Colonel Crawford's Landin brothers growing their Empire one team at a time

MANSFIELD — For some people, great ideas seem to just find them.

That is the story for Kris Landin and Empire Sportswear, the official jersey provider for the 45th News Journal All-Star Classic.

The 2013 Colonel Crawford grad fell in love with flag football upon his graduation. He started a league in Crestline featuring local adults just looking for a recreational activity. It grew over the years, and the one thing Landin noticed was just how uninspiring the team uniforms were.

So, he mixed his love for flag football with style and Empire Sportswear was born.

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"It was a supply and demand kinda thing," Kris Landin said. "No one had a league around here, so we created the league. No one had jerseys, so we created the jerseys, and then we had teams from Columbus and Cleveland coming to play in our tournaments and they became interested in our jerseys because the ones we were doing weren't just your basic jerseys. It was high quality and also stylish and eye-popping."

Since then, Empire has been a staple in the flag football world providing jerseys for teams that compete nationally. Tournaments in Florida, New York, Tennessee and all over the East Coast feature teams with Empire Sportswear jerseys, and it was something Kris and younger brother, Kaleb, who is the graphic designer for many of the jerseys and a 2018 Colonel Crawford grad, could never have imagined.

"We were on our way back from Orlando over the weekend, and we were exhausted from playing and working our booth selling merch, and our little brother Keegan asked if we like what we do," Kaleb said. "I told him that Kris didn't pick Empire, Empire picked Kris. It all kind of happened so fast, and Kris put a ton of work in. It picked him, and he was bred for it."

From uniforms plastered with laughing emojis, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eating pizza and even ones that are full on Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story outfits, Empire can do it all.

"A lot has to do with the creativity of the team," Kris said. "A lot of people want something that is out of this world kind of design. Those are really cool because we love to be challenged. When someone hits me back saying they think we can do better, it drives us to do something that hasn't been seen."

"We were walking around Orlando and every other team we saw was wearing our uniforms," Kaleb said. "When they come to us for uniforms, sometimes they give us exactly what they want and others, they tell us to make something up and go crazy."

Empire has even broken into the high school level providing football jerseys for Colonel Crawford, youth and middle school football jerseys for the Eagles, Christmas sweater-style warm-ups for Mount Gilead basketball and even a set of two uniforms for Downey Christian girls basketball in Florida among others.

They will also provide the uniforms for the North Central Ohio Football Coaches Association All-Star Football Game this summer.

"Right now, we are knocking on the door," Kris said. "When we started, there were probably 20 design apparel companies in the flag football world, and last year, we went from 20 to three. We talked to a couple of teams last year at nationals and this year, people were coming to us and asking to do their jerseys. That is a huge step in advancing."

And that is helping them inch closer to their goals as a company.

"The No. 1 goal in Empire is to make this brand the Nike of adult recreational sports," Kris said. "I want Empire to be a household name when it comes to adult recreation. Not just flag football, but we could do adult soccer, volleyball, slow-pitch softball. Anything.

"Most of all, though, with our location, we want to give back to the community. We would love to get into the high school world because there are a lot of high schools out there. But our main goal is to provide exceptional customer service. We want to become a big brand name with small-town customer service."

And it is that approach that has landed them an opportunity to provide jerseys for the 45th News Journal All-Star Classic slated for March 29 at Lexington High School. The Landins have produced a high-quality and classic look for the uniforms while also providing a shooting shirt and arm sleeves for each player. The jerseys feature a red and blue color scheme with the NJ Classic logo front and center and the players' names and numbers on the back. They will also have the home school logo of each player on the back along with a sponsorship patch from Buckeye Carwash on the front right and the Empire Sportswear logo on the left chest.

"It is huge because we grew up here and know this game very well," Kaleb said. "We have seen this game grow over the years. Doing something like this with a huge game in the area is a great opportunity to be a part of something with historical weight to it. It is something we haven't been a part of before and it is exciting."

Kris is more excited about giving the players a chance to look good and play good.

"While it is a great opportunity for us to do something for the community, the thing that excites me is creating a whole new aspect for the kids," Kris said. "They are going to be decked out, and it is a huge thing for the kids, which makes it an even bigger thing for us."

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Empire Sportswear set to provide NJ All-Star Classic with memorable jerseys