So that's what we need to continue to foster, is for kids to get the most out of their experience in character development and in life on.
The field and off the field. That is the good and bad of it.
When the pendulum swings too far to the professionalization, to structured play where there's good and the benefits that come with that, it means we leave the free play behind, and there are a ton of benefits there for each kid.
This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sports through education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Bonacort from the Reform Sports Podcast. Today, I'm speaking with Jason Clement, co founder and CEO of Sports Facilities Companies, the largest single network of tournament and community based sports facilities in the US. Formerly trained in licensed as an architect, Jason began his career in sports architecture before.
Founding SFC in two thousand and three.
Motivated to serve communities focused on the youth and amateur sports industry. Jason and I discussed the growth of youth sports over the last two decades, the vital need to help prevent kids who can't afford to play from falling behind and how sports tourism impacts local communities.
Man, I'm really excited.
I got another awesome guest, Very very excited to learn a lot about him, a lot about his company, but super pumped to have him. The co founder of the Sports Facilities Companies, Jason Clement. Jason, thanks so much for hopping on, bro Nick.
Great to be with you, and thanks for all you're doing through this medium.
I appreciate it, man, and I really want to dig in because I know about the tremendous growth and expansion obviously in youth sports overall, but in the.
Sports tourism piece of it.
I'd love for you to just give us a little bit of backstory about you know, your company and kind of what brought you to get in the space.
Yeah.
Well, you know, first of all, you're right, the growth of this i'll call it an industry is extraordinary. I mean, it's kids playing sports, right, so it's it's interesting to call it an industry, but the way that it has consolidated and grown over the last two decades really is extraordinary. It's a fifty billion dollar approaching a fifty billion dollar industry right now, and a lot of estimates have it doubling, you know, in the next five years.
So you know, a lot of kids are playing sports.
You know, most of us did growing up as well, and it's just accelerating, which I think is a great thing, which leads to how we started our company. We believe very much in the impact that a healthy sports experience has in character development for kids, but also into adults. I mean, you look at the pickleball phenomenon right now, and just the healthy lifestyle, the ability to connect with
other people. You know, we're designed to be in community with others, and sport, when done right, is as good.
Of connection opportunity as any other.
So, you know, we began in two thousand and three our company, the Sports Facilities Companies.
Fast forward to today, we've been in more than.
Two thousand communities helping them plan, develop, and manage or operate their sports assets and sports facilities in order to accomplish whatever their goals may be. You mentioned sports tourism, but just recreation, play and a number of other you know, positive aspects.
Come out of again a healthy.
Sports culture and an environment within these communities.
So you know, we like to say that we.
Fill in the gaps for whatever communities need so that they can't have success in that endeavor. Our mission is to improve the health and economic vitality of the communities we serve. We define health mentally, socially, spiritually, physically.
You know.
The flip side of that mission statement is that these places need to be sustainable financially.
Doesn't mean that they have to operate at a profit.
They can, but each community has a different goal and so we pride ourselves and I hope pride.
In a good way of filling in the.
Gaps for whatever those communities need to to go have success.
I've seen those statistics. It's staggering.
And I like how you joked about because we're talking about kids sports and but it is turned into an industry, and you know, what do you think is the main driver of it? You know, I'm located in Wilmington, North Carolina, so we're only about an hour plush from Myrtle Beach, and I believe you operate a facility in Myrtle which you know a ton of there's a there's a ton of activities and sports that.
Go on on there.
It's almost like at times, you know, families prean vacations to Disney or amusement parks, and part of me, as a father of six, I'm like, sometimes it seems like you're playing a family vacations around you know sports. Is that is that kind of how this whole thing, like what caused it all to kind of balloon to what you're saying could potentially be a one hundred billion dollar industry.
Uh in then in the near future.
Yeah, I mean, you nailed it. We call it tournication, right, the vacation in the tournament.
