Nfinity Athletic Corporation
Company: Nfinity Athletic Corporation, Atlanta, GA
Company Description: Nfinity is the first women’s performance team sport footwear company to create a shoe specifically for the female athlete. Nfinity has pioneered a new category of shoes. They focus on engineering innovations designed to alleviate injuries specific to a woman’s physiology, while delivering superior style, comfort and performance.
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Product Developer of the Year
Nomination Title: Christine Shelby, Volleyball Brand Manager
1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2009 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Christine Shelby, the volleyball brand manager for Nfinity Athletic Corporation
has been an instrumental member of the Nfinity product development team. In little
more than a year’s time, she has worked to develop the volleyball product line
and specifically, she designed and developed the company’s volleyball kneepad.
Brought to the team by CEO Tate Chalk to help grow the volleyball brand, Shelby
joined Nfinity in 2008 with her sights set on furthering the boutique brand and
creating products that would speak directly to the physical needs of female
athletes.
The Nfinity volleyball shoe, which Shelby had a large hand in creating,
incorporates BioniQ™ technology in the midsole, which alleviates pressure on the
Q angle found in women. The Q angle is the angle from the hip to the knee that
causes pressure on the ACL and therefore increases the chances of ACL injuries.
Additionally, with the philosophy of providing female athletes with gear that is
not only aesthetically pleasing but also addresses protection needs, Shelby
began developing a new volleyball
kneepad in early 2009, later named the Nfinity d3o™ (dee-three-oh) Kneepad.
Shelby paired Nfinity up with European Intelligent Shock company, d3o™, to
create a revolutionary kneepad that would become one of the most sought after
kneepads on the market. Introduced in October 2009, the kneepad is designed to
reduce the likelihood of injuries in the knee while absorbing and dispersing
shock without restricting movement.
The kneepad utilizes a revolutionary new material called d3o™, a specially
engineered gel made with intelligent molecules that flow with you as you move,
but on shock, lock together to absorb the impact energy. The harder the impact,
the faster the molecules react, giving athletes the freedom to perform while
responding to their protection needs.
With Shelby’s design, the sleek kneepad is the slimmest and thinnest on the
market, a mere five inches long and eight mm wide, versus a traditional seven to
nine inch pad, taking into account the needs and aesthetic of the modern player,
while still offering more protection than a traditional pad. It is designed to
be worn just below the knee -- the point on an athlete’s knee that actually
makes contact with the ground, offering total patella, tibia and femur protection.
The NfiniPocket™ design allows the pads to be removed from the knee sleeves for
an extremely thorough wash and dry. With removable sleeves, the pad will last
longer and be much more sanitary than the sewn in foam protection of traditional
kneepads. Each set of kneepads comes with interchangeable sleeves, one pair of
white and one pair of black knee sleeves, in addition to the Nfinity d3o™ pad
inserts. The sleeves incorporate Biotex? antimicrobial technology, which
inhibits the growth of bacteria on the inside of the pad and Drymate? pad
moisture wicking control soaks up any moisture
on the knee, which helps to prevent slippage.
Thanks to Christine Shelby, the Nfinity d3o™ Kneepad is an innovative addition
to the Nfinity collection, incorporating state of the art technology and
offering athletes a product that fits them well and helps to protect and
preserve the bones in their knees.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://www.nfinity.com/news-volleyball/173-nfinity-footwear-to-release-revolutionary-kneepad
http://www.nfinity.com/products-volleyball/knee-pad-volleyball
http://www.nfinity.com/inside-nfinity-volleyball/d3o-technology-volleyball
http://thestevies.com/ABA10Attachments/Nfinity/Nfinityd3oKneepadArticleonPrepVolleyball.html
http://www.wwsport.com/Volleyball/SKU/NVBK1/Nfinity+Volleyball+Knee+Pads.aspx?ParentTabID=268
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:
Christine Shelby began her athletic career as a volleyball player for the
Georgia Institute of Technology and graduated with a B.S. in management in 2001.
She utilized her volleyball knowledge in her professional life as the Promotions
Coordinator and later as the Assistant Business Unit Manager of Volleyball
Apparel and Accessories with Mizuno USA before joining the Nfinity team as the
Volleyball Brand Manager. She has been with Nfinity for a little more than a
year and is responsible for product development, brand
development and overall sales for the Volleyball product line.