Each week, Mill Stream writer Valerie Butler takes a look at a specific aspect of the NHS football program. This week Butler focuses on the sponsorship the Millers received from Adidas.

    “Are those cleats Adidas?”

    For most people, their first thought may why does it matter? Cleats are cleats, but for a Miller, it matters.

    Months ago, senior Tyler Gonzalez believed that, with the transition from former head coach Lance Scheib to current head coach Jason Simmons, there would still be influence from Scheib. And he was right; Scheib has branded NHS as an Adidas school, which turned into a 3StripeLife school and still continues today.

    “The 3StripeLife means that Adidas is representing us and we are representing them.” sophomore Chris Bostrom said, “We have to do our best to represent them as much as we can, on and off the field.”

    Many of the players think that having the sponsorship is a good thing because of what Adidas provides.

    “I think it’s nice having the sponsorship because Adidas is a nice brand,” junior Aaron Brewer said.

    Adidas is a brand that’s getting into high school apparel,  whether they play a sport or not.

    “It’s all about branding,” Simmons said, “The group you can brand yourself the most with is teenagers because teenagers drive the brand up or down.”

    Adidas was picked to be the brand of our school because of the way they represent themselves, in the aspects of their clothing and the quality of their work.

    “I felt like Adidas is a company that was going in the right direction and really values the high school relationship and partnership more than any other companies.” Scheib said, “I felt like Adidas really resonated with what we stand for at Noblesville and what they could bring to us. With the honor and prestige they have as a whole company.”

    The sponsorship originally started through a connection that Scheib had but he also didn’t want the sponsorship to focus on one sport. He wanted to brand the school.

    “This wasn’t just a football deal, not just a basketball deal or a swimming deal,” Scheib said, “It’s a school wide deal.”

    However, the idea did start solely for football since it’s more unique and was turned into a school wide agreement after a month discussion with the athletic department and Adidas representatives.

    “The agreement for football is we will always be in Adidas apparel when representing Noblesville Football,” Simmons said, “We do our best knowing that there are going to be exceptions here or there.”

    The Adidas brand isn’t just for games but for practices as well, and when another brand like Nike is worn, it has to be covered. And there is punishment for the mistake.

    “If someone doesn’t wear Adidas, they have to cover up the logo with tape and then run sprints for the mistake.” Brewer said.

    The sponsorship helps out the football team in many ways and Simmons and the rest of the staff appreciates the generosity they have shown the program by giving Adidas the support from the team and the family they deserve.

    “If you look at us as a whole,” Simmons said, “99% of our football program is Adidas.”