Printing Industry Friendship Launches a New Era of Sports Personalization

Key Takeaways:

• Americas expansion: Chris Curran will lead My Gilbert Rugby's commercial growth across North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean.
• Personalization powers growth: Digital print technology enables on-demand customized rugby balls while creating new business opportunities.

The printing industry has spent decades proving that personalization creates value far beyond the printed product. Today, that philosophy is finding a new home on the rugby field.

My Gilbert Rugby Welcomes Chris Curran

Ballpix Ltd., operator of My Gilbert Rugby, appoints Chris Curran as its exclusive commercial agent for the Americas, launching a strategic partnership that grew directly out of a friendship forged in the international printing and packaging industry.

In the role, Curran has exclusive commercial responsibility for developing the My Gilbert Rugby business throughout North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean while establishing a long-term roadmap for broader commercial expansion. The parties have also committed to regularly evaluating future opportunities, including regional distribution, localized fulfillment, licensed manufacturing, strategic partnerships, and additional personalized product offerings throughout the Americas.

Chris Curran, exclusive commercial agent for the Americas, My Gilbert Rugby

While the announcement centers on rugby, the broader story is about what modern print technology has made possible.

Richard Askam, co-founder of Ballpix Ltd., built My Gilbert Rugby into the world's only official Gilbert Rugby personalization service exporting to over 60 countries. It produces match-quality rugby balls customized with names, club crests, player numbers, commemorative messages, sponsor branding, and recognition for players, coaches, supporters, and organizations.

Curran has spent more than 25 years helping manufacturers, converters, technology companies, and industry organizations develop commercial strategies around digital printing, workflow automation, variable data, and mass customization. His career has included leadership roles with Heidelberg, HP Inc., PRINTING United Alliance, and some of the industry's most recognized brands, where personalization and customer experience have consistently been central themes.

"This partnership exists because of the printing industry," Curran says. "Richard and I met through our shared work in print. The relationships, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit that define our industry are exactly what made this opportunity possible. It's a reminder that print doesn't simply produce products. It creates businesses, strengthens communities, and enables experiences that couldn't exist any other way."

Celebrating Achievement

Askam believes personalized sporting goods represent one of the most compelling examples of where print continues to evolve.

"Every personalized rugby ball begins as a blank product and ends as something completely unique to its owner," he explains. "That transformation is made possible through digital production, intelligent workflow, and personalization technologies developed by the printing industry. We're not simply decorating products. We're creating keepsakes that celebrate achievement, recognize service, strengthen club culture, and preserve memories."

Every My Gilbert Rugby ball is manufactured on demand, demonstrating how digital production enables economically viable production runs of one while maintaining premium quality and operational efficiency. For both partners, this marks only the beginning.

Beyond expanding awareness of personalized Gilbert Rugby products across the Americas, the long-term vision is to build a regional personalization platform that brings production closer to customers, creates new commercial partnerships, advances manufacturing innovation, and demonstrates how digital print technologies continue to unlock entirely new markets. The partners also share a broader mission: to create new opportunities that support rugby participation, player development, coaching education, and the long-term growth of the sport throughout the Americas.

As rugby continues its rapid expansion, personalization will become an increasingly valuable tool for player recognition, fundraising, alumni engagement, sponsorship activation, corporate gifting, and fan experiences. For the printing industry, the partnership serves as another reminder that its greatest innovations are often measured not by what comes off the press, but by the businesses, experiences, and communities those technologies make possible.

"The future of print isn't just what we produce," Curran adds. "It's what we make possible. This venture exists because an industry built on innovation brought two people together who believed personalization could do something bigger than sell products. It could help grow a sport, celebrate its people, and create lasting memories. That's the real power of print."

Source: My Gilbert Rugby