Many trends have influenced athletes to purchase a variety of products, such as bold batting gloves and compression gear. The debate is present whether these products are popular because they improve performance, or simply because athletes are jumping on the bandwagon.
In softball and baseball, Bruce Bolts, a popular brand for batting gloves, have become all the rage. Freshman softball player Averie Lopez believes they are worth the purchase despite the expenses.
“They’re comfortable. They’re good quality since they’re thicker batting gloves as compared to others,” Lopez said. “Other brands rip more easily in a shorter amount of time if you keep using them.”
Similar to Lopez, junior baseball player Andrew Traffas believes that the quality of Bruce Bolts is sizable compared to other brands. Although these batting gloves initially gained its popularity at the collegiate level, high school players have joined the trend.
“Before I purchased them, I ran through three pairs of gloves in three months, so my dad and I thought it’d be a good investment to spend the extra money to get a longer lasting pair,” Traffas said. “They have the best quality I’ve ever felt, and they lasted longer than any pair I’ve had.”
Besides being better products, sports trends can have other benefits. Junior football player Ryan Borromeo discussed that sports trends can improve an athlete’s mental game.
“I feel like (sports trends) are beneficial because it sets a tone for people to be happy with themselves and strive to look good,” Borromeo said. “Everyone now cares for what they look like. We’re all insecure of what people think about us.”
Brands like Nike also play a role in what athletes value and buy. Specifically, compression gear like pants, shirts and socks, are popular products among football players.
“I think compressed anything will make you look good in general,” Borromeo said. “I think us football players value our drip more than our game. If we look good, we feel confident. It just boosts our morale in general in that sport.”
Along with branding, NFL players have a large influence on what high school players wear.
“A lot of people always want to mirror other people,” Borromeo said. “It (compression gear) has been boosted a lot because of social media, because of so many mixtapes people do and because major athletes in the NFL use those types of things to look good when they play.”
Football players also enjoy personalizing their backplates, an idea that first started in the NFL and at the collegiate level.
“It just shows off our personality. You can add stickers. You can add notes. You can add pretty much anything. You can even add pictures, and it looks cool and creative in a way,” Borromeo said. “It makes you look good on the field because it also protects you.”
Although athletes do not benefit physically from popular sports trends, they can impact their mindset, which consequently can affect their performance in a game.
“I think for football, when we have our helmet on, when we have our shoulder pads and we have all these accessories with us, we feel great. We feel confident,” Borromeo said.