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Ever since sports pin trading began, reputedly at some of the earlier Olympic Games, it has mushroomed into a prolific activity with spectators, teams, coaches, athletes and parents alike participating in the trade.
Pin trading has caught fire in several sports. Olympic pins have become collector's items over the years. Basketball, soccer, NFL, and even car racing enthusiasts are picking up a growing interest in pin trading. For some reason, Little League Baseball, in particular, has become a bullpen for the mad rush of pin traders.
Every baseball season, teams put in their orders for their new team pin designs. With excitement in the air around game time, everyone will want to see what new pins are out. Traders, collectors, athletes, (and even coaches sometimes) participate in the "sport," carrying their own pins to trade with others. Team athletes will set out with a bulk of their own team's pins to trade with other teams. This pin trading activity, an innocent outgrowth of a very simple idea, is also a way to encourage camaraderie and mutual respect between opposing teams.
Every summer, Cooperstown, New York experiences an influx of baseball lovers. The town is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, a feature attraction year-round, but specifically at this time, when the Cooperstown little league summer tournaments begin, and flocks of little leaguers from all over the country come to make a name for themselves.
Tournament entrants in expectation of the games, also scramble for the team pins orders, to avoid the traffic jam of requests that lapel pin companies will experience during high baseball seasons and tournaments. The true versatility of lapel pins makes it easy to get a new design each time around. The team mascot, stylization of the name, shape, color use and pin enhancements such as flashing lights or danglers, all provide a diversity of creative options.
If the next major little league tournament, like that of Cooperstown, is on your team's agenda, it makes sense to start thinking about ordering your team pins. In this phenomenon of pin trading, to not be in, is to be out!
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