NIGP 80569: Softball Equipment

NIGP 80569 Softball Equipment, an Item code, covers commercial-grade softball playing surfaces, protective gear, bats, gloves, and apparel procured by school districts, county recreation departments, and university athletics programs. Recent solicitations reflect demand for pitched-mound protective matting, official assignor services for league coordination, and catalog-discount agreements for consumable equipment and uniforms. State and local governments buy primarily through multi-vendor approved lists on an as-needed basis rather than fixed-quantity contracts, allowing flexibility to source best value across product categories as season schedules and team rosters shift. School districts dominate the issuing-body mix—Donna ISD, Harlingen CISD, and Los Fresnos CISD in Texas, along with Greenville County Parks and Recreation in South Carolina, represent typical buyers. University athletics programs including Albany State University and the University of West Georgia also procure under this code. Cooperative purchasing vehicles such as the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) and Region 7 Purchasing Cooperative aggregate demand across 31 state agencies and multiple member school districts respectively, establishing multi-year catalog-discount frameworks at negotiated percentage discounts from vendor list prices.

Recent activity concentrates in Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Donna ISD issued an RFP for softball equipment and supplies (RFP 011326-883, due April 8, 2026) seeking catalog-discount pricing on gloves, cleats, bats, softballs, and apparel for the 2026-2027 school year. Sarasota County solicited quotes for ten commercial-grade softball pitching mats with clay-turf color and spike-strip anchoring (Solicitation 2026QQ732, due June 17, 2026). Los Fresnos CISD's RFP 262701 (due March 24, 2026) established a comprehensive vendor list covering PE and athletic equipment, supplies, and apparel to support 13 teams including softball. Greenville County Parks and Recreation issued two sequential RFPs for officiating assignor services covering approximately 800 youth and adult games annually, including adult softball leagues (RFP26096 due April 27, 2026; RFP26109 due June 4, 2026). The AEPA cooperative procurement (AEPA #027-E, due August 13, 2026) targets athletic supplies and equipment vendors capable of serving 31 states simultaneously. Region 7 Purchasing Cooperative's ATH2628 catalog-discount bid (due March 26, 2026) reflected estimated member expenditures of $13.5 million over two years.