In 1950, when collegiate hurdle star, graduate engineer, scholastic coach and AAE company founder, John Marzucco, invented and patented the first rocker hurdle, he established a philosophy of designing and building athletic equipment from the coach’s point of view. Today, over 55 years later, we carry on that tradition. We still look at each product we make from the athlete’s and coach’s perspective first. Then we manufacture in all the quality and advantages that will make a real difference in performance for you.

Quality is an ongoing passion.

Not every seller of athletic equipment is a manufacturer. But we insist on designing and making most everything we offer because it’s the best way to assure that you get superior quality with every AAE product.

AAE designers are never quite satisfied – always listening, always looking for ways to make your athletic equipment better. Constant evaluation of product performance, materials, durability, ease of maintenance are major criteria in the process we call “continuous innovation”. Every detail of every product gets our full attention because excellence is measured by the sum of the small things. And every item we offer is field-tested by high school and college coaches and their athletes to ensure safety, quality and peak performance for your programs.

Innovation that makes a difference.

Many companies claim to innovate. Certainly, generating new concepts is a momentous task in itself. But innovations that don’t offer real benefits and practicality can become a nightmare. Case in point, in 1952 we patented the first self-adjusting hurdle with an elaborate series of weights and pulleys. It worked, but it was headed toward becoming a maintenance nightmare for our customers. It spawned another, more practical concept of self-adjusting weights that resolved the maintenance and durability issues. Today, that is the most imitated rocker hurdle in the industry. When the University of Pennsylvania came to AAE with a concept for a multi-task, moveable unit for their sports fields it was hard to imagine that we’d ever create a product called the “Donkey”. It has become a practical and versatile portable, elevated observation center for nearly all sports. We took an idea that had multiple objectives and engineered it into a single product.

Sometimes custom equipment is the best answer.

When customers have unique requirements, resizing the equipment, adding on extensions or simply to color or logotize the equipment, customization becomes important. Oftentimes, customers want to be an integral part of the design. Many athletic professionals have years of
experience that tells them what will work best under special conditions and if they can work with a manufacturer to engineer in special features it creates substantial value. Because AAE has its own manufacturing facility and many materials on hand, it lends itself to collaboration and customization.

Working with architects and contractors.

Don’t take a chance with your permanent, sports field equipment. Why risk it? In the broad scope of things, the equipment you choose to put on the field may seem to be a small part of the picture, yet is critical to meeting your construction deadline. The big issues are overall design, structural integrity and competition surfaces; however, criticism of the facility can come from anywhere. So why choose permanent equipment strictly on price and run the risk of watching the job sour in front of you because of a goal failure, curbing installation problems or other in-ground equipment breakdowns. Give yourself the peace of mind of knowing your permanent equipment supplier has the experience and capability to have you covered. All the specs are just a click away. The AAE website has design drawings, assembly information, maintenance tips and installation instructions that are easy to use for both architects as well as construction personnel. They are in PDF form or CAD compatible, so everyone can access what they need.

Buy direct and get more.

Budgetary restrictions have made a huge impact on how you buy athletic equipment, and many dealers, remarketers, catalog merchandisers have responded. But middlemen can only offer pricing.

AAE only sells directly to customers – no middlemen or dealers. When you call AAE, you’re talking directly to the manufacturer. All the design, fabrication, imprinting, custom requests and bidding functions are handled directly from our facility.

That means you get informed answers, quality products, responsive service and competitive pricing too.

The point is you don’t have to settle for less quality when you’re looking for ways to save. At AAE you always get, “Products you can trust at prices you can afford.”