University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 4/1996 Native American culture inspires lacrosse clothing company Most people leave the University with a degree, perhaps a job. John Barcik, Delaware '92, left with a determination to start his own company, having already laid the groundwork-thanks to the help of some people at the University. After graduation, Barcik waited tables to fund his venture, the Baggataway Clothing Co., and began operating out of the trunk of his car. Now, his line of lacrosse clothing is sold in 90 stores up and down the East Coast, as well as through sportswear catalogs. Sales have quadrupled since the company incorporated in 1994. "This spring has been very exciting," Barcik says. "We've had a lot of people take notice of what we're doing, including STX and Brine, the two major manufacturers of lacrosse equipment." Despite the growing popularity of lacrosse-now played by 300,000 men and women through school teams, youth leagues and club teams-no one was manufacturing a brand name line of apparel with a lacrosse theme. Barcik, a four-year member of the UD varsity team, seized on this opportunity to combine his love of the sport with his interest in its Native American roots. He began designing the clothing while still a senior at the University, using the library for his research. Baggataway's first design, which serves as the company logo, was inspired by a few brief sentences Barcik found in a lacrosse book. "I knew there had to be a Native American word for lacrosse," Barcik explains, "because they invented the sport. I found several words, and Baggataway happened to be the most recognizable and most pronounceable." Baggataway, which is from the Ojibway dialect spoken by a tribe in the Great Lakes region, appears on most of the company's clothing, along with graphics inspired by the Native American origins of lacrosse. These designs, many of which are in full color, include such elements as eagles, totem poles, bear claws, lightning bolts and lacrosse sticks. Barcik speaks highly of the resources available to him as a student in starting his own business. "I must have been in the Smith Hall computer lab hundreds of times rewriting the hang tag," he confesses. He did a trademark search in the library, then sought the help of the University's Office of the Vice President for Research in applying for a trademark. He also took many of the courses offered by the Small Business Development Center at the University. The Baggataway clothing line includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts and caps. All of the clothing comes with a hang tag that explains the origin of the sport. "I think it's very important for people to know the origins of the game," Barcik explains. "It's the oldest team sport in North America, but many lacrosse players, even many Native Americans, don't know this." Barcik has been especially pleased with the response of Native Americans to the clothing line. "I've always been committed to being authentic about the designs," Barcik says. "The Native Americans I've met have all been very supportive of the Baggataway line because they feel as if we're educating people about the sport and doing it in an appropriate way." Barcik's former lacrosse teammates will undoubtedly remember his fascination with Native American customs. In his senior year, Barcik convinced his fellow players to perform a Cherokee lacrosse ritual called "Going to Water." According to this tradition, the medicine man, who was also the lacrosse coach, would lead the players to a sacred body of water where he would perform a ritual using red and black beads. The players would wear red bead necklaces, which represent victory. They would bury and stomp on the black beads, which symbolized the confusion of the opponents. "Here were the team members, with war-painted faces and dressed only in towels in 20- degree weather," Barcik laughs. "The closest we could come to a sacred body of water was a run- off creek near the University's fields. Most of the necklaces a friend and I had made had become hopelessly entangled, so the players ended up just holding beads." They dutifully buried and stomped on the black beads but were beaten soundly in their game the next day. "I took a lot of elbows for that," Barcik says. "We still have a good laugh about it when I see those guys. "When I started Baggataway, I had a passion for this concept, and I had connections in lacrosse," Barcik says, "but I had no knowledge of the apparel industry." His search for a partner who had that experience ended when he met Ira Hochstadt, a former All-American defense man at the University of Maryland who had worked for Champion sportswear for 15 years. In addition to Barcik and Hochstadt, Baggataway has one other employee, a full-time assistant who helps Barcik manage the day-to-day business of the Columbia, Md., based company. Barcik's additional responsibilities as president are varied. He still designs all of the clothes, which are printed, warehoused and shipped by Coming Attractions, a fulfillment house in Manassas, Va. He also serves as sales representative for the company in the mid-Atlantic states. Independent sales representatives in New England, New York and the Carolinas also market Baggataway's line. His promotional efforts have recently paid off with a cover photo on the March 1996 issue of Baltimore magazine and an appearance that same month on WJZ-TV Baltimore's morning show, Coffee With. Barcik says he hopes to expand Baggataway by marketing to people outside of lacrosse circles, in much the same way as surfing-related apparel has reached a broader market. "Kids in Nebraska buy surfing apparel, even though they may never have seen the ocean," he says. "They're buying the lifestyle look, the image." As part of the push to broaden its market, Baggataway has recently begun to sell in Western shops and Southwestern stores, capitalizing on the current popularity of Native American- inspired products. -Theresa Gawlas Medoff, Delaware '94M