Advantage Disadvantage by Yale Jaffe Read Free Book Online Page B

shoes were
beginning to cross the Atlantic at high retail prices. The market
was screaming for better-built basketball shoes selling in between
the Chuck Taylors and Adidas price points.
    In the middle seventies two companies emerged and
seized the opportunity. Vole was originally incorporated in
upper state New York. Kerbe Athletic Company started in San Diego.
Each company developed their own version of high top basketball
shoes with a hardened leather shell to add support to the ankle in
order to protect against sprains. Both Vole and Kerbe met with
moderate success, as they became the choice of wealthy kids. Middle
America did not embrace the new price points charged for these
shoes, and neither did poor people. They raced to sign endorsements
with the professional basketball stars of the time. These
investments added to the bottom line at first, but in a minor
way.
    Fate brought together the desire to sell shoes and
to succeed in NAU’s new mission. Shoe companies partnered with the
NAU to create a consumer buzz with elite athletes. NAU, in
conjunction with Vole and Kerbe, created well-funded
by-invitation-only summer camps for elite high school players. It
was quite an honor to participate in these overnight basketball
compounds. Originally, the camps began in eight major cities around
the country: four Vole camps and four sponsored by Kerbe. Sponsors
fitted players who attended these camps with logo’d clothing and
matching shoes. College coaches prowled the courts looking for
their next recruits. Seeds were planted.
    As the years progressed, NAU programs expanded in
multiple directions. NAU tournaments grew from the elite eight to
the hundreds. Vole and Kerbe increased their expenditures as the
basketball community forked over ever-increasing dollars for shoe
purchases. Consumers of all economic strata were lulled into paying
three or four times the cost of the original “Chuck Taylors”.
Eventually, NAU year-round clubs sprouted up as travelling teams,
which played intact in many tournaments. The NAU continued to
conduct the elite camps as well.
    NAU teams came to cover more than 25 sports around
the United States. Some of the coaches were professional, in the
sense that they received payment by either the NAU or local
sponsors. Playing on NAU teams had become nearly essential in and
around urban areas for players who wished to compete in high
school. Excellent coaching and intense competition prepared the
athletes much better for the rigors of high school athletics than
any park district “house” leagues.

Chapter Six. What a Battle!

    T.J. Battle worked his day job as a Chicago Police
Detective. After his sons left high school, he missed teaching
basketball to young people. He derived pleasure in contributing
back to the primarily poor Westside community in a positive way.
Basketball coaching provided the perfect diversion away from the
gritty day-to-day encounters he had with citizens on Chicago
streets and courthouses. Kerbe Shoe Company recruited him to form a
travelling team on the Westside, an area where young basketball
talent was aplenty, but the parents could not afford sports
expenditures. Each player on his team was given team warm ups and
uniforms. Of course, they received complimentary Kerbe shoes. Coach
Battle received compensation with both in-season cash, and pay as a
counselor at the elite Kerbe summer camps. Detective Battle
probably would have coached free, but the money came in handy. A
high school near the western border of Chicago provided the
practice and game facilities for the team.
    Bobby G. kept his word when Marcus called about
Jamal. Bobby G. had already talked to Coach Battle and because of
their longtime relationship, Jamal was asked to tryout. When Jamal
and his dad walked into the practice gym, they found a very
organized team running through sophisticated drills. Jamal’s
seventh grade team never was so well organized. Each player wore a
pair of blue Kerbes. Half the players