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Post by jhmustangs on Mar 2, 2009 14:46:30 GMT -6
Hey all!
I wanted to get some feedback from all of you coaches out there as to an idea I've got.
In my constant search to figure out how to make a living doing what I love (coaching), I've decided that, possibly, a year round football academy for youth players (pee-wee through 8th grade) and then eventually for HS players, could be feasible.
The questions that I have are as follows, and your HONEST feedback is appreciated:
1. Do you think that a 2 night/week, 2 hour/night football training facility has value?
2. Each night of the week is divided between physical (drills, etc.) and mental (chalkboard/classroom time). The younger the kids in the session, the less classroom time. Thoughts?
3. Pricing at $100/mo if paid in advance for the year, or automatically debited from a card or checking account, $125/mo on a month to month basis. Does this seem like a price that parents would pay for specialized, tutorial training?
I'm trying to base it around the price structure of our local martial arts centers, etc. I realize that 95% of youth football players and their parents wouldn't be interested. The question is of the 5% who would, am I over or underpricing the program?
Gary
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Post by jpdaley25 on Mar 2, 2009 15:16:20 GMT -6
At $100 a month for eight 2 hour workouts - that comes to $6.25 per hour per kid. Get 100 kids and you've got $625.00 per hour. Multiply that by 16 hours and you make $10,000.00 a month. That comes to $120,000.00 a year. $100 a month sounds great to me.
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Post by kylem56 on Mar 2, 2009 15:26:26 GMT -6
I would open it up to high school level first then lower levels. I think it could work in the right market and price.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2009 16:21:35 GMT -6
Sounds like a good idea, but programs like that do exist already, mostly in the form of personal trainers, and "academies".
I love the idea, but I would think it would have to be more of a positional coaching concept. Alot of emphasis on technique, strength , speed and agility.
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Post by brophy on Mar 2, 2009 16:23:28 GMT -6
1) what part of the country are you in?
2) what type of insurance coverage have you explored?
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Post by jgordon1 on Mar 2, 2009 17:17:44 GMT -6
I would try to get high school coaches on board and give the a %age as pay. another thing I would add is be careful on your revenue projections. I am not sure there would be much of a market for your service during the football season (Aug-Nov) that's 1/3 of a year
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Post by coachd5085 on Mar 2, 2009 21:04:31 GMT -6
The one problem I see with this is that football doesn't lead itself as well to specialty training as other sports. If you are a hitting instructor in baseball, and you get a kid hitting .450-.500 range, not many coaches are going to mess with that/complain about it. In football however, other than S&C type work, I don't see the extra instruction going as smoothly. Invariably, you are going to teach things differently than the player's position coaches. Especially at the youth level. You are going to teach backpedal for DB play, and their coaches are going to teach shuffling. You are going to teach chest tackling, and their coaches will teach shoulder tackling. Lots of weight forward in the stance versus balanced stances. Even quarterbacking mechanics will be tricky, as you will probably teach this different than their coach as well. Classroom time...different coaches will have different schemes, different keys, different methodologies....
