As safety concerns for youth athletes grow across the country, Entrepreneur Magazine recently featured i9 Sports not only as one of the fastest growing franchise concepts in the country, but as a company who is putting the focus of youth sports back where it should be – on kids having fun.
“Today youth sports is often about “parents socking each other in the bleachers and steely-eyed athletes stretching their young bodies to the limit in their determination to win,” wrote Jason Daley of Entrepreneur Magazine. “Athletics, instead of being a way to let off steam, socialize and build confidence, have become one more competitive stress.”
i9 Sports founder and CEO, Frank Fiume, recognized this unfortunate trend back in the late 1990s. Creating the i9 Sports concept and knowing communities across the country needed this fresh approach to youth sports, he began franchising in 2003. Now the company’s 120 franchises offer flag-football, soccer, cheerleading, basketball and baseball programs in communities from New York to Hawaii and have served 130,000 kids between the ages of 3 and 14.
“No other national competitor is doing this as a business. The programs we offer have turned a staid industry on its head by putting a focus on fun back into the mix,” said Brian Sanders, i9 Sports president and chief operating officer. “We’re businesspeople making profit with a purpose–we want to do something meaningful for kids and make a difference in the communities we serve.”
Read the complete story on i9 Sports: Sports Franchise Is Making Youth Sports Fun Again
