GIFT GUIDE: Tackle the tough task of buying for sports fans
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — Athletes might be some of the most difficult to shop for because of their allegiance to specific brands or because they usually have at least two of everything.
Still, Highland Lakes shoppers don’t have to travel to Austin to find products made by adidias, New Balance or Wilson.
Balance Sporting Goods Store is an official dealer of those brands, and it’s located inside the Marble Falls Athletic Club, 2312 U.S. 281 South.
From climate apparel to bands to gel footbeds and even regulation balls, shoppers will find it at Balance Sporting Goods.
According to Patrick Bonner, the sales manager of Marble Falls Athletic Club, the store carries the same apparel and shoes of your favorite athletes and has hard-to-find sizes for footwear as well.
The store also will design and print logos on apparel, he said.
And because of the spotlight on sports-related concussions, Bonner said the store also sells padding for helmets from Unequaled Technologies.
“(Unequaled Technologies is) trying to improve the protection,” Bonner said. “It utilizes the best types of equipment. One of the things they provide is supplemental head padding.”
The padding is put inside helmets for sports played on the diamond and the gridiron.
He said high school athletes suffer more than 100,000 concussions annually.
“In order to protect our athletes, we want to utilize the best,” Bonner said.
One of the most popular resolutions for the New Year is starting an exercise program, and the club sells memberships.
“There’s no greater gift than health,” Bonner said.
Staff members can help newcomers with goals and create a program to help fit their needs, he said. And it’s never too late to start, he added, even if the person is in their 70s.
“We’ll show them how to do it, implement and track every month,” he said. “We’ll reassess and move forward from there. We have male trainers and female trainers.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com