PITTSBURGH, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DICK'S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) today announced a three-year technology partnership between GameChanger, the leading digital scorekeeping and management app for baseball and softball teams, and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the national leadership organization for high school sports and activity programs.

Available at no charge, GameChanger by DICK'S Sporting Goods will make it easy for coaches to monitor and protect their pitchers' health with custom pitch count alerts and inning-by-inning pitch count recaps. GameChanger will serve as the exclusive partner in the baseball and softball app category for the NFHS, which writes playing rules in baseball and softball for the 15,000-plus high schools nationwide that sponsor the sports.  

"GameChanger is committed to elevating the youth sports experience by doing everything we can to reduce arm injuries among young pitchers," said Ed Plummer, Senior Vice President, DICK'S Sporting Goods. "This partnership between GameChanger and the NFHS will help build awareness of the availability of this important pitch count technology with coaches and high school baseball and softball communities across the country." 

When using GameChanger, coaches will also have access to over 150 statistics, instant spray charts, and a full suite of team management features, including game and practice scheduling and a player attendance tracker.

GameChanger also works in conjunction with MaxPreps, a website for high school athletics news, stats and recruiting, to sync game data and pitch counts automatically between both platforms. More than 13 million games have been scored using GameChanger since its launch in 2009.

In 2016, the NFHS mandated each NFHS member state association develop its own pitching restrictions policy based on the number of pitches thrown during a game, in response to concerns regarding student safety. In efforts to help coaches and states comply with the new pitch count guidelines, GameChanger has built a tool that can automatically send each state association a comprehensive, state-wide pitch count report for seamless pitch count reporting.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with GameChanger," said Bob Gardner, Executive Director, NFHS. "GameChanger is already the preferred app for 70% of the high school baseball state champions in the US this past year, and we hope that our partnership can help connect more coaches around the country to GameChanger's world-class solutions."

This partnership is one of many steps GameChanger has taken to improve the safety of youth baseball players around the world. In 2015, GameChanger partnered with MLB and USA Baseball to become the first Pitch Smart certified tool to track player pitch counts.

Last year, GameChanger teamed up with the Virginia High School League and Colorado High School Activities Association to be the pitch count reporting solution to all high school baseball teams in those states.

GameChanger by DICK'S Sporting Goods is the leading resource connecting coaches, parents and kids through a unified digital experience that brings the game, as well as developmental insights and resources, to life. GameChanger currently serves more than 200,000 baseball and softball organizations at all levels from elite college teams to T-ball. Learn more at GC.com.

About DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.
Founded in 1948, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. is a leading omni-channel sporting goods retailer offering an extensive assortment of authentic, high-quality sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories. As of February 3, 2018, the Company operated more than 715 DICK'S Sporting Goods locations across the United States, serving and inspiring athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to achieve their personal best through a blend of dedicated associates, in-store services and unique specialty shop-in-shops dedicated to Team Sports, Athletic Apparel, Golf, Lodge/Outdoor, Fitness and Footwear. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, DICK'S also owns and operates Golf Galaxy and Field & Stream specialty stores, as well as DICK'S Team Sports HQ, an all-in-one youth sports digital platform offering free league management services, mobile apps for scheduling, communications and live scorekeeping, custom uniforms and fan wear and access to donations and sponsorships. DICK'S offers its products through a content-rich eCommerce platform that is integrated with its store network and provides customers with the convenience and expertise of a 24-hour storefront.  For more information, visit the Press Room or Investor Relations pages at dicks.com.

About NFHS
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.9 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; offers online publications and services for high school coaches and officials; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, speech and debate coaches, and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.

Contacts
DICK'S Sporting Goods: press@dcsg.com
NFHS: bhoward@nfhs.org

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