Athletic shoe manufacturer Reebok will withdraw its financial backing from the Enclave, an elite group of track and field athletes based in Washington, effective Jan. 1. The move leaves the Enclave without money for travel as well as individual and coaching stipends.
"Things had been going along beautifully," said Frank Gagliano, who has coached the middle and long distance Enclave members since the group's inception in 1993. "Now they tell us they've decided not to continue, and we've got eight weeks to get a new sponsor. They certainly could have handled it better."
John Lynch, who handles sponsorship for Reebok, did not return phone calls.
In recent years, Reebok provided more than $100,000 annually to the Enclave. Gagliano said hammer thrower Kevin McMahon received the largest training stipend of $12,000, but most of the 15 sponsored runners received far less. Some of the most successful athletes, such as miler Steve Holman from Arlington and Rich and Cheri Kenah from Reston, maintained their training affiliations with the Enclave but signed shoe and apparel contracts with other companies.
The Enclave is one of only a handful of post-collegiate training groups in the country. The group sent three members to the Sydney Olympics--McMahon, Rich Kenah and Bryan Woodward--and was well represented in the men's and women's middle- and long-distance track events at the U.S. trials last summer in Sacramento.
Since Reebok's withdrawal, the Enclave has hired Octagon, a world-wide athlete representation organization. Renaldo Nehemiah, Octagon representative and former hurdles world record holder, has been working to secure new sponsorship for the group.
Nehemiah said he has had meetings with numerous potential corporate sponsors, including America Online, Xerox and Verizon, as well as shoe companies including adidas, Asics and New Balance.
"I'm confident that we'll solidify one or multiple sponsorship opportunities," Nehemiah said. "For corporations, it's a matter of timing."
Nehemiah acknowledged the problem of attracting a new shoe and apparel sponsor because the group has long been known as the Reebok Enclave. "But so long as a company decides it's worthwhile to spend the money and overcome the branding, it can be done," he said.
Holman, a former Olympian and an Enclave charter member, also took the long view regarding Reebok's withdrawal. "It's disappointing on its face," he said, "but it could usher in a new era in U.S. track and field. It's a matter of finding the right [sponsor] in the right market.
"As for the Enclave, our record speaks for itself. Funding for training is critical for distance runners. It would be a tremendous shame to lose that."