NSGA Announces 2025 Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Honorees

The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) announced the Class of 2025 Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame honorees, each of whom has contributed significantly to different segments of the sporting goods industry throughout their careers.

John Cardinal, Cardinal’s Sporting Goods; Chris Considine, Wilson Sporting Goods; and E.J. “Ned” Hamilton, Peter Glenn Ski & Sports will join 185 retailers, team dealers, manufacturers, and industry influencers who have received the NSGA award in the past since the organization first founded it in 1955.

The NSGA’s Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Committee selected Cardinal, Considine and Hamilton as the 2025 honorees at its annual meeting in May.

The honorees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 20, 2025, during an induction ceremony at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, where the NSGA will hold its 2025 Leadership Conference.

“The Class of 2025 is a phenomenal group of inductees who made great contributions to the industry,” said Gordon Geiger, chairman of the NSGA Board of Directors. “Welcoming them to the Hall of Fame is a huge thrill, and it’s wonderful to see them recognized and honored for their accomplishments and careers.”

John Cardinal, who passed away in 2013 at age 87, was part of a family of six that grew up in a one-room farmhouse in northwestern Texas and became an iconic figure in the state through Cardinal’s Sport Center. Cardinal played football at West Texas State College and had a background in education as a coach and principal before he became a partner and road salesman at Buck’s Sporting Goods in Amarillo, TX in 1959.  In 1968, he sold his stock in Buck’s, purchased the Sport Center in Lubbock, TX and changed the name to Cardinal’s. The retail aspect of the business was successful and grew to four stores, but Cardinal’s passion remained with the team dealers. His heart was large for young athletes, and he donated shoes, equipment and support to needy kids. Cardinal’s, now QuarterFour, became a family business when his son Tony and grandson John became involved. After retirement, Cardinal started a weekly group for active and retired coaches to meet at Cardinal’s Coffee Shop and trade stories. Cardinal was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Lubbock Independent School District Hall of Honor’s Class of 2017.

Chris Considine’s philosophy of “honor the past and lead to the future” served him well in his 40-plus years in the sporting goods industry. Considine joined Wilson Sporting Goods in 1982 after graduating from Miami (Ohio) University as a sales planning assistant and worked in various executive roles, as VP of sales and promotion, GM of Footwear, president of the Team Sports Division and President from 2005 to 2014. He accelerated product innovation, secured multiple adoptions and endorsements and focused Wilson on what sporting goods consumers and customers needed. Wilson secured multiple technology patents and launched Solution and Evolution basketballs, the GST football and the revitalized A2000 baseball glove franchise under his leadership.

Wilson strengthened connections with professional and collegiate athletes under Considine’s leadership through endorsement contracts with Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Greg Maddux, and Mike Krzyzewski. During Considine’s tenure, Wilson also signed tennis pros Roger Federer and sisters Serena and Venus Williams to the Wilson advisory staff.

Considine founded Onward Advising in 2014 and has been the CEO of True Sports since 2020. He has led revenue growth as True Temper golf shafts, the No. 1 brand on the PGA Tour, True Hockey, the fastest-growing hockey brand and 44Pro custom ball gloves, used by pro and collegiate players. Considine has also been committed to keeping manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and served on the advisory board of the Positive Coaching Alliance.

E.J. “Ned” Hamilton sold snow sports equipment to Florida snowbirds when he opened multiple Peter Glenn Ski & Sports shops in the Sunshine State, Georgia, Arizona, California, and Alaska. Hamilton also made tremendous contributions to the growth of skiing.

In 1958, Hamilton owned a men’s clothing shop and coached a women’s college ski team in Vermont. A local sporting goods store refused to carry ski equipment, so he stocked it in the basement of his store. As that department grew, he named it after his son, Peter Glenn Hamilton.
Hamilton expanded the business with franchise stores and area shops throughout Vermont before he moved to Florida in 1975.

Hamilton created the Consolidated Buying Associates (CBA) of 20 retailers in 23 states to make skiing and snowboarding more accessible to the public and increase participation. These stores brought a high level of customer service that helped ensure new participants had a good snow sports experience and increased the chances of creating lifelong enthusiasts.

Hamilton also dedicated his time to the industry, serving as chairman of the NSGA’s Board of Directors in 1972 and being elected to the Snowsports Merchandising Corporation Board of Directors in 2004. In 2008, the Snowsports Industries Association (SIA) honored him with its Retailer of the Year award and the SIA Industry Achievement Award.