BELFAST — After 115 years of producing athletic uniforms for high school and college teams around the country, Russell Athletic and Activewear announced Thursday, Sept. 28 they will cease production of athletic uniforms. 

“For over 115 years, Russell Athletic has provided quality apparel for athletes both on and off the field of play,” Scott Greene, Russell Athletic and Activewear Senior Vice-President for Brand Management, said in a statement to The Alexander City Outlook. “We are proud of our heritage, but to build lasting relationships with a new generation of athletes, we will need to focus our efforts and play to our strengths.

“Today, we will begin to transition away from the team uniform business to allow greater emphasis on the consumer retail market. With this shift, we will continue to offer high quality athletic lifestyle and performance apparel for distribution through multiple retail and wholesale channels, including continued distribution of collegiate licensed products along with non-uniform apparel through the team dealer network.”

In the Midcoast, the Belfast Area High School football and softball programs are both outfitted by Russell, owned by Fruit of the Loom. 

Now, both teams will need to seek new uniform suppliers. 

Belfast athletic director Terry Kenniston noted in an email that although it is “a little early to tell” what the school will do to replace the Russell Athletic uniforms, it is not expected to be a “significant problem” due to the small amount of uniforms needing to be replaced and the fact that Russell uniforms have been seldom used by the school over the last 15 years. Other Belfast teams are outfitted by either Adidas or Nike.

Recently, Russell had athletic uniform contracts with universities such as Ohio University, Western Kentucky University and University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Georgia Tech University, presently outfitted by Russell, announced in August they signed a new uniform deal with Adidas, while the University of Southern Mississippi had been exploring its options and considering whether or not to extend its current deal with the company, according to FootballScoop.com. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com. 

This story was originally published Sept. 29 at 2:45 p.m.