A New Jersey youth hockey team owner is under fire after threatening to suspend the children of his under-10 hockey team after their parents created their own merchandise.
New Jersey Hitmen youth hockey club owner Bobby Reiss recently sent an email, which went viral Tuesday, to the children's parents, condemning the mothers of the U10 club for making apparel that he says used the team's trademarked logos.
According to the email, Reiss says the contracts the families signed state that no person is allowed to use the trademarks and that they are federally registered and "any transgressions over the years have been dealt with by our law firm."
However, NorthJersey.com reported later on Tuesday that Reiss hasn't suspended any children involved in the situation.
Reiss is the owner of Ice Vault Arena in Wayne, New Jersey, and owns more than 20 youth hockey teams that use the facility. Reiss told NorthJersey.com the email was intended to solve a dispute over jackets he claims were designed without any approval.
"Anything to do with the team is the property of the facility," Reiss said. "It is the third time in three years that parents have attempted to make their own stuff.
"We produce merchandise and sell it in our team store. Anything for the teams themselves has been created in-house at a discounted rate."
The mothers of the U10 players created letterman-style jackets with "Hitmen" written across the front and "Hitmama Hockey" across the back in cursive.
Reiss wrote that parents who weren't involved "can continue to practice restitution" and that they will receive a 15% royalty and they "get permission." He noted that if those involved revealed themselves with a copy of the bill of sale and payment of the royalty, he would "allow their players to practice immediately" as soon as a discussion has taken place.
"This has been one of the most egregious violations in recent memory of someone taking upon themselves to violate this policy in our contracts," he wrote in the email.