The Upper School Athletic Department didn’t organize the online Best Sports Network pop-up shop for Latin athletic gear in time for the fall sports season this year.

Interim Athletic Director Tim Cronister said, “There have been a lot of troubles in the past with BSN.” He explained that gear often arrived after the sports season ended, so students couldn’t wear their team apparel to games and practices.

Mr. Cronister took over the department in July, following former Athletic Director Sonny Lim’s abrupt departure. With mere weeks to the start of the school year, Mr. Cronister prioritized getting the fall sports preseason ready rather than ordering merchandise.

When senior tennis captain Will Benford learned that BSN would not be an option for tennis apparel this year, he reached out to the Athletic Department. Will then began working in partnership with Mr. Cronister to design the tennis team’s uniforms for the spring.

“We have to buy it, so we might as well get cool uniforms,” Will said.

The boys tennis team at Latin must purchase their own uniforms each season rather than using school-provided jerseys, so Will has taken advantage of this opportunity to organize his team’s gear. “Mr. Cronister is sending us emails with pictures and logos, and we just pick out what logo we want and order clothes,” he said.

The golf teams are also required to purchase their own uniforms each season, which means that in the future, both the golf and tennis teams may get custom-uniforms each year if BSN does not return.

Mr. Cronister has turned this seemingly unfortunate separation from BSN into an opportunity. He plans on working with the Latin spirit shop, the small merchandise store in the lobby of the Upper School, to sell sports clothing. The spirit shop currently sells apparel that ranges from t-shirts and sweatpants to water bottles and bags.

Mr. Cronister said, “We are going to connect on swag with the spirit shop and design some sports-specific and general things.”

While students such as Will benefited from not having BSN orders this year, other students expressed disappointment. Every year the gear from BSN has a unique twist, making each piece of merchandise memorable for certain seasons. Senior varsity boys soccer player Ascher Cahn said he was unhappy that he would not have apparel to commemorate his last year of high school soccer.

Ascher said, “As a senior, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to purchase gear for a sport I have played for four years, and I feel as if I missed out on a chance to have as many memories as possible.”

Looking ahead, Mr. Cronister foresees an eventual return to a company like BSN. “As interim, I don’t want to jump in and change things,” he said. The future of Latin sports gear could very well reside in the hands of the next athletic director.