Sorry if it sounds like a downer post, but I don't see football as a sport that incorporates specialized or outsourced coaches very easily other than S & C
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Post by jgordon1 on Mar 2, 2009 21:08:24 GMT -6
The one problem I see with this is that football doesn't lead itself as well to specialty training as other sports. If you are a hitting instructor in baseball, and you get a kid hitting .450-.500 range, not many coaches are going to mess with that/complain about it. In football however, other than S&C type work, I don't see the extra instruction going as smoothly. Invariably, you are going to teach things differently than the player's position coaches. Especially at the youth level. You are going to teach backpedal for DB play, and their coaches are going to teach shuffling. You are going to teach chest tackling, and their coaches will teach shoulder tackling. Lots of weight forward in the stance versus balanced stances. Even quarterbacking mechanics will be tricky, as you will probably teach this different than their coach as well. Classroom time...different coaches will have different schemes, different keys, different methodologies.... Sorry if it sounds like a downer post, but I don't see football as a sport that incorporates specialized or outsourced coaches very easily other than S & C Being an experienced coach..you would see it that way..the dad of a 10-14 yr old boy (the target market) probably doesn't know that. perception is reality, and IMO it would be perceived by a dad the the boy would improve his football skills |
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Post by coachd5085 on Mar 2, 2009 21:43:21 GMT -6
The one problem I see with this is that football doesn't lead itself as well to specialty training as other sports. If you are a hitting instructor in baseball, and you get a kid hitting .450-.500 range, not many coaches are going to mess with that/complain about it. In football however, other than S&C type work, I don't see the extra instruction going as smoothly. Invariably, you are going to teach things differently than the player's position coaches. Especially at the youth level. You are going to teach backpedal for DB play, and their coaches are going to teach shuffling. You are going to teach chest tackling, and their coaches will teach shoulder tackling. Lots of weight forward in the stance versus balanced stances. Even quarterbacking mechanics will be tricky, as you will probably teach this different than their coach as well. Classroom time...different coaches will have different schemes, different keys, different methodologies.... Sorry if it sounds like a downer post, but I don't see football as a sport that incorporates specialized or outsourced coaches very easily other than S & C Being an experienced coach..you would see it that way..the dad of a 10-14 yr old boy (the target market) probably doesn't know that. perception is reality, and IMO it would be perceived by a dad the the boy would improve his football skills Agreed. The original poster didn't come off like he was trying to put one over on anyone, so I was giving my opinion on the usefulness of his plan, rather than the economic potential. If one wanted to, they could easily bamboozle an excited dad and make good money off of "promise" |
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Post by groundchuck on Mar 2, 2009 21:49:10 GMT -6
I think in the right place with the right demagraphics it could work.
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Post by coachjoe3 on Mar 2, 2009 22:01:03 GMT -6
I don't know coach . . .
I'm an average dad with an average income. I'd love to see my kids succeed as much as he can in the sport they love. But $100 seems steep to me, even if it is competitive with other year-round activities.
I also would worry about burning out a kid on a sport at the youth level age. It's been my experience that kids need a lot of variety. Year round may bore a lot of kids out of the sport, and if I had paid $1200 in advance for a year and it turns out my kid wants to try hockey five months later, then it could mean breaking a contract or going thru the hassle of getting a refund etc. Just something I'm not willing to risk . . .
Have you considered running summer camps instead?
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Post by jhmustangs on Mar 4, 2009 19:42:46 GMT -6
Thanks for the feedback guys!
Coach5085 has some good points, and I want to try to give a little bit more of an overview as to WHY I want to do this.
I'm in Central Ohio, and within a 30 mile radius of where I am looking at putting the facility there are 10+ youth leagues that all have between 200-350 players ages ranging from 5-13, and that doesn't count Jr. High and Freshman programs. I have coached from the Pee-Wee level, through HS, and even into the semi-pro leagues. I currently coach JH ball. The vast majority of youth programs are staffed with volunteer dads whose football experience consists of playing HS ball 10 years ago. They are great guys who are passionate and care about the kids - but they just don't know how to teach the game.
Since my original post I have been honing the business plan and have decided to run the program in "cycles" that are 3 months each. Each cycle will focus on different aspects of the game.
For the 6-8 year old group each cycle would focus on pure fundamentals. Stance, hand positioning, basic blocking, release, ball security, etc. This group would meet 1/week for 2 hours. Price point is $60/mo.
9-12 year olds would be put into two different categories. Introductory would be for players who have never played the game before and who need the same things the 6-8 year old group does, but with kids their own size and age. 1/week, 2.5 hours - $70/mo
9-12 year old/Advanced would be kids who have played, and who are ready for more advanced teaching than they are getting in a typical practice with their team. Some classroom components including basic recognition, blitz pick-up/release, etc. 2/week, 2.5 hr sessions - $95/mo
13-15 year olds would get much more intensive positional training, and more advanced conceptual training. 2/week, 2.5 hr sessions, $95/mo
16-18 year old positional only training, custom plans. Also offering recruiting services to select players.
In my mind the idea on the younger end is to provide two solutions.
1. Alot of boys dont' get to play even though they would like to because Mom is scared they are going to get hurt because they don't know the basics. A couple of three month sessions leading up to the season would have them ready with the basics and their soon to be coaches would get players much more prepared for in-pad competition.
