Youth sports training is becoming a very large business niche, but the ability to turn it into a profitable business is tricky, and many of these businesses struggle to gain momentum and grow.
Youth sports business: overview
Many people tend to confuse sport and physical activity. The difference between them lies in the fact that sport is an organized physical activity, that is, any sport is physical activity, but not all physical activity is sport. Any movement of the body that causes energy expenditure is a physical activity, whether standing, sitting, walking, carrying things, etc.
When we talk about a youth sports business, we are referring to a business that fosters a specific type of physical activity that has characteristics such as competition, institutionalization, physical effort and specific motor skills, standardization of spaces and rules, in addition to the formation of groups. When we analyze sport in its specificities, we can see why it is so important in child development.
What a youth sports business should seek to foster
Sport, as an organized physical activity, is important not only for physical and motor development, but also for children’s social development. Based on its rules and conditions, children are able to understand ways of relating to others, exchanging experiences, competing and helping each other.
Some scientist also argue that children’s sports practice is capable of preventing many future illnesses, such as stress, respiratory, heart, spine and other problems. This is because, from the practice of sports, children develop bone and muscle strength, in addition to improving physical development. Another relevant aspect is the development of motor coordination, which is even mentioned as an improving agent in writing, since it allows for more efficient relationships with objects and material limits (such as a pencil and a sheet of paper).
Can youth sports be harmful in childhood?
It is important that parents, teachers and physical educators are always aware of the type of sport that children practice. The sport practiced must be appropriate for the age, weight, sex and size of each child. In order to avoid any type of overload or developmental impairment, it is important that every sport practice in childhood is preceded by an analysis of the physical conditions of each child, in order to find the most appropriate sport for their muscular, bone, respiratory and cardiac conditions.
Another important aspect is variety. As the child has energy and curiosity, it is important to explore more than one sport, not only for him to have contact with different rules and organizations of physical activity, but to protect the body from repetitions that can be harmful to development. Some authors propose working with compensation systems, such as swimming and ballet (one to develop strength and respiratory resistance and the other to work on balance, posture and rhythm).
The importance of the family’s role in the development of the child’s relationship with sport should also be highlighted. It is always important to remember that there are no benefits in the demands and exaggerated demands of parents in relation to income. The way children will relate to the practice of sports largely depends on how their parents do it. It is quite difficult for a child to understand why he has to exercise if his parents don’t like to exercise.
Is there an ideal age to target for your business?
Many authors argue that sports activity should start from the age of six, but this does not prevent the child from doing physical activities before that time. Preschool age is the most suitable, precisely because it is a time when physical development and socialization are emerging. A baby can do physical activities, such as swimming, but as we are understanding sport in its form of organization, it is important that the child is at an age where he is able to understand the rules and deal with the anguish and joys of living together and competition.
Growing a youth sports business
Unless you plan to strike it rich winning this year’s Super Bowl betting odds, learning how to scale your youth sports business is vitally important. Things might be slow initially, but your goal should be to increase traffic through your business as quickly as possible as a business owner. So let’s explore some ways to scale your youth sports business and help you grow that business as quickly as possible.
Some Keys Things To Take To Heart
If you are just starting out with your new youth sports business venture, take these words of wisdom to heart. Be patient and be ready to pivot your plans as you see things work or when things get stagnant. Give new ideas and strategies time to play out and develop before giving up on them, but when something starts to work, or you notice it doesn’t work within a reasonable amount of time, be ready to pivot and change direction for the better.
Client Stacking
When it comes to youth sports business that revolves around the training of youth athletes, try to maximize your time and efficiency by stacking clients. This means that you need to try to have clients lined up chronologically the best that you can with no gaps. Stacking clients at 4 pm, 5 pm, and 6 pm allows you to maximize your revenue and be efficient with your time.
Having only one or two clients and space between clients is tough to be efficient with, and you won’t always be able to avoid that when you are looking to grow your client base. But if you can stack as much as possible, it will truly help your business and your sanity. This also leaves more time to promote and develop your business while actively trying to recruit more clients.
Client Memberships
For client memberships, think along the lines of gym memberships. This may seem counter-efficient early on at the start of your business, but it can be an excellent stepping stone to building your client base. This is a great way to work with clients more frequently, master your craft of coaching, and be able to attract new clients through word of mouth.
Say you have a membership program that allows your players to come in Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 5 pm to 7 pm to get their workouts in. At first, you may start with one player that comes in all three days and loves it. That player and their parents spread the word, which word of mouth is huge, and then you get one or two other players who come in to work out and train with their friend.
This continues, and before you know it, you have a bigger group of players coming in to train together, and now you are maximizing your time and efforts while training five to six or more players at a time. This also leaves other time slots and days to either have different groups come in or work on private one-on-one training with other clients.
Find Good Help
As your business grows and you bring in more and more clients for training, don’t burn yourself out by trying to do everything yourself. Especially as you grow, you want to make sure you keep a good trainer-to-student ratio. Find other trustworthy people willing to work for you and help you out, especially with your membership groups.
You are bound to know other coaches or have older clients who are willing to help out and make a little money, even if it is a side hustle or secondary job. That’s the nice thing about youth sports, is that they often happen after school and on weekends when people are off work and can help out on the side.
Summary
Don’t be afraid to expand, but be sure to have systems and standards in place to hold those additional coaches and employees accountable.
