A Boston startup built by former Reebok executives began selling its first shoe this week, a $188 training sneaker aimed squarely at hockey and lacrosse players who spend their games cutting, pivoting, and skating sideways rather than running in a straight line. The company, called Unsung, calls the shoe the Snapback Trainer, and it arrives with an adviser who knows a thing or two about lateral movement on skates: retired Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.
According to The Boston Globe, the Snapback Trainer features a carbon-fiber plate to drive propulsion, stability wings to support the foot through multidirectional cuts, and high-tech foam for cushioning and energy return. The shoes are manufactured by a third-party supplier in Vietnam. Unsung cofounder Dennis Baldwin, a former Reebok executive, said the footwear needed to react to athletes’ dynamic movements rather than the forward strides most training shoes are built around.
Unsung was cofounded by Baldwin, Brianna Henley, and Jody O’Neill, according to the same Globe report. Baldwin and Henley both previously served as Reebok executives, while O’Neill worked alongside Baldwin at Breakaway Ventures and also worked with Tom Brady’s former fitness business, TB12. O’Neill has said he first conceived of a hockey-specific training shoe nearly two decades ago while playing goalie at Dartmouth College, convinced that he and his teammates lacked a shoe suited to their sport.
Bergeron and Fireman Join the Advisory Ranks
Bergeron, a former Bruins captain and Stanley Cup champion, serves Unsung as a strategic adviser.
The company has also recruited former Reebok chief executive Paul Fireman to lead its board of strategic advisers, a notable return for a figure closely tied to the brand's history. Other advisers include former Reebok and Hasbro executive John Frascotti and former TB12 chief executive John Burns, rounding out a roster heavy with New England sports-business veterans. Baldwin has said the founders set out to build a brand bigger than a single training shoe, and the company itself describes Unsung as a new training-shoe company with Reebok DNA.
Baldwin Focuses on Unsung
Baldwin is focusing on leading Unsung full time.
For now, Unsung is selling the Snapback Trainer directly to consumers through its own website rather than through retail partners. The company hopes to eventually work with specialty retailers such as Pure Hockey and Lacrosse Unlimited, though no retail agreements have been announced. That direct-to-consumer approach mirrors the company's broader strategy of starting narrow, with hockey and lacrosse athletes as its initial focus, before expanding to other team-sport disciplines, according to WWD.
Two Years of Testing Behind the Design
The shoe's development stretched more than two years, moving through three rounds of wear testing involving more than 50 high school, college, and professional athletes, coaches, and trainers, WWD reported. Unsung also partnered with independent footwear biomechanics lab Heeluxe to refine the shoe's responsiveness, energy return, and cushioning, the outlet noted.
Unsung has framed its mission in broader terms than a single product launch. The company has said it plans to commit a portion of its revenues to organizations that help young people play, develop, and succeed through sports, according to a company release distributed via PR Newswire. That release also describes the Snapback Trainer as designed specifically for the multidirectional demands of team-sport training, distinguishing it from shoes built primarily for running or lifting.
Unsung's team-centered values stress that no one wins alone, a philosophy the company is betting resonates with the team-sport athletes it's targeting first. Whether that philosophy translates into shelf space at the specialty retailers Unsung is courting, or into the broader expansion the founders envision, remains to be seen as the company works to build out its business.
