MI-based Addix Joins MHSAA Team
November 1, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
During its first decade in business, Lowell-based Addix has emerged as a major supplier of high school and youth sports uniforms and gear, while maintaining an emphasis on serving local communities – a value held in common with the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
As it looks to expand as a supplier to schools all over our state, Addix has signed on as the MHSAA’s official custom uniform and wrestling gear provider, extending a relationship that began in 2014 when Wrestling Addix became a sponsor of the association.
Addix was founded in 2006 and currently manufactures uniform products for football, volleyball, cross country, wrestling, basketball and track & field, with additional sport offerings planned for the near future.
“Addix has built a great reputation in the wrestling community and is moving to extend its standing in Michigan’s high school sports community by serving all school sports,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “We are proud to promote a Michigan-based company and impressed that Addix is committed to providing high school and younger levels of sports the beneficial service and pricing that larger athletic brands reserve for college and professional sports.”
All Addix products are designed and manufactured in Michigan. The company prides itself on using the best in sublimation technologies and following up production with controlled supply chain and superior customer service.
Addix supplies uniforms to teams at all levels of high school and junior high/middle school, as well as youth sports. The company aims to deliver orders in under three weeks.
"We owe tremendous thanks to the wrestling community in the state of Michigan, which has supported our business for the last 10 years,” Addix owner and CEO Ryan Henderson said. “With the expansion of our partnership, we will continue to utilize our in-state manufacturing facilities to service athletic programs at the highest level. For a company competing against the largest athletic brands in the world, this is a big win."
"We are thrilled to expand on our relationship with the MHSAA,” added John Kargbo, Addix’ vice president of sales & marketing. “It is one of, if not the best-run high school athletic association in the country, and we are excited to have the opportunity to grow our business alongside them."
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Bedford's Gandee Honored for 'Spirit'
March 13, 2017
By John Gillis
Special from NFHS
Hunter Gandee, a student-athlete at Temperance Bedford High School, has been selected as the 2017 Section 4 recipient of the “National High School Spirit of Sport Award” by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
The National High School Spirit of Sport Award was created by the NFHS to recognize those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics.
The mark of a “good big brother” is often to what lengths he might go to assist his younger siblings.
That sense of familial assistance has perhaps never been taken to the extremes that Hunter Gandee has repeatedly done for his younger brother Braden.
A standout student, Hunter is a junior with a 3.92 grade-point average and a member of the National Honor Society.
On the sports side, Hunter is in his third season on the varsity wrestling team, and participates in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling during the offseason. He's also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council.
While those accomplishments are unquestionably outstanding, they might pale in comparison to what he has done for Braden.
Born with cerebral palsy, Braden has limited use of his legs. Nonetheless, Hunter has taken it upon himself to help Braden know what it feels like to walk long distances – and he’s done it three times. Organized for the purpose of raising awareness of cerebral palsy, Hunter literally carries Braden on his back for long walks known as “CP Swaggers.”
In 2014, Hunter carried Braden 40 miles from the Bedford Junior High School wrestling room to the University of Michigan’s Bahna Wrestling Center. The following year, they upped the trek’s mileage to 57 miles.
However, that couldn’t foreshadow what was to follow in April 2016 when Hunter carried Braden on his back an amazing 111 miles – some 14 miles more than the first two walks combined.
About the Award: The NFHS divides the nation into eight geographical sections. The states in Section 4 are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Nominations for this award were generated through NFHS member state associations and reviewed by the NFHS Spirit of Sport Award Selection Committee composed of state association staff members.
While the national winner will be recognized June 29 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, the section winners will be recognized within their respective states and will receive awards before the end of the current school year.
PHOTO: Hunter Gandee, second from right, carries his brother Braden as part of their effort to bring awareness to cerebral palsy. (Photo courtesy of The Cerebral Palsy Swagger.)