The story of James Wasley is quite remarkable, he moved to New Zealand back in 2016 after deciding to live and settle down with his kiwi partner, Laura.
After establishing himself in Methven, he and Laura created the ‘Rollin’ Pedaler’, an old fashioned ice cream tricycle, from which they would go to various events However, since the Rollin’ Pedlar’s inception and being content with the business’s notoriety, he was now ready to move on to a different venture.
James, 38, has been playing football since he was a young lad in Oxfordshire, England. The first name on the team sheet, playing the goalkeeper position, he still applies his trade between the sticks for Methven FC.
But his love for the sport doesn’t stop there. His business accolades, combined with a lifelong dream have enabled him to take it one step further.
Introducing, ‘Beorgan’, his new goalkeeping glove brand name, which derives from an old English word, meaning to guard and protect.
He has always been fascinated by goalkeeping gloves, since he was six years old, and it was always a dream of his to work within that environment.
During lockdown in the early covid days, James like many others pondered over his life choices and whether he was happy with what he had achieved.
“I thought if the worst happened, what will I be remembered for? “What did I really want to do with my life and why haven’t I done it? and with that I made the decision, this is what I want to do”.
It was the perfect nudge to put the goalkeeping glove into motion.
Looking at the market, the only gloves available were based overseas with a wait of around 10-12 days for the shipping.
The obvious thought was why doesn’t New Zealand have a brand? and with that, he started to sketch ideas and research materials.James Wasley’s first ‘Neos’ pro glove was constructed by Aridium designs in Christchurch. James had used them for marketing his Rollin’ Pedaler business.
The graphic designer, took his vision and put it down on paper.
After a few months James dream of creating his own goalkeeping glove had been fulfilled, but he wasn’t stopping there.
James reached out to local and Christchurch-based goalkeepers for advice on his product and ultimately, spread the word there was now a New Zealand goalkeeper brand available.
He then sourced a manufacturer overseas, who could not only create a quality product but could also keep up with shipping demands.
Through desire and relentless hard work, word of mouth and, with social media marketing taking shape, orders started flying in.
Some of the most instrumental cogs in the Beorgan machine have been through national league keepers Pieter Taco Bierema, Adam Highfield, Danny Knight and former All Whites keeper, Ross Nicholson.
All have loved James idea, fully backing the product and are going above and beyond to see it succeed.
Having the likes of Pieter wear the gloves then talk to other goalkeepers about them, definitely gave Beorgan the boost to cement its name on the market.
The Beorgan brand has now cast its net much further afield to not only the rest of New Zealand but has sold products in Mexico, Spain, England and India.
At present there are six different styles of glove on sale, ranging from sizes for six year olds up to senior size.
In addition to that James website – www.beorgangloves.co.nz – has other items available for purchase from grip top socks, padded trousers, training jerseys to glove glue and strapping tapes.
Since the first order costs on materials to shipping have increased but James said he has managed to hold his prices to this point as it’s important to keep the product the same at this moment in time.
“It was never a financial thing for me, just the dream I had for such a long time to create and launch a goalkeeping brand. The target moving forward is to be the first choice glove in New Zealand.
‘‘The potential to expand to overseas such as England and Australia but to have them shipped directly from those locations would be the ultimate. But for now, the main focus is on New Zealand, supporting the grassroot development. Potential sponsorship for youth goalkeepers and pushing Beorgan as far as it can go.”
For the time being James has been ecstatic to see his gloves used throughout the national set up.
From under 17’s to under 23’s, right up to senior women’s level, with Wellington Phoenix captain Lily Alfeld also donning his brand.
Beorgan featured at the under 17’s World Cup last year and will be jetting off to the under 20’s World Cup later this year in Indonesia.
Lily is just the latest of a growing list of high profile names to wear his gloves, as the journey continues.