Now they meld together. But there's so much benefit right out of participating in playing sports. It's such an important strain in our culture, right, the tapestry of our culture. And uh yeah, just the a ton of kids that are playing it right now and will continue to because of all the positive benefits and you know so much on the professional side and the collegiate side. And you know when you look at the name, image likeness, all
of that's coming downstream right now, good bad. You know, there are pros and cons to both of it, but all of that's coming downstream and impacting sports participation, which is just going through the roof. I mean, look, some sports are growing faster than others, but generally and overall, the sports participation is just continuing to increase. More kids are playing, more adults are playing as amateurs as well, and that's really where our company and organization is focused.
It's on the youth and amateur side of sports participation and trying to, you know, sports facilities facilitate that positive outcome no matter the sport in the communities that we're in.
And you know, to your point, whether it's Myrtle.
Beach, which is a strong tourism destination, or you know, whether it's Albertville, Alabama, right which is a population twenty five thousand in Alabama. Every community right now is looking at their park, recreation and sports assets to determine how they.
Can get the most out.
Of those facilities to provide the best outcomes for their community.
And I know you mentioned the pros and cons.
Do you feel like there's any concern Do you have any concern with the professionalization of youth sports, you know, undermining the experience for families.
I do.
I do.
And so much of this conversation is framed as an either or conversation, like it's either good or it's bad, and you've got to set foot in one of those two camps. That is not where we are, It's not where I am personally. We see it as a both and it's very positive in a number of ways. Kind of this i'll call professionalization, use your word, but I would just say maturation of youth sports.
It's providing better competition.
You know, kids are getting to play at whatever their potential is.
You know, I was a very average athlete.
Growing up, and my youngest brother played in the big leagues.
He was the third draft pick overall.
Right, we had a very wide disparity in our ability level and talent. But I got just as much out of my sports experience as he did. I'm sitting here today in large part because of the experience that I had both in a structured way and team play, and then in an unstructured way playing in the backyard with my friends and my family and you.
Know, brothers and sister.
So that's what we need to continue to foster, is for kids to get the most out of their experience in character development and in life on the field and off the field.
And that is the good and bad of it.
When the pendulum swings too far to the professionalization or the formalization, the rig or the structured play where there's all the good and the benefits that come with that.
It means we leave the free play and.
The recreation behind and there are a ton of benefits there for each kid, and those are the families that can afford to play. One of the drawbacks is it is getting more expensive to play, and that leads a lot of families outside looking in. There's a socioeconomic demographic and class that aren't getting the same sort of access to sport as what others are who can afford to play.
And you know, that's a problem that we need to solve within our culture and within our society, and it's certainly one that we're taking head on in the communities and facilities that we're blessed.
To work with.
Like as mentioned, I have six kids and so we're entrenched in the sports community.
I've coached for Rex Sports.
And you know one thing that concerns me or and I love your take on it.
You know, the growth in youth sports and the tourism and facilities piece of it.
Do you think that adds pressure on the kids because of the financial commitment of the parents, Like we're doing this, so I need to see results, like, have you seen any impacts that are potentially impacting the kids in the negaway from a mental health standpoint for sure?
Right, And we're seeing, you know, kids that are burning out at a young age. The kids that are fortunate enough and good enough to play at the college.
Level, they're burning out there. We're seeing even professional athletes right need to.
Take mental health breaks as well. So definitely that's absolutely the case. And you know, there's some good organizations which I'm sure you're familiar with, whether it's Positive Coaching Alliance, you know, FCA does a lot of good work in this way too, that are trying to continue to educate the parents who mean well, they want the best for their kids, try to educate them on what is best for their kids.
And it's not always this intense pressure.
And needing to play twenty four to seven and train twenty four to seven. The kids that have a lot of success are playing multiple sports as long as they can. The goal from our perspective is getting to age twelve with multiple sports and then you can start to focus in on a couple you know, that make the most sense. And that's what the data and the science is saying. It's not Jason Clement's opinion.
It's these are the kids that are going to.
Play high level collegiate athletics, many of which are playing multiple sports. They're wrestling in playing football, right, They're playing baseball and basketball and other things. Not to mention, you know, I mentioned pickleball earlier. I've got three kids similar a ranges you, right, eight, ten and eleven and man on Easter Sunday, they got some new pickleball stuff and we just went out.
And played as a family and it was the best day.
