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With the intent to solve three pain points in the market like focusing on sports, not athletes, a low-level cardboard box service, and a fragmented market supplying customers in the team sports marketplace Doug Dickison, founded Destination Athlete® in 2008.
The purpose of Destination Athlete® has always been Building Better Communities Through Athletes®. Everything Team, Everything Better® means it has the most comprehensive offering of equipment, apparel, fundraising solutions, and performance products and services. The organization is proud to provide the best products, services, and resources for youth, high school, and college athletes, and it is fully committed to making sure its customers are 100% satisfied. Sports families also have the peace of mind knowing they can count on Destination Athlete® for superior customer service and a convenient online experience. Destination Athlete™ believes sports can bring people together and teams can achieve winning outcomes when all involved have the confidence in knowing they have everything they need to succeed.
The Driving Force
With more than 30 years of experience in highly successful business leadership Doug Dickison, the founder and Chairman of Destination Athlete® started the company in 2008. His passion for sports and the desire to help young athletes thrive was the main inspiration for the organization. Before founding the organization, Doug worked as a consultant for multiple start-ups and large companies helping them with their marketing and business model.
With the continued expansion of Destination Athlete®, Doug recognized the industry was lacking a focus on holistic development. Eventually, the need for a more all-inclusive approach to athlete services spawned the creation of 360 DEVELOPMENTTM, a holistic, customizable development program led by a best-in-class team of experts proficient in Leadership, Mental, Educational, and Wellness facets of personal development. This distinctive Performance Optimization Platform is designed to help teams, organizations, professionals, student-athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators achieve maximum, sustainable results.
The Pandemic
Destination Athlete® has never anticipated there would be a market for custom face masks. All the Destination Athlete™ franchise owners leaned into their respective communities and answered the call for product demands. Additionally, it taught coaches, athletes, and parents the importance of sports and how much they missed it. However, as a result, Destination Athlete® is witnessing record participation rates nationwide mostly due to the pent-up demand in the team sports market.
Motivating Employees
When we asked Doug about how he motivates his employees to continue doing good work even during the pandemic, he says, “First and foremost, we maintain a fail safe environment. Furthermore, it is imperative to allow entrepreneurial leaders to explore, innovate and fail. The Destination Athlete® business model offers both flexibility and scalability to accomplish this within our company standards.”
Holistic Development is Needed
The team of Destination Athlete® also created the transformational 360 DEVELOPMENTTM programs. This Program is a custom, holistic development plan specifically designed to meet the unique needs of each client. Four distinct areas (Leadership, Mental, Education, and Wellness) are also addressed to deliver sustainable results. Various teams, coaches, schools, and organizations can also take the advantage of Destination Athlete’s® resource library and handy downloadable App populated with useful articles and videos about sports psychology, sports nutrition, sports medicine, and training with content provided by some of the industry’s leading experts.
Community Activities
Destination Athlete® believes athletes are an integral part of the society in which we live and work. To give back, the firm developed Destination Athlete 4Star Foundation®, to provide sports equipment and apparel for underprivileged athletes in the communities it serves. Each year Destination Athlete’s® franchisees donate new athletic items to teams in their local area who are unable to afford the latest and safest products.
A Value-Driven Firm
Everything Team, Everything Better® means the firm has the most comprehensive offering of equipment, apparel, fundraising solutions, and performance products and services amongst all the team dealers in the country. The company is proud to provide the best products, services, and resources for youth, high school, and college athletes, and it is entirely committed to making sure its customers are 100% satisfied. With Destination Athlete®, now sports families have the much-needed peace of mind knowing they can count on Destination Athlete® for superior customer service and a convenient online experience.
Future Roadmap
Doug sees Destination Athlete® continually disrupting the team sports market. He says, “We do not stay comfortable with current success. Rather, our sights remain on the future. Company growth will involve securing more innovative products and providing more new revolutionary services for our customers.”
