Sterling Athletics

Sterling Athletics began its mission back in 1994 when an attorney, Terry Robinson, teamed up with his friend, Paul Krech, who was an insurance salesman and entrepreneur. Terry and Paul teamed up to create a ball company geared toward supplying custom logo balls to local basketball camps. Terry is the founder of Pro Camps Ltd. He ran several camps for a variety of professional basketball players such as Brad Davis, Mitch Richmond, Dominique Wilkins, Antonio Daniels, Roy Rogers, Keith Van Horn, Mike Bibby and most notably Nate McMillan from the Seattle Sonics. Disheartened by basketballs purchased from other suppliers, the two men sought a partnership abroad with a ball manufacturer who could create a custom logo basketball program to fit the needs of Sterling Athletics. Robinson's sports background combined with Krech's business acumen and salesmanship allowed the men to successfully launch the Sterling Athletics brand. Once the Sterling brand was born, it began its daily operations out of the law office of Robinson and warehousing in the garage at Robinson's home. The first overseas shipment of merchandise was received in 1994. Ultimately, Sterling Athletics began incorporating all other products that camps required. By 1995, as business and inventory grew, Krech's son-in-law Andy Santo Domingo bought ownership into the company. Santo Domingo's passion for sports along with his extensive business background helped expand the company into a bigger venture. Robinson's garage became a small remote warehouse in Sumner, Washington. Sterling set forth on a mission to become the industry leader in camp basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and volleyballs. By the end of 1995, its sales force doubled to two people. For two years sales increased steadily to a point that necessitated hiring a full time graphic artist to create the custom logo designs. In addition to this, Sterling researched and developed relationships to broaden its product portfolio by offering game quality sports balls and custom uniforms. Sterling also became a distributor for some of the best apparel companies in the United States. By the year 2000, Sterling was supplying team and camp products to over 120 NCAA Division 1 college programs in addition to thousands of high schools. Towards the end of 2000, the site of the future home of Sterling was founded and purchased. The staff increased and sales and profitability continued its growth at a steady rate. In January of 2003 Sterling finally moved into its permanent home in Puyallup, Washington that includes a state of the art office space and 40,000 square foot warehouse. Sterling looks forward to developing long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with many more clients who want the best quality and service in the sporting goods industry.