Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: USTFCCCA 2023 LIVE: Steven Strawderman-MF Athletics

Transcript

BONUS: USTFCCCA 2023 LIVE: Steven Strawderman-MF Athletics · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey gang, you know we like our bonus material.
• 0:02
  So from today all the way through USTF CCA, in celebration
• 0:07
  of our live podcast recording at the convention, we're going to
• 0:11
  play you last year's clips, each one individual from today all
• 0:15
  the way up until Monday, December 16th when we go live on
• 0:19
  YouTube at 6:00 Eastern Time. Join us if you're at the
• 0:23
  convention, sit down. We're going to be talking about
• 0:26
  your feelings, actions, thoughts about the way the NCAA is
• 0:31
  changing and we're going to make some predictions for next year.
• 0:34
  And every guest that sits down with us.
• 0:36
  Will you get a a exclusive free gift.
• 0:38
  So join us December 16th, 6:00 PM Eastern Time for the Gill
• 0:43
  Live Connections podcast on YouTube and at the USTFCCCA
• 0:47
  convention. Here is bonus material all.
• 0:51
  Right, screwed up for me. Be loud because of some of the
• 0:55
  ambient noise back here and introduce yourself please.
• 0:57
  What's going on, guys? My name is Steve Strotterman.
• 0:59
  I'm the sales Rep over at MF Athletic.
• 1:03
  I know you can be louder than. That proud to say a multi.
• 1:10
  Multi year. Relationship with Mr.
• 1:12
  Cunningham. Here over at.
• 1:14
  Over at Gill and just continuing to build on that relationship
• 1:18
  the last couple years has been. Really good.
• 1:20
  Do you remember the first time we met?
• 1:22
  I. Feel like I was in Ohio.
• 1:25
  That might be right, I don't know.
• 1:29
  And I shot a. Decade ago, yeah.
• 1:30
  For. Sure.
• 1:31
  Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
• 1:34
  So tell us, you know, first of all, I think a lot of people
• 1:38
  might be listening right now and go wait a minute.
• 1:40
  I think I heard him say he's from M math athletics.
• 1:43
  What is he doing on the that's a competitor?
• 1:45
  What in the world is he doing on there?
• 1:47
  Explain for people who don't know.
• 1:50
  And the good news is, a lot. Of people.
• 1:51
  Do know the relationship partnership with MF and Gil?
• 1:55
  F with the contrary to popular belief, Gil MF we like to say
• 2:02
  partnership. Correct me if I'm wrong.
• 2:06
  It's been flourishing more and more so over the the last couple
• 2:11
  of years with us kind of collaborating with the product
• 2:17
  development, bringing back the Sky Bowl, Mystic and yeah, I, I
• 2:22
  wouldn't call us competitors at all.
• 2:23
  Partners is is more more of the word than I would.
• 2:28
  You know, Steven, the relationship between MF and Gil
• 2:30
  actually goes way farther than you and I, Bill Faulk and David
• 2:35
  Hodge. But I think to your point, it's
• 2:39
  gotten better lately. So I'd like to think guys like
• 2:41
  you and I are. What's making it better.
• 2:44
  I mean. Sure, we'll.
• 2:46
  We'll, we'll take the take. The credit?
• 2:48
  But no, actually a person that I would equate a lot of that to
• 2:53
  would be a guy that we saw last night and Fred Dixon between.
• 3:00
  I know Fred had initiated that relationship many, many years
• 3:04
  ago and kind of built on the foundation blocks that that he
• 3:10
  put down. And yeah, no, we we've certainly
• 3:13
  grown quite a bit the last couple years and hopefully
• 3:16
  continue to to grow in that direction even further.
• 3:19
  Absolutely. We're very proud of our
• 3:20
  partnership. It really is.
• 3:21
  It goes beyond a dealership. It's.
• 3:23
  A partnership. Talk to us.
• 3:25
  You know, some people, a lot of coaches, I'm sure you get this.
• 3:29
  They'll come up to me and ask me about my job and like, no, I
• 3:32
  maybe thought I've gotten out of coaching and things like that as
• 3:35
  a sales Rep, Amazing sales. What you do there at at MF
• 3:40
  Athletics, what do you do? Help us understand kind of the
• 3:43
  what's a day-to-day kind of look like for you?
• 3:46
  It's day-to-day. It's changed.
• 3:48
  There's there's no static, there's no you know cookie
• 3:52
  cutter type of day. But in the grand scheme of
• 3:55
  things, we are equipment providers.
• 3:57
  So we are talking to coaches on a day-to-day basis trying to
• 4:01
  figure out what their needs are. And luckily enough, we have a
• 4:05
  couple of different product lines that we can wait to
• 4:10
  coaches situations and fit them out with the best equipment for
• 4:15
  their needs. And I think our partnership has
• 4:19
  shown that we can do that at a pretty efficient level.
• 4:22
  And what is your background in track and field now?
• 4:26
  Your dad, who keeps evading me by the.
• 4:29
  Way I. Really want him on the podcast
• 4:30
  because of. His Are you sure?
• 4:32
  Yeah, yes, I am sure because of his history in our sport and
• 4:36
  specifically in this side of our sport, the equipment side of it.
