Spalding will be the Official Ball of the CIF Southern Section
Los Alamitos, CA (November 13, 2015)– Today the CIF Southern Section and Spalding announced a fiveyear partnership extension for Spalding to be the Official Ball for all playoff events in the sports of Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball and (Dudley) Softball.
With the new agreement, Spalding shall expand its role with the CIF-SS to become the ‘Official
Basketball/Volleyball Equipment Supplier’ offering greater gymnasium and equipment services to the
member schools.
The CIF Southern Section boasts more than 580 member schools and more than 2,700 championship
playoff events. A total of 3,845 boys and girls varsity teams compete in the CIF-SS sports field
Spalding/Dudley balls in the playoffs. Spalding has been the official ball in these five sports since 2002.
“Our partnership extension with the California Interscholastic Federation (Southern Section) is
energizing on many fronts. It speaks to our collective storied histories and our shared philosophy of
competitive play and outfitting athletes who have a passion for sport,” said Paul Sullivan, Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Spalding. “With close to 4,000 CIF-SS varsity teams this is a great
platform for Spalding to expand its reach with an important demographic.”
“The CIF Southern Section is pleased and excited to continue our relationship with Spalding,” stated CIFSS
Commissioner of Athletics Rob Wigod. “Spalding has been our official ball partner more than a decade.
We continue to believe in providing our member schools the best balls in all athletic competition and
with Spalding we continue that commitment. The expanded gymnasium equipment technical support
further enhances the Spalding support of our member schools,” added Wigod.
The five-year agreement will run through June 2021.
About CIF Southern Section
CIF Southern Section is the organizing and governing body for 582 public and private high schools
located in the expansive Southern California region. Ranging from Avalon to Big Bear, San Clemente to
Paso Robles, and Temecula to Mammoth, the CIF-SS makes up the 10th largest high school state
association in the nation. The CIF-SS conducts 24 championship sports in support of 9,300 varsity teams
and 815,000 students.
About Spalding
Spalding is the largest basketball equipment supplier in the world, and America’s first baseball company.
Spalding is the official basketball of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National
Basketball Association (WNBA), the official backboard of the NBA and NCAA, the official baseball of the
Little League World Series® and the official volleyball of the King of the Beach® Volleyball Tour. In
addition to being the leading producer and marketer of basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls,
Spalding produces softballs under the Dudley® brand. The SPALDING® and DUDLEY® trademarks are
owned by Russell Brands, LLC. For more information, visit spalding.com.
Press Contacts:
Thom Simmons, CIF Southern Section [email protected]
Lynn Luczkowski, Spalding, L2 Communications [email protected]z or 413-478-1569/802-295-3888.