is a sports equipment

Sports equipment

Sports equipment is a general term for any object used for sport or exercise. Examples of sports equipment include:-Exercise equipment:Examples for exercise include swiss balls, weights, equipment for the gym...

 and automotive parts

Auto part

This is a list of auto parts, which are manufactured components of automobiles:-Body and exterior:Body components, including windows and trim:-Engine cooling system:* Air blower* Coolant hose* Cooling fan* Fan blade* Fan clutch* Radiator...

 company

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

 based in Hiroshima, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Their football

Football (ball)

A football is an inflated ball used to play one of the various sports known as football.The first balls were made of natural materials, such as an inflated pig bladder, sometimes inside a leather cover...

, basketball

Basketball (ball)

A basketball is a spherical inflated ball used in the game of basketball. Basketballs typically range in size from very small promotional items only a few inches in diameter to extra large balls nearly a foot in diameter used in training exercises to increase the skill of players...

, volleyball

Volleyball (ball)

A volleyball is a ball used to play indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, or other less common variations of the sport. Volleyballs are round and traditionally consist of eighteen nearly rectangular panels of synthetic or genuine leather, arranged in six identical sections of three panels each,...

 and handball are often used for official match

Match

A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...

es, game

Game

A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...

s and competition

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

s. Notably, Molten basketballs are the official balls for all FIBA worldwide competitions, and numerous domestic leagues outside of North America.
Through the 2006-07 season

Euroleague 2006-07

The Euroleague is an international basketball club competition for elite clubs throughout Europe. The 2006-2007 season featured 24 competing teams from 13 different countries. The draw for the groups was held on September 14, 2006 in Athens. The competition began on October 24, 2006 at the Olympic...

, it supplied balls for the elite Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

-wide Euroleague

Euroleague

Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

, but the league's organizing body, ULEB

ULEB

ULEB was founded in 1991, with the aim to help in the cooperation and development of European professional club basketball leagues...

, switched to Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 as its basketball supplier. Molten is also the official volleyball producer for USA Volleyball

USA Volleyball

USA Volleyball is a non-profit organization which serves as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States of America ....

 and the NCAA Championships.

They offered their technology to the Teamgeist project and supplied the official football as OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

 to Adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

 for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

.

History

Founded in 1958, Molten is the world's largest ball and sports equipment manufacturer. Molten USA, Inc. was established in 1983 to bring these quality sports balls to the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 marketplace. Originally located in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, Molten USA moved to northern Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 in 1988 and continues to call the Reno

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

–Sparks

Sparks, Nevada

Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, located east of Reno, Nevada. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count was 90,264. Sparks is often referred to as half of a twin city .-Geography and Climate:...

 area its home.

Only six years after their founding, Molten basketballs, volleyballs, and soccer balls were the official balls of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Molten has been the official basketball for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008). Molten basketballs have also been the official ball for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for the past 25 years culminating in the Men's and Women's World Basketball Championship. This championship was held in the U.S. for the first time in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

in August 2002.

Molten volleyballs became the official ball for the U.S. national teams in 1997 and the boys' and girls' junior national teams in 2001. Presently clubs, regions, high schools, colleges and tournaments throughout the U.S. use Molten volleyballs.

External links

• Molten - international site
• Molten USA