Sitting down and discussing 37.5 Technology with Mission Athletecare CEO Josh Shaw will have you ready to strap it on and run through walls.
“If you look good, you feel good. And if you feel good, you play good.”Whether the environment is the pregame warmup or the locker room, this phrase has been uttered throughout sports history more times than one can count.
It only reaffirms the concrete belief we already had: Athletes love their gear. The way you look, combined with the talent on display, equals the entire package. This equation leads to a feeling of giddiness.
What if I told you, though, that somebody is aching to further improve upon the way these athletes feel? What if I told you that one company is taking looking and feeling good and combining it with a maniacal mindset that does nothing short of pushing the limits of sports science?
If I told you that, you might just like it.
Thanks to Mission Athletecare CEO Josh Shaw, I am, in fact, telling you that.
Unlike many competitors, Mission Athletecare is makes strides in the sports industry that has never been witnessed prior; or even discussed.
Thanks to their new partnership with 37.5 Technology, Mission has launched their new Vaporactive collection. Not only does the athlete look good with this gear, he/she feels good thanks to its cutting edge features.
Former NFL running back Reggie Bush and our very own local NYCFC star David Villa are the brand ambassadors for the new line.
Luckily, like previously touched on, I was able to catch up with Mission CEO Josh Shaw. He further explained the new partnership and technology:
Rob Sabo: First off, I understand Mission Athletecare is an athlete-owned company. Can you provide a little insight into Mission as a whole?
Josh Shaw: I founded the company eight years ago, and the mission then is the same now: To build a global sports brand that pioneers innovation for athletes; lead the market in innovative technologies.
Right now, one of our big pushes revolves around temperature control to help athletes prepare, perform and recover from activity.
RS: The Vaporactive collection is fueled by 37.5 Technology. First off, why 37.5, and what are a few of the things that consumers can expect from this new technology?
JS: Well, first off, we firmly believe temperature is the next frontier in performance. It comes down to a very simple equation: Our bodies can use up to 97 percent of our metabolic energy to cool our skin down when you overheat.
So when we’re working out, or doing whatever, we have to use our body as a tool to counteract overheating (sweating). Our thesis is, if Mission can provide a product that helps the athlete’s skin to cool, then your energy can be used for performance to get more out of your body. It’s really an extremely simple equation. If you unlock temperature, you can create a greater performance.
As it pertains to 37.5, we really pride ourselves as the pioneer from a regulation standpoint, to crush myths, to lead the market, to keep our finger on the pulse of all the innovation out there. We’re not like some of the big boys who have a non-inventive mentality. We’re really about curating these technologies. Regardless of who invented it, we’d like to bring it in and offer it to our athletes.
We’ve had tremendous success with our Wet-to-Cool (Enduracool) technology. As it pertained to Dry-to-Cool (Vaporactive) technology, 37.5, hands down, was the best option. It wasn’t even close.
The main reasons come down to the actual technology. Wicking, which is something other apparel lines use that we don’t, can literally be compared in this industry to the way the 8-Track is currently viewed in music. The other reason revolves around how other companies are actually using topically applied treatments, which provide the athlete a cooling sensation. The problem with this is it washes away after about 20 to 25 washes in the machine. Nobody really talks about it. 37.5, on the other hand, never quits.
And we actually started a campaign titled Never Quits because 37.5 never quits on its athlete.
RS: Reggie Bush and David Villa are the brand ambassadors for this new partnership. Explain a little about what they’re doing.
JS: Yes, Reggie and David have been terrific, and like you said when you kicked off the call, we’re an athlete-owned company. One of the main focuses for me, in the beginning, is I didn’t want to be building products in a vacuum. I wanted the athletes, who would be the end users, the most elite athletes in the world to be training and performing in the most rigorous conditions, to be part of the equity structure and the development process. So, that’s been our philosophy from the beginning.
So when you have Dwyane Wade and you have Serena (Williams), and you have literally the world’s greatest athletes in your business with you, it literally changes the whole dynamic.
CLICK HERE for Mission’s full Athlete Portfolio
Mission’s Athletes:
- David Wright, MLB
- John Tavares, NHL
- David Villa, Soccer
- Dwyane Wade, NBA
- Serena Williams, WTA
- Drew Brees, NFL
- Carli Lloyd, Soccer
- Reggie Bush, NFL
- Adrian Gonzalez, MLB
- Sergo Garcia, PGA
- Sarah Haskins, Triathlete
- Mia Hamm, Soccer
- Gretchen Bleiler, Snowboarder
- Christine Sinclair, Soccer
- Amanda Beard, Swimmer
Whether it be on the field or on the court, we pride ourselves in business, and we want to carry their brand and reputation, and be champions in retail.
With David (Villa) and Reggie (Bush), they were two athletes we identified early on, and these are two sports that really have temperatures that play a major factor. Honestly though, it’s across the board. Every sport battles climate and technology when it comes to apparel.
This especially the case with with football. Think about two-a-days in August. This is a sport where kids actually keel over, and it’s something of great concern to us. So much so that we have a close relationship with the Corey Stringer Institute. We are maniacally focused on making sure that never happens again, so football is key on what we’re focused on. Soccer as well (in relation to Villa).
RS: Let me tell you something…I played football – the last year was in 2003 – and I wish we had the right technology to battle August conditions. T-Shirts are not fun under those pads.
JS: Oh yeah. I saw a video, from John Brenkus of ESPN Sports Science, and it revealed that football players wear 16 lbs. of equipment. So, when you start to sweat, and that equipment is holding that sweat, what do you think that does to the equipment? It adds on more weight, more like 20 lbs.
So yeah, there’s a ton of science behind the idea of controlling temperature you can increase performance…which I urge all consumers to read up on.
RS: If you had one final message for the consumer, prior to he/she making a decision on what to sport, what would it be?
JS: A lot of people look at us and say that we are what Under Armour was 15 years ago (because they’re 20 years old now). You’re flexible, you’re innovative, you’re disruptive…this is what they say, and we’ll take that.
I think Kevin Plank has done an amazing job. I love what they’ve done at Under Armour. It’s incredibly impressive. And in many ways, he’s kind of trailblazed the path for innovative young brands to enter the market.
What it comes down to is how maniacally focused we are on thermal/temperature technology and how it will improve athlete performance. We know…simply because we are athlete owned and take great pride in our athletes.
