Never Quit offers new spin on the wrist, ankle band process

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in WIN’s Volume 32 Issue 1, the High School and College Preview Edition, which printed on Oct. 10, 2025. 

By Wes Littlefield

Fred Franklin said, “You know it’s funny, everyone I show our products to says exactly that,” when complimented on how cool his Never Quit leg bands are.

Franklin is the owner of Never Quit, which produces custom, reversible leg bands for wrestlers and reversible arm bands for referees. “Our products are made in America and have a money-back guarantee, but I’ve never had anyone take us up on it,” he said.

In the aftermath of COVID, while watching the Nebraska wrestlers he coached, Franklin realized how unsanitary traditional Velcro leg bands were, not to mention they constantly came off mid-match. So, he developed a reversible leg band, made of a spandex/Lycra blend (the same materials as singlets), that wrestlers didn’t have to share. Never Quit bands are also washable, which only aids in the cleanliness aspect. In a sport where germs are easily spread, Never Quit leg bands help limit the spread where possible.

Wrestlers can quickly and easily flip the leg band from green to red, without removing it, and Never Quit offers the option to put the wrestler’s team logo or preferred design on both sides. One of the biggest benefits of Never Quit leg bands is how much refs love them. “Officials love these products because they make their jobs easier. They don’t have to have a table worker chase down a kid who accidentally runs off the mat with the traditional leg band,” also referred to as an “anklet.” I wasn’t thinking about how these bands help reduce unsportsmanlike behavior when I initially designed them,” Franklin added. “Because the ankle band stays in place, wrestlers don’t rip them off and throw them down instead of handing them to the ref after a match.” This unintended benefit helps tournaments have fewer interruptions and allows officials to referee matches instead of chasing wrestlers.

Speaking of officials, Never Quit also offers a unique product for them. “Officials can use Never Quit wristbands for folkstyle, freestyle and Greco tournaments.” They buy one set because the green (folkstyle) wristband is reversible to blue (freestyle/Greco). However, the red is only red since both use red to keep score. “I believe our arm bands are ideal for college duals because an official no longer has to switch out their arm bands when they go from officiating the boys’ matches to the girls’ matches, or vice versa. It’s just one less thing they have to remember to do.”

Franklin has been around wrestling forever. He wrestled in junior high and high school and has been coaching in some form or another since 1993. He has helped put together over 69 national teams for Nebraska and has served as the Nebraska state chairman for USA Wrestling for the last eight years. He understands the needs of wrestlers and officials. Lucky for the wrestling community, he’s an outside-the-box thinker willing to improve upon the status quo.

Franklin said his sole focus for Never Quit is creating the best leg and arm bands possible, and evidently, he’s well on his way. Franklin is innovating and tackling both a convenience and sanitary issue the sport’s key stakeholders may have not even realized they had. For those of us who never liked wrapping those plastic, sweaty bands around our ankles, Never Quit wants to ensure wrestlers today have options

(For more information and to order leg bands or wristbands, visit www.NeverQuitn.com.)