One of the questions our customers ask most frequently is simply: "What
does UCS stand for?" The answer contains the story of an entrepreneurial
Czech immigrant who arrived in New York City in 1953 – and a family business
that continued to grow and evolve.
Back in 1967, Lou Schwartz founded United Canvas and Sling, Inc., in a 1,800
sq. foot building on River Street in Hackensack, New Jersey. UCS manufactured
custom awnings, boat covers, and other canvas products – as well as contract
work for companies that sold laundry bags to the linen supply industry.
Lou was an excellent craftsman, who descended from a long line of tailors back
in what was then called Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Lou had particular
expertise in pattern-making, cutting, and sewing. In July, 1967, his wife, Margaret,
and their son, Jeffrey joined him . Together, they worked long hours to satisfy
customers who ordered custom-made canvas products – as well as the burgeoning
demand for their high-quality laundry slings.
In 1969, Rutherford (NJ) High School track coach Dick Hitt showed up at the
factory with a badly torn canvas bag that contained scrap foam. Coach Hitt told
Margaret Schwartz that he used this bag to cushion the landing for his high
school high jumpers, and asked whether UCS could repair it. They could, of course,
she replied and they did. But, as it turned out, that chance encounter and small
sewing job would launch a revolution in track and field equipment!
When Jeff Schwartz saw the sad state of the scrap foam landing cushion, he quickly
realized that there could be a market for pole vault and high jump mats that
were not only portable, but also safe and soft.
As with every good idea, timing is everything. A year into his growing little
side venture, Jeff called Bill Bowerman, the legendary head track coach at the
University of Oregon. Jeff's request was modest: Could he display his pole-vault
pit in the warm-up area at the National AAU Championship? Indeed, he could.
So Jeff loaded his demo model into a truck and drove it across the country from
Hackensack, NJ, to Eugene, OR.
Here's where the timing came into play. As Jeff was unloading his prototype
UCS landing pit, then called the Fall Safe Pit, Bowerman happened to walk by.
He examined the pit, and promptly told Jeff to go to the main stadium, remove
the existing competition pit, and replace it with his UCS one. After a successful
competition, Jeff started to pack up. Just as he had loaded the complete pit
onto the truck and began to drive away, who should happen by? Coach Bowerman.
He instructed Jeff to back up, unpack the truck, and expect a check for the
pits from the Oregon Track Club.
The rest, as they say, is track-and-field history. And it is no wonder that
the visionary Bill Bowerman – a man who understood quality and was dedicated
to excellence went on the join Phil Knight, in the formation of an athletic
shoe company called Nike.
Even as a young man, Jeff had a tremendous interest in children with learning
disabilities of all categories. That is why UCS began to design and manufacture
gym mats and skill development equipment that were devoted to helping children
achieve greater motor and perceptual skills. These eventually would be known
as UCS Motor Perceptual Equipment. In the early days of this branch of the business,
Jeff worked very closely with Dave Marsh of the Ridgewood (NJ) public schools
and with Marsh's Physical Education faculty to test new motor/perceptual products
in development.
As a result of this intensive research-and-development, UCS pioneered the Trapezoid.
In the early 1970's, Jeff combined a unique blend of layered loaded foam and
polyethylene to simulate a wooden vaulting box; however the UCS model was significantly
safer for students. Today, in fact, the UCS Trapezoid is the most widely imitated
gym product in the world. (Click here
for Original UCS Products.) Jeff did not stop there; he developed the "Motor
Perceptual Floor " – a special mat silkscreened with numbers, letters
and shapes. The updated current model is called the Mat•A•Matics.
As you look through the UCS 2000 Sports and Recreation Online Catalog, you will
see many similar creative teaching tools pioneered by UCS – where Jeff
taught the design team a critical lesson: "All children do not learn the
same, but all can learn."
Larry Schwartz joined the family business upon graduating from the University
of Maryland in 1978. Together with his dad, mom and older brother, they worked
as a team to continue to expand the total UCS product line for sports. Shortly
thereafter, Jeff and Larry felt that in order to continue the standards of high
quality that they had set for themselves and for their industry, UCS had to
be more "vertically integrated." So they expanded UCS's capabilities
from exclusively sewing to metal manufacturing.
Another major milestone occurred when the company was awarded the exclusive
contract to supply the track and field equipment for the 1984 Olympic Summer
Games in Los Angeles. Since then, UCS has served as the exclusive supplier to
the Olympics in Barcelona, Seoul, and Sydney as well as every major competition
in-between Olympiads.
UCS was also the supplier to the 1994 World Cup Soccer venues across the United
States. Not only did UCS manufacture and supply all the goals, but it also designed
and produced team benches and revolutionary new weather-and-crowd protective
shelters for the players and coaches.
Today UCS is headquartered in a
130,000 square foot facility in Lincolnton, NC. Jeff and Larry lead a dedicated
team of more than 70 professionals there and in Carson City, NV, which is the
hi-tech home of the Spirit Vaulting Poles. Together, they carry on Lou Schwartz's
heralded UCS legacy of innovation, evolution, and excellence.
