Seriously?? That's absolutely ridiculous.
The state association has decreed that everyone on a crew will wear the same shoe (well same manufacturer anyhow) and since there is always the possibility changes in the makeup of a crew in any given week - that pretty much means that the entire association needs to be on the same page, so a shoe had to be chosen association wide. It was Adidas previously, but has been changed to New Balance due to the large number of different sizes that they are capable of providing.
It's better than when the state association decided several years ago that if one wanted a shoe with white on it, the only permissible shoe was a particular model from Nike. They even went so far as to specify this particular model in the mechanics manual. And of course prior to that season even kicking off Nike had discontinued the shoe.
Did you get a sponsorship?
Not a sponsorship per se, but we have a local New Balance store here and since we were able to send them 100+ individuals to order from them they set it up so if you chose to order from them rather than a different retailer that you could go into the store and mention the association and get measured and then have a discounted pair of shoes shipped to you directly from New Balance with free shipping.
This is the second year of New Balance and they have been quite popular - it is much easier to get a fit than it was with the Adidas Turf Hog and it is also a higher quality and more comfortable shoe in my opinion. The New Balance is also a much better fit for anyone with a wide foot.
