SFIA Announces New Football Glove & Hand Pad Specification Program

Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association

SILVER SPRING, MD – August 11, 2015 – The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), working with equipment manufacturers and sport governing bodies, has developed a new football glove and hand pad specification program. The SFIA Football Glove & Hand Pad Specification meets the requirements for certification for gloves and hand pads to be used in play at the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) levels.

The SFIA-developed program and protocol allows manufacturers to maintain self-certification of football gloves and hand pads. All products will be verified by an independent, third party test lab with SFIA governing compliance.

The SFIA managed program is an alternative to the current certification of football gloves and hand pads. NFHS and NCAA will allow both the current NOCSAE and the new SFIA certification marks to be independently accepted for on-field use. Accordingly, there will be no obsoleting of any current or future inventories for retailers and consumers. There will be no disruption in the supply chain at the dealer, team or consumer level.

Under the SFIA football glove and hand pad protocol, participating glove suppliers will be required to display the SFIA approved certification label on all gloves and hand pads in a fashion and placement similar to current practice.

Manufacturers choosing to participate in the SFIA program will comply with the SFIA process as delineated in the SFIA Specifications and Protocol, including independent third-party test lab validation of the manufacturers’ test results. The SFIA Specifications Program will be open to any producer of football gloves willing to comply with the requirements of the program. SFIA membership is not a pre-requisite.

The SFIA Football Glove & Hand Pad Specification is appropriate to the needs of fair competition on the field and in the marketplace and will start appearing in the market for the 2015 fall playing season. Compliant football gloves will display the SFIA Specification mark, and SFIA will work cooperatively with the NFHS and the NCAA to publicize certified product and test results on an annual basis.

“SFIA is thrilled to launch the new Football Glove and Hand Pad Specification program to aid the certification process for glove manufacturers across the country”, said SFIA president & CEO, Tom Cove. “The new program will ensure manufacturers are meeting fair play standards but with far less expense and logistical requirements”, added Cove.

For questions concerning the football glove and hand pad specification or to participate in the program please contact Gregg Hartley at [email protected] or 561-543-7789.

ABOUT SFIA
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) is the leading global trade association of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers in the sports and fitness product industry. SFIA’s membership represents 1,000+ premier brands who account for more than $150 billion in annual sales. As the #1 source for sport and fitness research, the SFIA serves as the voice of the sports and fitness industry in the media and on Capitol Hill. More information can be found at www.sfia.org.