GLENDALE, Ariz. – Standing underneath his merchandise tent on the Dodgers’ side of the Camelback Ranch MLB spring training complex on Saturday morning, Nick Surface, the G-Form Global Marketing Manager for Team Sports, offered a visitor a demonstration he called the “M&M Smash.”
Surface put a handful of M&M’s between two small pads of G-Form protective gear and pounded the top pad a couple of times with a hard, regulation PG baseball. He then peeled back the top piece of protection to reveal that none of the M&M’s had, in fact, been smashed; they weren’t even dented.
The demonstration was part of what was a busy morning for Surface, who was moving merchandise while also answering questions from a steady stream of curious parents and players. G-Form protective gear is gaining a strong footing, and for the last two, four-day weekends has been a pivotal Perfect Game partner at the inaugural PG WWBA Upperclass, Underclass and Freshman Fall National Championships Protected by G-Force.
The G-Form company is new; it has been in business and before the public for only five months. It’s presence at the PG WWBA Fall National Championships is beneficial in the same way a prospects’ presence at the events can also reap rewards, simply in terms of exposure.
“The partnership with Perfect Game couldn’t have come at a better time,” Surface said. “It was absolutely perfect for us because when you’re talking about what our core market is, it’s the competitive player. The competitive players are the ones that are wearing baseball guards and they want the best things that help them perform at the highest level, so Perfect Game was a real obvious choice for us.
“It’s been phenomenal for us to not only be at these events and raise awareness, but to show people our product and do demonstrations.”
It was both interesting and informative that Surface decided to set up his tent on the Dodgers’ side of the Camelback complex where the Freshman Fall National Championship games were being played. He wanted to make an impact with the younger players because they might be thinking about wearing guards for the first time and aren’t already set in their ways. PG Director of Sales & Partnerships Austin Steines welcomed the company’s presence at the events with open arms.
“At Perfect Game, the players’ safety is a top priority,” he said. “G-Form provides that with lightweight, durable protection that gives the players full range of motion; G-Form takes protection to new heights. We could not be any more excited to have G-Form as our exclusive protective gear partner.”
All G-Form protective gear is completely soft and flexible and only hardens when struck with another hard object, like a baseball or bat. Surface pointed out that the biggest advantage of the gear is its flexibility – it’s going to move with the player and not be restrictive. The G-Form elbow guard, for example, is basically a compression sleeve that doubles as a protective guard.
“You can see when I put this thing on when I’m at-bat, I’ve got more triceps coverage and I also have all of my elbow and even a little bit of my forearm protected, so it gives you a lot more coverage area,” Surface said while providing a brief demonstration. “And if you want to keep it on the whole game, you can … but if you want to take it off, you can do that, too.”
Moving forward, both Surface and Steines will work to make sure the relationship between PG and G-Form continues to grow.
“We just want to keep getting in deeper and deeper with (PG); we want to become more involved with the events,” Surface said. “This is year one and I really feel like next year is going to be a lot different for us because the conversation has already changed in five months. … I honestly believe this is the perfect vehicle to get to where we want to go. Everybody (with PG) has been very good to us, so we’re excited about the partnership.”
