Solving Problems/ Improving Leadership Connor Roswech

Connor Roswech- Univ of Richmond Men’s Basketball

One of the biggest challenges, among many, of making our transition from Nike to Adidas has been the communication issues with our Adidas representatives. We placed orders for shoes, socks, backpacks, and all sorts of gear back in April, and are still waiting to receive a number of different items that are much needed now that our contract with Adidas has already begun.. What makes things even more confusing is that when Adidas gear does come in the mail for us, it often comes, quite literally, one piece (shirt, polo, sweatshirt, etc) at a time. Other times, Adidas will send us a mix of many different items and colors all jumbled together in one box. I have now come to realize that Adidas is keeping track of many different college athletic programs, several clients that are a few notches above the totem pole than University of Richmond. Instead of trying to deal with our representative, who is likely overworked and overbooked, I have been keeping track of each individual piece of clothing, recording its color, size, make, and discussing with our Director of Operations Mark McGonigal where the Spider logo would fit on the clothing. Adidas sends us shipments in bulk, and it is on Mark and I to pick the location and design of the Spider, and then bring the gear to a screening shop and have the logo printed on the desired piece of clothing. It may not seem like a very complicated job, but I have learned that the more organized I am, the less tedious and frustrating the process is. With the arrival of our new freshmen just a few weeks ago, we have even more gear to distribute than usual, as we now have 20 players on our basketball team. This means that being organized in my job is more important than ever, as I learned through this process that I can’t always expect other people to understand the exact needs of our program. What I can do, however, is take the time to count, label, and record things on the front end, which then makes communicating with the screening shop, the Adidas rep, and our players and coaches much easier.