And you talk about physical literacy, right, if you're just out playing baseball twenty four to seven, you're doing a disservice to these kids and their ability to move their body and work different muscles in different ways and the blend of those things. I believe it's an education opportunity for parents, and then secondly, it's a courage thing for parents to say, now I'm going to buck the trend. I'm not going to go to this one sport twenty
four to seven. I'm going to give my kids additional opportunities, even if that means I'm not keeping up with the Joneses at eight U baseball. Right in you baseball, and I'm going to give my kids a good wide range and variety of experiences.
So if I'm not mistaken, sports facilities compan you guys congratulate just had a bit partnership back in late twenty twenty two with private equity firm. And you know, that's not the first time I'm seeing I have a In my former career, I worked in finance. So from my experience, when you see private equity, you know, funding coming into any space, they're investing in it for the long term. They think there's going to be return for shareholders. You know,
they're trying to extract you know, untapped value. Right, how do you balance that from a company standpoint, from making sure that obviously you have return on shareholder value, your bottom line is hit, while at the same time balancing you know, we're talking about kids, we're talking about families
and supporting communities. How do you balance the whole thing without letting like the gorilla in the room of needing to make money for shareholders impact maybe the overall impact on the lives of the kids that are participating in these events and at these locations.
Nick, It's a great question, and I appreciate it. You know, we grew this company again beginning in two thousand and three, out of cash flow, and we grew it organically.
No debt. So, you know, forgive me and help the listeners. For give me for getting into the business side of this a.
Little well, I think it's fascinating and people need to understand it.
Yeah, And so as we grew, you know, again out of cash flow organically, a few of us in a small, you know, little apartment building we called an office in the early two thousands into what we were, you know, at the end of twenty twenty two, which was fifteen hundred team members across the country in twenty different states, managing these venues, you know, working with strategically planning eighty different facilities at once, having twenty in design and construction
you know, on the boards, and then roughly forty that we were managing, you know, around the country. You know, we did it in a conservative, fiscally responsible way. And to your point, we recognized, you know, probably three eight to five years ago, private equity was starting to flood into this space and a consolidation was happening in a number of different ways, and we recognized for us to serve these kids, serve these families, and serve these communities
and our clients better, and to serve more. It was time for us to go get additional capital so that we could partner strategically, We could merge, we could acquire, you know, some of these organizations, some of these tournaments and events, and some of these other services that we could bolt on to just facility management to create the
best sport experience possible. So when we decided we wanted to go get additional capital to do those things, we had a decision do we want to go take on debt or do we want to go.
Bring in a partner you know that can help help us do that.
And so we chose to be a little bit dead averse and go bring in a partner. And so that's why we went out to attract private equity, and Nick, I'm telling you, because of I think the topic, because of the attractiveness of what was happening in this industry. We had a lot of interest in our firm, and so we chose very carefully a partner that we weren't going to, you know, quote sell out to, but someone we just wanted to.
Invest in us. And what we were doing and.
Believed in our mission and our approach and just allowed us to simply serve more and serve better. So I think where it could have gone sideways is if we had chosen a partner that was about you know, growth and was about just you know, putting the torch up the backside and saying, you know, we need to see numbers, we need to grow and certainly we want to build a good business, and we are and we're scaling appropriately.
But for us, it was about the partner that we brought in.
That believed in the impact and as long as we served really well, you know, and continue to do our thing, the financial results come. And as long as we're putting that customer and that client first. We say this all the time in the grand opening of a new facility, it's about that one face in the crowd. You remember the Sports illustrated faces in the crowd, you know, back in the day in the magazine there.
It's about that face in the crowd that is going to get to play.
And have access to this state of the art facility and this best in class programming that otherwise wouldn't have access to it, and they're going to make it's going to make an impact in their lives, again on the court or off the court, because physically active kids, and again it's the stats here, they earn more later, they have better healthcare or health situation, they get better grades, and it's all because of the habits that are formed by.
A positive sport experience.
Right. So that's what we're about, and we found that we can balance both of those things and we can blend it well.
And when we put that client first.
And we put those guests into the venues first in those families, the financial results come, and it's done in a way that you're creating raving fans.
