“If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good.”
This was a phrase coined and made well-known by iconic Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders throughout his time within the NFL all through the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.
Two a long time later and people phrases nonetheless ring true for skilled athletes around the globe, on and off the sector.
But whereas many athletes are restricted by having to put on their uniforms throughout video games, one supply of particular person type whereas in motion comes within the type of a haircut.
If Coach Prime’s saying holds up, barbers at the moment are a vital a part of conserving sporting stars on the high of their recreation.
The lifetime of an athlete might be chaotic. With common time spent away from dwelling, journeys abroad and the chance of being traded anyplace, there aren’t many constants.
A haircut, nevertheless, is one factor that athletes can management, an expression of their identification wherever and every time they play.
When former NBA participant Jalen Rose was starring in one in every of school basketball’s most iconic groups, his haircut was consultant of what he needed to ship on the court docket.
“The bald head was symbolic about mean-mugging, being rough and tough – that was the style then. I don’t even care about getting a fresh cut because I’m on my grizzly right now,” Rose tells NCS Sports.
The Michigan Wolverines staff Rose performed with – often called the Fab Five – all sported related hairstyles throughout their time in school to symbolize that perspective on the court docket.
Rose was drafted to the NBA in 1994 and stated he didn’t care about having a contemporary trim throughout these early years – he was too busy attempting to forge a reputation for himself within the league.
But as his profession continued, the 13-year NBA veteran purchased into the look good, really feel good, play good mantra. Searching for barbers throughout America turned extra essential.
“I guess the magic of the fresh cut is, just like any great team, you gotta have dope barbers,” Rose says.
“So it’s no different than identifying talent in whatever field that you are working in or service industry … you can identify people that do really good at their job.”
Finding what Rose refers to as a “game-changing barber” has turn out to be an crucial for some fashionable athletes. Like the previous NBA vet, lots of right now’s sports activities stars have a dependable community of individuals to chop their hair.
One such barbers in right now’s scene is Los Angeles-based Vince Garcia, who’s chargeable for the hairstyles of a few of the largest athletes on this planet.
Garcia now boasts a consumer record that options the likes of seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce and two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant to call just a few.
It would virtually be not possible for Garcia to depend the full variety of rings and championships that his shoppers have earned. But does this add stress to his job?
“I think from outsiders looking in, it may seem like that, but when it comes down to it, it’s like they’re in my zone now, they’re in my world. So, if anything, they’re probably more nervous if it’s their first time,” Garcia tells NCS Sports from his dwelling studio, surrounded by signed jerseys from a few of his largest shoppers.
“Meeting them is more nerve-wracking, but the moment they’re in the chair, it’s like, ‘Man, let’s do it.’”
Putting collectively a clientele of this caliber, nevertheless, is constructed upon years of incomes a popularity in sporting circles.
Garcia hails from Toronto, Canada, and when one in every of his pals was placing collectively a photoshoot, he known as upon Garcia to assist get the expertise prepared, together with then Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh.
While Garcia solely mounted up Bosh’s goatee and lined his hair up on this event, the two-time NBA champion “loved it.”
“And then I ended up cutting before every single game and we were able to build a relationship off that,” Garcia explains.
At this level in his profession – and as an enormous sports activities fan – Garcia reveled within the perks of barbering for a sports activities star and realized that Los Angeles was the place to be to develop his affect.
“As soon as I touched down here, one of my goals was to cut up someone from the Lakers,” Garcia stated. “And then two weeks in, I found my way in the locker room.”
Word of mouth is likely one of the largest methods a barber’s affect can unfold and, as gamers obtained traded to numerous franchises, information of Garcia’s abilities gained traction in several locker rooms – and throughout completely different sports activities – across the nation.
Word of mouth additionally performed a key function within the rise of UK-based barber Ahmed Alsanawi – often called A-Star.
Alsanawi works primarily with skilled soccer gamers and cuts hair for the likes of Jack Grealish, Paul Pogba and Eden Hazard.
As his work has turned more and more identified round soccer circles, so too did the alternatives – together with being among the many victorious World Cup-winning France squad in 2018.
France’s 2018 World Cup squad was filled with ability, charisma and character, boasting stars equivalent to Pogba, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann.
Alsanawi was flown over to Russia and tasked with conserving some members of the Les Bleus wanting their greatest all through the match.
“I felt like a player because I was eating with the team. I was outside watching them train … You felt like you were part of whatever they were doing in a weird way,” Alsanawi describes to NCS Sports.
Pogba even instructed the barber that he devoted the unbelievable World Cup win to him.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this is mad – I’m just a barber.’ It was a nice feeling, it was a crazy, crazy time. Looking back at it, it is one of the biggest things, biggest achievements I’ve done.”
These pinch-me moments have gotten increasingly regular for Garcia and Alsanawi.
Garcia references the time he minimize LeBron James’ hair earlier than the file point-scorer’s debut with the Lakers as a profession spotlight.
He now additionally options on the tv present “The Shop” alongside James, in addition to numerous stars from completely different professions.
And the Lakers star isn’t Garcia’s solely hyperlink to the Purple and Gold; he fondly remembers being in the identical room as Kobe Bryant, speaking about life and household.
But is there a correlation between a contemporary minimize and sporting efficiency? Like Rose, Alsanawi definitely believes so.
“People really underestimate the power of a haircut because it does really give you confidence,” he says.
“Nowadays, I’m speaking about footballers who put on sure soccer boots, or they minimize their socks a sure manner, or they’ve strapping they do sure ways in which individuals go, ‘Oh, back in the day you just put your socks on and just got on with it.’
“But if that’s the confidence or the feeling they’re getting, it does help them play better.”
Garcia is also a giant believer within the look good, really feel good, play good mantra.
“100%, I think I live by that,” Garcia says. “I believe a variety of these guys do as effectively.
“I think, over the years, having a barber and just looking good on and off the field, it plays a big role in their confidence and how they show up.”
Garcia takes pleasure in the truth that he can assist a few of the world’s most well-known sports activities stars to be one of the best model of themselves on and off their taking part in area.
“It’s all connected and it’s cool to see that. I mean, for us as barbers, it’s a great thing. We’re a hot commodity,” he laughs.
Being a barber to sporting celebrities can even assist go away your imprint on the subsequent era.
Víctor Martínez, barber to six-time grand slam winner Carlos Alcaraz, explains that the tennis star’s affect is being felt in his hometown.
“People want to come because I cut Carlos’ hair,” Martínez tells NCS Sport. “People come to the shop asking for ‘The Carlos haircut.’ Lots of kids, his fans.”
And for Alsanawi and Garcia, it is usually not nearly conserving their shoppers their greatest.
The pair’s work extends previous chopping hair. For many athletes they work with, they now have particular, private relationships and provide a protected area outdoors of the general public eye.
Garcia explains that, as he has gotten older, he has realized to grasp that it’s about being “more than just a barber.”
“You’ll get into serious conversations about life and family and kids, which becomes cool, because you guys have that personal relationship now,” Garcia says.
“I think from that, obviously, it builds a lot more trust, and you’re able to be in certain rooms now because they trust you.”
The identical applies to Alsanawi when he’s along with his shoppers.
“They keep themselves to themselves, so they don’t talk to a lot of people,” Alsanawi stated. “They don’t belief lots of people, for apparent causes … It’s good to speak to somebody that you recognize and belief.
“What do I say to them? ‘I’m like a counselor. I cut your hair and I listen to your problems or whatever, and then obviously you listen to my problems.’ And it’s just nice to get it off your chest.”
For many concerned in sports activities’ largest events, the worth in a haircut and discovering the proper individual to do it clearly can’t be understated.