Sport Inventions by Earl Senchuk
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- “Goalpost Pad Protector” This is a design I came up with by request of an Ann Arbor, MI based company. Before the use of goalpost pads, there were quite a few serious head injuries as a result of players trying to do a “header” to get the ball into the goal. The design requirements were that the pad had to be of sufficient density and thickness to reduce the risk of injury, and had to deflect the ball at an expected angle. These never made it to the market because of liability issues. Once a product is made to protect and individual, any accident the occurs after that results in a lawsuit to the manufacturer who sells the product. Always found that strange, because no one got sued before pads existed.
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- “SportSkiis” These were designed for Senco, Inc as a standard part of every Super Shak portable ice fishing shelter. They allowed the Super Shak, when folded down, to become a sled to haul all other gear. They proved so useful for other applications that they were soon sold as a stand-alone product. The stamping and forming dies to make these are still available.
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- “SuperCap” This product was first licensed to Marplex Corp, and later to VTE enterprises in Pellston, MI. It’s the very first snowmobile cap on the market to have a lift gate at both front and rear. Easy to get into the back if you wanted to retrieve a gas can without having to lift the whole cap. Very easy to get to the lockdowns for the skiis. The SuperCap is also the very first snowmobile cap on the market to put lights across the top rear. Now it is standard in the industry. Those bottom lights get covered with brown slush right away. This very cap is still in use today. It was built in 1994.
