Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame

RONNY FLOWERS is the president of Athletic Supply, Inc., in Odessa, Texas. He was born in Guthrie, Texas in 1947. And at the urging of his high school principal and mentor, Ronny enrolled at Texas Tech University. Each day, he attended class, worked two jobs and slept four hours. His jobs were cleaning buses at the bus station and feeding cows at the feed lot.

In the fall of 1967, a small school near his hometown asked him to teach and coach. He taught math (fifth grade and up), coached all boys sports (seventh grade and up) and drove the school bus. On the last day of school in 1968, he decided to finish his degree. Needing a job while at Texas Tech, he applied at T&D Sporting Goods. Although no sales job was available, he was hired to knock down a wall. After completing that task, the owners at T&D asked Ronny to be their shipping clerk. This began a 50-year career in the sporting goods industry and a 49-year marriage to his wife Pam, whom he met when she came into the store to buy a pair of socks.

He became a road salesman for T&D in 1970. Pam wasn’t too happy about the offer since she was pregnant, and Ronny was three hours short of graduation. Ronny prevailed by saying if the job didn’t work out, he would finish school. Ronny never looked back. He embraced his new work. He rose early, stayed late, delivered equipment, started track meets and encouraged those around him.

In the late fall of 1972, a second opportunity came his way. The owners of Athletic Supply in Odessa were looking for a young roadman and offered Ronny the position. He moved with his young family to Odessa and began traveling to the oil-rich schools of West Texas. In the fall of 1973, Ronny and others bought Athletic Supply. Ronny later acquired all company stock and has led the company from $500,000 to nearly $30 million in annual sales. Athletic Supply has 55 employees covering Texas and New Mexico. As a major part of ASB Sports Acquisition, sales are approximately $100 million. The company expects to expand from Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma to a national footprint.

Ronny served two terms on the NSGA Board of Directors from 1993-98. In 2003, he was named one of the industry’s Top 30 Team Dealers. Ronny received the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas High School Coaches Association. He was inducted into the Odessa Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Texas Football Hall of Fame in 2003. He received the Honorary Lifetime Member Award from the American Football Coaches Association in 2018. Ronny and Pam have two sons, Tim and Ted, who are in the business.

Please note: This biography was produced from the nominating materials in the candidate’s nominating year, so the information is not current.