John "Johnny" Pummill started playing soccer in the early seventies and played primarily as a goalkeeper through his career. He started coaching in 1988 in Desoto County, MS and since that time he has coached goalkeepers at the club level in two states, the college level, and spent 8 years as a Mississippi ODP coach. His education includes the NSCAA State, Regional, and National goalkeeper diplomas and the Y, E, D, and National Diplomas on the team side. His service includes acting as an Association DOC and Vice President for 18+ years and a Club DOC for 11 years and a State Staff Coach for 10 years.  

 What follows is a bit of a strange journey but hopefully you will learn how it became the catalyst behind Rogue. Every communication was done via email and is kept in a folder as a reminder of what can happen when the dollar becomes more important than the customer. Through the years John, like most others, had bought whatever goalkeeping gloves he could find. He had watched the prices go up while the glove quality remain relatively the same. In mid 2008 he started looking for a goalkeeping glove company that could provide his goalkeepers with consistent quality and affordable pricing.  He found a company willing to work with him and placed the first order. The quality was good as was the service. When they want to re-order at the start of the 2008/2009 season ALL of the glove styles he had just ordered 4 months before were not available or on discontinued sale. There was a complete new (and more expensive) line of gloves in their place. He was told that the range had become old and just needed a little freshening up. Not knowing how long the line had been in existence it sounded plausible and a second order was placed. That second order was followed by discussions of a distributorship. This action would house gloves here in the States making shipping times shorter and cheaper and allow the manufacturer to sell in quantities. Originally it was "the" North American distributor" but after the initial order was placed and a formal announcement made a mandate of a minimum order of a container of gloves was put in place and if someone came in behind John and ordered a container they would get the "exclusive distributorship" and be able to do as they pleased with John's pricing.

 Less than 2 full months after John had spent the money and got the business up and running he received an email that there was a half price sale going to happen to promote the brand which was a little more than John had paid for his stock. Fortunately there were only a few gloves left in stock but he took a loss on those gloves. The brand owner crowed the success of the sale! They had sold out before the start of the spring season in the States. The US spring season is when most State Associations have their District and State Cups. Those tournaments are followed by the Regional playoffs and ODP Regionals. The brand owner had managed to raise capitol or re-coup their investment but in the process had also left his "partner" in North America with nothing to sell. There was not a glove to be sold for over three months. Into June to be exact. When the new line was released it was, according to the company, incomplete but was once again new designs and more expensive.

  It was during this time (June 2010) that John approached another glove manufacturer at the suggestion of a goalkeeper who was looking for another sponsor (in hind sight there was a reason he was looking to leave his sponsor). John approached them about selling their gloves in the States. A couple of emails were exchanged and the manufacturer said they were unsure. No worries, John was already working on product samples for his own line. Two days later the manufacturer came back and said they wanted to get something going. John sent back a confirmation email. Then he received an email that the manufacturer did not feel good about the deal after all.

 That was enough. There was going to be a US based line of quality goalkeeping products. They would be consistent, affordable, and cover the entire spectrum from the young, new, and developmental player through the experienced professional. Rogue Goalkeeping Equipment was born. The company philosophies are a quality product for a reasonable price and incorporating the end user's advice into new products. Growing the line one or two products at a time allows the company to grow slowly, steadily and maintain focus. 

The mascot pays tribute to the Memphis Rogues who were the local pro team when John was growing up. It also gives a nod to the goalkeeper. The one not scared to stand alone and must protect their territory.

 Rogue Goalkeeping Equipment is not actively trying to attract professional goalkeepers to wear their gear because that cost, whether it is a paid position or simply free gear has to be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.  We will be more grass roots based working closely with clubs, trainers, and the end users.

 After many months of trial and error with samples from multiple vendors Rogue finally put it into gear in December 2010 with it's first glove and within a week of the one year anniversary of the "agreement" that started it all. 1/1/11 the website went live. A fitting start up day for a company devoted to all the number 1s out there.