2. The kids who don't want to do anything BUT play football have something in the off-season to keep them active and engaged. Additionally, how many 6-12 year old youth players have access to a full training facility with real training equipment? Most youth leagues dont' even have tacking dummies.
The plan is to staff with local HS and DIII coaches who will be paid per student/session as 1099 contractors. This will keep the support of local coaches and help them to have input into what is taught to the players.
So, any new feedback based on the more developed concept?
On the idea of just running summer camps, I really have no desire at all. There are already a ton of summer camps. There is nothing out there like this. Why compete when you don't have to?
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Post by jml on Mar 5, 2009 11:23:37 GMT -6
If you decide to do this, please let us know how it works out and anything you learn from the process. The problem I see with football is there are so many differences to each position.
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Post by bigm0073 on Mar 5, 2009 12:09:14 GMT -6
A training facility focusing on speed, agility training....
Two areas you might want to focus on -
1. Pass / QB academy (QB/WR)
2. Oline Academy
areas of focus on individual areas.
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MaineManiac
Junior Member
What you see depends on what you're looking for.
Posts: 311
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Post by MaineManiac on Mar 5, 2009 17:42:33 GMT -6
I like the idea of a specific focus for a specific type.
Monday/Wed: QB Academy
Tues/Thurs: O-Line School
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Post by coachd5085 on Mar 5, 2009 18:29:11 GMT -6
If you decide to do this, please let us know how it works out and anything you learn from the process. The problem I see with football is there are so many differences to each position. I am with JML. I wish you the best of luck, I just know that this is a service I would have no interest in using, especially at the H.S level where: 1) The kids are already working year round with their H.S. anyway. 2) I would want MY kids (as a coach) trained MY way. As far as the youth situation, as someone with some experience coaching youth, jr. high, highschool, and Div 1 football, as well as experience in the private sector, I think this is pretty marketable (especially if you have any type of reputation in the area), but probably not terribly valuable to the kids. Also things to consider: --the 6-8 crowd, will be darn near impossible to entertain for 2 hours. Especially doing "drills". --Price. $60 is probably right around what many pay to play youth football. (Or am I that out of the loop). That is usually two months. So your current price idea might be DOUBLE what they pay to actually PLAY the sport. --Other sports...at the youth level, the kids who would be "gung ho" about such a program are probably playing 3-4 sports a year already. Football/all-star football right into Basketball and then allstar basketbal which runs into baseball season, and then all star baseball runs all summer... I believe your best bet would be either  1) quarterback camping (but then the issue will be being able to sell yourself as a Darrin Slack style QB coach) 2) Strength and Conditioning with a youth emphasis. Again, sorry to be a downer, but you did ask for Honest feedback |
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slimbo7722
Sophomore Member
Some days yoour the dog...some days you are the hydrant.
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Post by slimbo7722 on Mar 6, 2009 20:08:06 GMT -6
i think it depends on the location. i know some places it would probably work well and others it might not.
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newhc
Sophomore Member
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Post by newhc on Mar 6, 2009 20:24:16 GMT -6
Hey Coach,
The bigger metropolitan areas this could work well. I also hope that you are in a "Football State". I would agree with everyone else: put the focus on speed and agility, and Position coaching. Work with a speed coach, would be a great asset. I would also encourage you to have an "Expert" in most of the areas. Name recognition for some people could do well.
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Post by mahonz on Mar 6, 2009 20:50:29 GMT -6
Coach
Being that 80% of all parents on every team I have coached have asked the same question at the banquet...
"What can we do in the off-season?"
...I'd say you have a great idea here.
Coach Mike
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Post by coachjoe3 on Mar 9, 2009 20:58:25 GMT -6
On the idea of just running summer camps, I really have no desire at all. There are already a ton of summer camps. There is nothing out there like this. Why compete when you don't have to? But, at least out here, most of the camps are geared toward HS teams, not youth level kids. And something to think about, to echo 5085's comments, is that you would be competing, against whatever rec/competitive leagues were out there for whatever sport was in season at the time. But maybe there's something I'm not considering? I really honestly hate to be a stick in the mud as well, especially for someone so passionate about helping kids in the sport we all love. But go with what you feel after you've looked into it thoroughly and whatever your final decision, best of luck to you Coach! |
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