Based out of Lexington, Kentucky, TreDCAL officially launched in 2013 with a vision of changing the way we look at athletic pads. TreDCAL has created an opportunity for athletes to express themselves through their uniforms on the field while also ensuring their safety is secured with style. While historically, there existed very little wiggle room for individuality in sporting circuits, TreDCAL achieves the impossible with their unique vision, allowing athletes more freedom to be themselves while keeping with codes of conduct. The first of its kind, TreDCAL has quickly proven to be the genesis in the future of athletic fashion no matter how you play the game.
The company’s flagship product is simple in design, but limitless in its capabilities. TreDCAL supplies patented athletic pads that include thin, three-dimensional foam images that, once covered by tight-fitted clothing, allows the image to be portrayed through the fabric covering them. With what started as just football thigh pads, TreDCAL now also offers soccer shin guards, elbow pad sleeves, volleyball knee pads and are currently in the process of developing products for baseball, hockey, lacrosse and other sports.
Over the past couple of seasons, there have been more than 600 NFL players wearing TreDCAL thigh pads. With this exposure, TreDCAL has been able to expand into new leagues, debuting a shin guard for Major League Soccer in May 2022. Their outreach is global, with international patents in the soccer-playing countries of Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, France and Brazil, in addition to the United States. Further, their padded sleeves can be used in multiple spaces like football and basketball.
Their clients include some of the top college programs like Ole Miss, Penn State, Michigan State, University of Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, and Indiana. Professional athletes such as Kyler Murray, Jalen Ramsey, Davante Adams, Russell Wilson, Ja’Marr Chase and many of the best players in the world have been sporting the product on the field every Sunday.
Recently, in the NFL offseason, Bobby Wagner signed with the Los Angeles Rams on his quest for another Super Bowl ring. Before the start of the season, Wagner met with Brian Gudalis, CEO of TreDCAL, to create thigh pads which mirrored an image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Wagner wanted to attach himself to the city of Los Angeles and debuted the pads on the season opener at SoFi Stadium for their matchup on Thursday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills.
It is safe to say that the city of LA loved the Kobe tribute, as the Los Angeles Rams, NFL, Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and many others shared the pads online made by TreDCALs.
The story of TreDCAL goes back to the little leagues. While coaching middle school football in Murray, Kentucky, Gudalis saw the three lines of the thigh pads and was puzzled by the three-line design that protruded from the fabric. Years later, Gudalis decided it was time for him to change those lines into an image. Applying this edit to the uniform gives players the ability to express themselves without violating uniform regulations.
In 2012, Gudalis created the first TreDCAL using a borrowed pair of football pants from an old college buddy and some foam from a craft store. Gudalis went to his garage and invented the first TreDCAL – a three- dimensional foam decal that attached to thigh pads. His son, Cade, was the first to wear a TreDCAL.
Gudalis started producing more of these pads in his kitchen for his daughters shin guards, and then in the form of a volleyball knee pad. After many hours spent in the kitchen, TreDCAL officially debuted on the University of Kentucky football team against Mississippi State on ESPN in October 2013.
Later, in November, Michigan State Equipment Manager Dylan Marinez took a chance with TreDCAL and put some thigh pads on Michigan State players against Nebraska which was televised on ABC. With this exposure, TreDCAL began appearing in college football, youth leagues, and soccer games across the country.
TredCAL developed their own patented athletic pads that are the first to be completely customizable, promising that you will never look at an athletic pad the same way again. Be safe on the field, but look good doing it.
