Softball players deserve more opportunities on and off the field.  With RIP-IT’s acquisition of Ringor, two softball brands committed to increasing opportunities for athletes, we are now able to offer an unparalleled program called The Next Season. The Next Season is an innovative ambassador program that includes a signature shoe deal, a signature apparel deal, and access to brand or career training that will help athletes get further, faster in their next business endeavours.

There is still time to vote for your favorite player and tell us her story.

Click here to vote.

We all know there is a huge disparity between the number of opportunities men and women athletes are presented with after they are done playing collegiate sports. The simplest way to close the opportunity gap is for brands like us to offer more opportunities. So we developed The Next Season. 

The signature shoes portion of the program is an expansion of Ringor’s super successful Cleats for a Cause program. The signature shoes will be built upon the foundation established by Ringor’s Flite cleats, turfs, and spikes. They are the most comfortable and durable softball shoes in the game. 

An important question still remains unanswered, however. Why are signature shoes so important to softball athletes and the communities that support them?

Great way to tell our stories

A 2019 study of the media coverage of women athletes determined that the “coverage of women athletes on televised news and highlight shows, including ESPN’s SportsCenter, totaled only 5.4% of all airtime, a negligible change from the 5% observed in 1989 and 5.1% in 1993.”

Studies like this let us know that the media is spending little time telling the stories of our athletes. We don’t run a media company. But we do have the ability to tell softball stories through the shoes our athletes wear. Signature shoes allow brands to partner with athletes and provide to our communities, products and services that the community really wants. 

Signature shoes have been a significant part of sports for nearly half a century, most notably in the sport of basketball. And part of the history of signature shoes is connecting communities with the athletes they love.  The idea of signature shoes and impact it can have on our communities should not be limited to basketball.  Softball players, and the communities that support them, should have the same platform to share their unique stories.

Softball players are not the same

Softball demands players look the same on the field. But even in sports, players have unique strengths and stories that should be celebrated. Softball is a sport that requires a bunch of individuals who have different goals, dreams, and backgrounds to sacrifice for a common goal. But we should never forget those differences because they are what make us more human. 

We, as a community, our better off when we get a fuller picture of the athletes that we follow.  Our athletes play softball. But that’s not the totality of who they are. Signature shoes allow us to celebrate our differences on the field.  They give athletes an opportunity to share a more complete picture of who they are within the confines of a team sport.  

Learning opportunity for athletes, communities, and brands

Signature shoes are big business and great partnerships. The investment in marketing, design, development, and time that brands put into the process are significant. Players, brands, and the communities that support them have benefited greatly from these investments. Our goal is to provide even more benefit for softball athletes and the softball community.

As part of The Next Season, brand ambassadors will take part in the design and marketing of their signature shoes and apparel. And the community will take part, too! We’ll continue to ask you to vote so that your voices are heard. We’ll be taking you behind the scenes so the next generation of softball players can see some of the moving parts. What is it like to sit down with a designer? How does the development process work? What are the logistics involved in a large photo shoot? How can the next generation of players prepare themselves for their opportunity?

There is still time to vote for your favorite player and tell us her story.

Click here to vote.

Voting ends May 31.

#thisisourtime