DIAG Athletics: How We Got Started

Hello, my name is Gabe, founder of DIAG Athletics, and I wanted to give insight into how DIAG first started and the development we are going through on the way to our first product! I figure the right place to begin is just telling you a bit about myself and how the idea for DIAG came about.

I've been playing soccer for over twenty years, starting when I was three. I have played across many different levels including club, high school, and college, with the highlight of my career being my time playing at Marshall University. During my time playing for Marshall I got to be part of several special teams including one that won a Division I National Championship in 2021. While at Marshall I spent my time outside of soccer studying mechanical engineering, which gave me a framework for how I think about problems and strengthened my creative ambition to develop something of my own, with my goal of combining my love for soccer with my interest in creation.

For the longest time, I didn't really know how I would combine my interest in soccer with my education in engineering. For me, they seemed to be two very separate things that didn't really overlap other than in time commitments. However, once I was done playing in college, I began to focus more of my time on my desire to create something using my engineering education. And it was only a matter of finding something that truly interested me. And if I'm being honest, designing a soccer bag was very far from the top level of what I thought my interest would be. In fact, I had never really even thought about it while I was playing in high school or college, although I do remember several of the issues that eventually brought my interest to it.

The idea only really came to me one day in early 2025 when I was heading to play pickup with some friends. I had forgotten my bag in the car after the last session and when I went to open the door I was immediately hit with the wreaking smell that I am sure every player and parent has encountered so many times. But I needed to go, so off I went riding with the windows down to try and rid my car of the odor. It wasn't really until we were picking teams, and I realized that I had to change into my spare shirt, that I really got a whiff of what the contents of my bag actually smelled like. That shirt had been stuffed in the same pocket with my cleats and shared the awful foot stink that my cleats had spread throughout my car. It was also a bit wet, and I had to play in it for an hour and a half…

I remember being annoyed with myself, but also looking at my bag and really there not being another option for a place to put my shirts that it wouldn't have smelled, because the whole bag did. And that really got me thinking about all the other issues that I've had with my soccer bags: not being able to find your sunscreen or shin guards because they are buried at the bottom of the bag, your water bottle not fitting right, just not having places to put your phone or wallet or keys or anything else you actually carry. So I thought to myself, surely there has to be a better way to do it. A way that everything can be organized and my entire bag doesn't smell like my cleats, because, thinking back about it, I feel like I always had the same problems with every single bag that I've owned, no matter the brand or price or size. They were all pretty much the same thing.

So that night when I got home I went straight to my notebook.

I'm not sure I'd call it a plan at that point. It was more just me working through the problem the only way I knew how — sketching it out, writing down what actually bothers me, thinking about what I'd want instead. Organization that holds up in real use. Smell reduction. A design that understands what players actually carry and truly strives to meet their needs.

That night is when the idea of DIAG became real to me, even if it was still just a few pages of notes without the name.

We're still in the early stages, and I want to be upfront about that. There's a lot of work ahead between where we are and a finished product in your hands. But I feel good about the direction, and I'm excited to share the process as we go.

If any of this sounds familiar, stick around. 

— Gabe, Founder of DIAG Athletics LLC