Stan Jurga Sr., the long-time face of the All-Star Sports protective gear brand, has passed away. Jurga, who led All-Star Sports from a small company to a leading baseball, softball and football equipment manufacturer, left the field for a final time on February 24. He was 73 years of age.

“Stan Jurga, Sr.’s influence on the sporting goods industry is on display to millions of people during the baseball season,” The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) said in a media release. “Fans who are watching games from the major league level on down are likely to see a catcher wearing All-Star gear.”

All-Star Sports became a family business with Jurga’s sons Brad and Stan, Jr., joining the company along the way. Brad is now the president and CEO, and Stan, Jr. is the VP of Product Development. Stan Jurga, Sr., started going into Major League Baseball clubhouses in the early 1980s to better understand what catchers wanted from their gear, and his sons have continued that tradition by annually visiting the spring training camps of every team in Arizona and Florida.

Jurga and his sons helped make All-Star a prominent brand used by some of the best catchers in the game. The company’s innovations also helped catchers play better and stay healthier, and led to the induction of Stan Jurga, Sr., into the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame in 2018.

“Any time you watch a baseball game from Little League to the big leagues, your focus is on the catcher and the prominence of the All-Star brand,” said Matt Carlson, President & CEO, NSGA. “Stan Jurga, Sr. was so influential in All-Star’s rise to prominence and making the game better and safer for catchers with his tireless work and drive to innovate the gear required to play such a demanding position.”

The Early Days
Jurga joined the George Frost Company in 1972 as assistant plant manager. George Frost was the parent company of All-Star Sporting Goods, which started in 1960. Jurga became the national sales manager of All-Star Sporting Goods in 1977 and was promoted to VP of Sales approximately three years later.

The senior Jurga and Dave Holden purchased the All-Star Division of George Frost Company in October 1988 under the corporate name of Ampac Enterprises, Inc. Jurga became the president of All-Star Sports in 1993, and he added the CEO title in 2011 after Holden passed away.

“Our Dad did simple listening like, ‘Hey, if you could have whatever you wanted, what would it be?’” said Stan Jurga, Jr., in a story in the January/February 2026 edition of NSGA NOW magazine. “The catchers would give him some honest feedback. “He’d come back, work on some prototypes, go back a couple of weeks later and say, ‘What do you think of this?’ And the catchers would say, ‘Wow, that’s cool. Can you tweak this?’ My brother and I do the same thing now.”

Stan Jurga, Sr., held at least five patents for protective equipment. One of his most famous innovations was working with 15-year veteran big-league catcher Charlie O’Brien to develop a hockey-style catcher’s mask in the 1990s. He was also the first to offer full team colors in catcher’s gear to Major League Baseball catchers and matching-color facemasks.

“Stan Jurga, Sr. also became a good friend, was one of the classiest people to work with in our industry, and it was gratifying to witness his induction into the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame in 2018,” added Carlson. “I’ll miss Stan’s soft-spoken wisdom when we had the opportunity to talk. Our heartfelt thoughts on his passing go out to his family, friends and everyone in our industry who had the good fortune to cross paths with him.”

Had to Be a Red Sox Fan
Stan Jurga, Sr. was born in Leominster, MA on April 27, 1952, and was a lifelong resident of Shirley, MA. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Carol; his sons, Stan Jurga, Jr., and Brad; his daughter, Sara; two sisters; and four grandchildren.

Jurga’s family will receive relatives and friends from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, at the Anderson Funeral Home, 25 Fitchburg Road (Massachusetts Route 2A) in Ayer, MA. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 6, at St. Anthony’s Church, 14 Phoenix Street, in Shirley. There will be a spring internment in Center Cemetery in Shirley.

 Images courtesy NSGA / All-Star Sports