• 4:41
  I really do want to get his story on wax.
• 4:43
  They keep saying no one wants to go about me, blah, blah, blah.
• 4:46
  I do that. That should be enough.
• 4:47
  But tell us about your background athletically,
• 4:50
  coaching and how you kind of got to.
• 4:52
  Him that yeah, so he's, I mean, obviously my dad's a modest guy
• 4:54
  who's 18 foot falters back in the in the 80s, No slouch of a
• 5:01
  mark, to say the least. No one would turn down 18 feet
• 5:04
  today by the. Way no 550 is a heck of a mark,
• 5:09
  but we, I mean, I was growing up in in an athletic family.
• 5:15
  My mom was an all American. She went to Auburn for her cross
• 5:17
  country. And.
• 5:18
  She was, yeah. She transferred back to Uri.
• 5:20
  That's where they met. But we, we were always in
• 5:25
  athletics growing up, so we didn't really get thrown into
• 5:28
  the, the vault until we wanted to.
• 5:32
  So my, my brother and I were 15 months apart and we kind of
• 5:35
  started at the same time. I was a freshman in, in high
• 5:38
  school, we was in 8th grade and my dad was doing like these free
• 5:44
  clinics at high schools around, around our, our area.
• 5:49
  And we just picked up all kind of started from there.
• 5:52
  So after after high school, competed for four years and then
• 5:57
  I started coaching myself, started off my own club and did
• 6:00
  that for about 6 years prior to to working at MF.
• 6:05
  Did that while I went to college.
• 6:06
  So I was stayed in in the family, if you will.
• 6:10
  My brother went to college and vaulted a Uri and did very well
• 6:13
  there. And I I coached while he did.
• 6:15
  That so. Now we we transitioned six years
• 6:18
  later, I started working at MF and going out of my 10th year
• 6:24
  do. You think I kind of go back and
• 6:26
  forth on this? Honestly, I'm not leading you
• 6:28
  like like I. Do so I I kind of go.
• 6:30
  Back and forth to this, do you think your background as an
• 6:33
  athlete and as a coach, I don't want to ask the question is, do
• 6:36
  you think it helps you in your Business Today?
• 6:38
  Because obviously it does, because you have understanding,
• 6:42
  but do you think it's like an automatic, like if you want a
• 6:47
  coach or an athlete, you can't be in this side of the business?
• 6:50
  Or is it pretty detrimental if you don't?
• 6:53
  No, I don't think that at all. Obviously there's there is a
• 6:57
  learning curve in any business. Even being in on the coaching
• 7:02
  side of things, it probably took four or five years of learning
• 7:07
  from my from my coworkers, from other people in the industry to
• 7:11
  really get to the nuts and bolts of what makes coaches tick on
• 7:17
  what helps them them out on a day-to-day basis and what kind
• 7:22
  of feedback and how can I be to their situation.
• 7:27
  And it's, it's a, it's an accumulative learning curve
• 7:30
  throughout the years. I.
• 7:31
  Just learning. 100%, yeah, 100%. That's why we come here.
• 7:34
  That's why we. Come here.
• 7:35
  That's right. That's exactly.
• 7:36
  Yeah, it's. I mean, we learn.
• 7:38
  We were talking earlier with with.
• 7:40
  Boo for. 45 minutes. I mean, you can, you can talk to
• 7:44
  him the entire time here and still learn stuff year after me,
• 7:47
  please. Well, yeah.
• 7:50
  Well, let's learn something about you.
• 7:52
  I've got 100 random questions here, and trust me, they're
• 7:55
  random. You get to pick the number, I
• 7:57
  get to ask the question. All right.
• 7:58
  My. My number has always been 9 so.
• 8:01
  No. Why 9?
• 8:03
  That's my baseball number growing up and just kind of
• 8:06
  stuck. To achieve what currently costs
• 8:09
  money that should be free to everyone.
• 8:17
  It's tough to tough to not get political in that type of
• 8:22
  answer, isn't it? Like education is a pretty good
• 8:25
  answer. But yeah, you know, it's
• 8:27
  probably not going to happen, but yeah.
• 8:29
  But it should be, yeah. Yeah.
• 8:31
  Better educated society would make a better society.
• 8:35
  In general, I like that. Yeah, I like.
• 8:36
  That. Well my friend, for being here
• 8:38
  today and only people who sit there at.
• 8:40
  The hospital. Only people.
• 8:42
  Who swap here? You know the three gifts you're
• 8:45
  kind of swag magnet. Yeah, yeah.
• 8:48
  We're handing out custom Christmas ornaments here with
• 8:51
  the Guilt Connections podcast. Just a small token.
• 8:54
  Of our appreciation so much. Thank you brother.
• 8:57
  Appreciate. Your job.
• 8:57
  Thank you. Hey, great partners.
• 9:00
  Go check them out at MF athletics.com,
• 9:02
  everythingtrackandfield.com and. You get.
• 9:06
  All your Guild equipment there, they do an amazing job, very
• 9:08
  educated, very customer service oriented sales force that will
• 9:12
  help you out with everything you see in the Guild catalog you can
• 9:15
  get there from in that they highly encourage you to reach
• 9:18
  out to them. They're they're awesome.