companies' uniforms.
But for the varsity football and the girls' volleyball teams, this contract is good news indeed, and they have already gotten new uniforms this year.
"We get to wear the swoosh on our uniforms and apparel," said Lugo. "The Nike brand gives our kids the feel of a 'big time' program like Florida, Texas, and Ohio State."
