A New Jersey youth hockey organization owner has admitted he threatened to suspend 10-year-old players over jackets their parents bought without the organization’s approval.
As reported by NJ.com, the children were never suspended, according to Bobby Reiss, owner of the Jersey Hitmen and the Ice Vault rink in Wayne, who said Wednesday that all of the players attended practice as scheduled.
Reiss told NJ.com the warning was intended to pressure the players’ parents into addressing what he considered a violation of the organization’s rules. He acknowledged writing in an email to parents that their children would be suspended, but said the threat was meant to get the parents’ attention. He added that none of the parents were actually forced to pay royalties.
“Did I write that they would be? Yes, I did,” Reiss said. “But that was to get the attention of the mothers.”
A group of mothers associated with the Hitmen’s 10U major team had custom jackets made using team branding, according to Reiss.
In his email, Reiss said Hitmen logos and trademarks could not be used without permission and that the prohibition was spelled out in team contracts. He wrote that the parents and their children would be suspended until “restitution” was made to the organization in the form of a 15% royalty.
The email quickly spread online and the story subsequently went viral across social media, NJ.com reported.
Reiss said the organization employs people who produce team merchandise and argued that parents who independently create products using the Hitmen brand are using the organization’s trademarks without permission while taking business away from employees who make apparel for the club.
“All I want people to do is respect the boundaries that you agreed to,” Reiss said. “We provide a service, they partake of the service, but within that service, there are restrictions.”
Reiss said he selected the 15% royalty because he considered it comparable to licensing fees charged by larger sports organizations. When asked by NJ.com's Keith Sargeant why he threatened the ice time of children over a dispute involving their parents, he said, “The only way parents deal is through their kids,” he said. “When their actions [cause] potential issues for their children, then they’ll deal with the issue at hand.”
Reiss said the underlying dispute remained unresolved as of Wednesday because he had not spoken directly with the parents. But he insisted the children would not be punished as it continues. “The kids will never be affected,” he said. “Let me make that perfectly clear.”
Reiss said he was frustrated that the dispute became public and argued that the parents should have approached him directly. He said the organization has allowed families to create certain items in the past when they first sought permission and the Hitmen could not produce the items themselves.
Here is the complete letter from Reiss to parents, per NJ.com:
It has come to my attention that the Mothers of our 10U major team took upon themselves to design and make jackets that used the Hitmen logos. In all Bandit and Hitmen contracts it VERY specifically says that no one is allowed to use these trademarks. These trademarks are Federally registered and any transgressions over the years have been dealt with by our law firm. All of you know that we have the most comprehensive team apparel of any youth organization in the country. We take great pride in what we produce and are very protective of our rights. When you signed your contracts, we make this very self-evident by incorporating into all contracts.
The parents involved in this were so proud that they took a video which I am sure will circulate, as all things do, on social media. I cannot permit or tolerate these actions. Therefore, the parents on this team and their children are suspended until restitution is made to our organization. Parents who were not involved can continue to practice. Restitution will consist of a 15% Royalty which is common place for the rights to use a company’s trademark providing, you get permission, which was not sought out or granted in this case. If the person or persons that initiated this trademark infringement come forward, along with a copy of the bill of sale from the supplier, as well as the payment of the royalty we will allow their players to practice immediately as soon as we have the discussion.
This has been one of the most egregious violations in recent memory of someone taking upon themselves to violate this policy in our contracts. I don’t relish taking it out on the players, but I cannot see any other way to deal with this in the immediate time.
