Hoosier Coaches Clinic - 2023

Aside from the statewide coaches clinics we attend, Grip Spritz is often invited to private coaches clinics that can introduce us to a whole new group of coaches who may not be close enough to whatever city the statewide event is in.

This past weekend, we had an unbelievable opportunity to attend the Hoosier Clinic in Knightstown, Indiana!

Talk about historic! If you’re familiar with the movie, the Hoosier Gym is as much of a museum as it is a gym.

The movie is set in the 1950s and is loosely based on the true story of the Milan High School basketball team's remarkable run to the Indiana state championship in 1954.

Milan, Indiana, was a small rural town that was deeply passionate about basketball, and high school basketball, in particular, was huge!

Coach Marvin Wood, Coach Norman Dale in the film, had a reputation for being strict and disciplined but was also known for his coaching prowess.

In the 1953-1954 basketball season, Milan High School embarked on a historic underdog journey in the Indiana State basketball tournament, which was open to all schools regardless of size.

Milan faced off against Muncie Central High School in the state title game, a much larger school. In a thrilling game, Milan pulled off an upset victory with a final score of 32-30, winning the state championship.

"Hoosiers" captures the essence of this inspiring underdog story, through teamwork, determination, and the love of the game. The film also explores the personal growth and redemption of Coach Dale, who has a troubled past but finds a chance for redemption through coaching the team.

The movie has since become a beloved sports film and is often cited as one of the greatest sports movies ever made. It resonated with audiences not only for its sports drama but also for its portrayal of small-town values and the enduring spirit of Indiana high school basketball.

United Basketball Plus is a network of coaches from all levels of the sport focused on growing and helping other coaches. One of their events this year was the Hoosier Clinic!

About 75 coaches from a few states made their way to this small town to work on their craft of coaching as well as to take in some history.

Like always, new events mean new faces to be introduced to Grip Spritz!

Thankfully or not, basketball coaches come in assuming we are just another sticky pad. Until they stop by and try Grip Spritz out.

We get the usual questions, how is this different than a sticky pad? Is it super expensive too? Do my players need to use it every time they check in? Do I have to mess with it while I’m trying to coach?

How is Grip Spritz different than a sticky pad? Our court side traction mat was created to be everything a sticky pad isn’t.

Sticky mats are heavy, expensive, annoying and constantly need to be reapplied. When we created it, we asked coaches what they wanted in a product and then we made that!

Is it super expensive like a sticky mat?

No. We wanted to make sure schools get two Grip Spritz reaction mats, one for the boys and one for the girls, for less than the cost of one SlippNott. School budgets aren’t extensive. They usually are making choices between uniforms, accessories, equipment, etc each year.

If you’ve been in any gym, you know the courts are always dusty. They’re used for gym classes, dances, assemblies, whatever the school has going on and they aren’t cleaned nearly enough. If teams want to provide anything to help with slippery shoes, it was costly, until now! We wanted to make sure players could play hard and be safe no matter what the quality of the court is.

Do players need to use it every time they check in? No. If they need to use it every dead ball, that means it’s not lasting the whole time they’re playing. We wanted to make sure it would last long enough that players would need it at most pregame and half time. No wasted motions while they’re playing!

Do I have to mess with it as a coach? No. So many coaches complain about having to peel off sticky sheets while they’re trying to coach. If you let the kids do it, they end up tearing off 7 of those expensive replacement sheets at once. Now the coach has to coach and play with the sticky mat and find somewhere to throw away the used sheet.

The Grip Spritz Traction Mat will last all game, so you’re not constantly pouring more solution or helping kids with it. You can actually just use it pregame and put it away until half time or next game.

We wanted to make the coaches life easier while they’re trying to manage a million things. We also wanted to make sure players actually have grip on these old, dusty courts.

The Hoosier Clinic was awesome for us! Meet tons of great coaches who loved our traction mat and couldn’t wait to get their team set up for the upcoming season!