The junior sporting world requires all the gear and resources that its senior counterparts needs – but smaller doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper.
Junior sports have huge potential and can offer sporting stores huge incomes with more and more high-quality kits and equipment becoming available.
Football boots for juniors can cost up to £40 and will need fairly regular replacements as a child grows.
And it’s more or less expected that children have high-quality gear if they want to take competition seriously.
Sports vendors can sell junior gear for significantly less because they know that they will be able to sell the growing athletes the same or similar products over and over again.
Because of this, they actually make a whole lot more than they would off of senior kit and equipment.
It’s safe to say that a senior jersey for a sport like cycling could last up to five years and costs around £100, a junior jersey will only put you back £30 but you’ll need five, one each year as they grow, costing you an extra £50 overall.
Despite the seemingly endless need for new gear, junior sports often require equipment of a certain standard.
Sporting retailers and sellers would be wise to get as much high-quality junior kit as possible as it has the highest potential for repeat customers.
It’s key that it’s high quality – as if a child likes a certain type of kit they will be more likely to come back for more. It’s also important to stock different designs and colours as offering that same product with a twist is more likely to go down well with enthusiastic junior athletes.
An option that’s now emerging is high-quality equipment that has some years of use in it.
These aren’t just scooters with extendible bars, we are seeing more competition standard equipment that can last junior athletes two maybe even three years.
Take for example junior clubs by leading kid’s golf brand GolPhin, the clubs that they offer are preferred by many junior leagues and can still be used as children grow.
These products that can last multiple years offer parents an alternative to buying the same or similar products again and again and again.
But for businesses offering these products need to find the sweet spot when it comes to effective pricing. Equipment and kit with limited longevity have to cost more than something that will last a junior athlete a mere year, months even.
But it also cannot cost the same as gear for adults that is of a competition standard as with the correct care and proper maintenance senior equipment can last a lifetime.
It is important to base the price as long as the kit is likely to last. If it will last twice as long as standard junior equipment but is priced equally to senior equipment it may not get bought.
Sporting retailers have to price accordingly and also have a good mix of both products that will size out quickly – like shoes – and equipment that may have a few years of longevity such as boxing gloves and golf clubs.
