Back in 2002 two retired sports nuts, Ken and Pat Gates began to notice something. They lived away from their hometown and had a really hard time finding gear for their favorite college team. As they began talking to people more and more they found that this seemed to be a common problem. Someone living in California for example that was a fan of Florida couldn’t find gear. The same was true on the flip side. It seemed that somebody should do something. Then the light bulb went off and Pat gave up her volunteer work and Ken gave up his fishing so that construction on a new site could begin. The web site would be designed specifically for college sports fans to be able to find whatever gear for whatever team they wanted no matter where they lived. The site, appropriately named collegesportsstuff.com, began to be put together on Labor day weekend 2002, went live in October of 2004, and the rest as they say is history.

What began as an endeavor to help college fans find the items they wanted the site now offers a wide variety of sports in which items are sold for. Along with a plethora of college sports teams, the site also has items for many pro sports teams as well. On the site a huge variety of gear can be found for NASCAR, Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL). In addition the site sells items for the sportsman and wildlife gear. The site has been made very user friendly and has several different ways in which to find what you are looking for. You can search by sport, by team, by category and even by price. The site offers literally thousands of items and is sure to have something for every fan and more importantly every budget.

It’s hard to believe that the site with such a huge variety of items started off with two retirees and one computer. Now the company that sold just $18,000 in its first year of operations ships that much merchandise in one week. The dream of two retirees has thusly been fulfilled. They have succeeded in not only creating a place for college fans to find the gear they want but fans of many professional sports teams as well. Sadly Pat died of cancer in December of 2004 but she has to be smiling from above when she looks down upon the success that she and Ken started together.