When we come back, Jason and I discuss why the best businesses are able to balance mission and margin, and as advice for parents looking to help their kids get the most out of youth sports. Heading into the break, I wanted to share an update with you from our friends at Team Snap, who was having a busy summer
with exciting announcement after exciting announcement. As you may recall, we had Peter Francilli's CEO of Team Snap on an earlier episode of this podcast, and one of the areas we covered was how he saw technology evolving within the youth sports industry. Last month, Team Snap launched Team Snap for Business, its next generation platform and an all in
one solution for sports organizations. Now, Team Snap is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of its brand new registration system, one of the most configurable, cost effective, and intelligent ways to register players and staff. Team Snap Registration was built on years of feedback from the Team snap community, which includes over nineteen thousand organizations and twenty five million users. In celebration of this launch, Team.
Snap is inviting you to a live webinar on Thursday July twenty seventh, one pm Eastern eleven am Mountain Time. During the webinar, they will cover everything inside the brand new Team Snap registration system, including some important new capabilities like multiple installment options, advance logic, answer dependent add on fees,
and an intuitive set up wizard. Using the new Team Snap registration, you can effortlessly create forms, collect fees and documents, and make your programs with these so you can keep your energy focused on the thing you love, amateur sports. Head to teamsnab dot com and sign up to save your spot for the webinar that will be held on July twenty.
Seventh, where we left off, Jason.
And I were about to talk about sports tourism and the financial strain that many families feel as a result of the increased costs of youth sports.
We wrote a blog Reform Sports Project.
I wrote one a few weeks ago talking about like, we're not going back to the good old days.
You know, we're just not.
I'm a firm believer that, you know, things aren't going backwards right here.
It all the time.
I wanted to go back to the eighties and seventies and nineties when you know your kids gathered and the lots and played and you know, just got together.
I'm like, you know, that's great, but we're not.
That could still happen at times, you know, kids live in couldness acts or gather at parks. But we're not going back to the seventy We're not going back to the.
Ags in nineties.
So I believe, like you, there is room for a healthy balance. So that's kind of you know, our mantra Reformed Sports Project. It's like, we want to help parents and people make the most informed decisions, right, I mean, listen, like you mentioned the multi sport or whatever. I mean, there is a time and place where certain kids need to lock into a sport at a certain age. There's
not a one size fits all solution to anything. So I'm a firm believer that as consolidation and as this space continues to evolve, there's going to be a healthy balance and the best of breed, you know, companies and such are going to be the ones that are standing at the end of the line that are helping facilitate this ever growing sector and quite frankly impacting the most lives.
So you mentioned the difference and the costs.
Obviously it's you know, there are people that are held out because they can't afford you sports. So like when when hosting varying travel tournaments and events, how much control do you not you personally, but your company have in terms of pricing for fans, family who've paid money for not only their kids to participate in the sport, but also the travel expensive surrounding you know, food, lodging, tickets
to watch their own kids compete. Because I hear it all the time, like I signed my kid up for the team, you know, then we got to travel, then we go this, Then I got to pay the park. Then how much does your company even have in determining that?
Yeah, we have some. We have some for sure.
So you know, we we work with the right boulder, the tournament provider, and we pick and choose, you know, what tournaments come in and plan on what weeks and weekends. And those tournaments that don't deliver on the experience, that don't you know, deliver on the impact, that don't align with us from a values perspective, aren't tournaments that we
you know, put in place, if that makes sense. And so there's that side of it, and then the other side of it on the financial piece, we believe so much that there is a certain percentage that are getting left behind. We started our own not for profit called, you know, the SF Access Program Sports Facilities Access Program, and what we do is essentially scholarship or sponsor kids and communities that can't afford to play on that you know,
travel ball. Look, the good ones, the best players, they they find a way to make the team, whether they can afford it or not. Right yeah, I mean they're going to get on the team. The kids that can't afford to play but could very much benefit from a sports experience, those are the kids we're trying to find and so you know, we kind of have a say in the communities we're in and where we're We've implemented,
you know, the SF Access program. If you qualify for free and reduced lunch, you should qualify for some form of free and reduced play.
And that's what we're trying to put in place in that way.
So yeah, we've got some control. We're doing the things that we can. We're also part of a consortium with the Aspen Project Play Aspen Institute Project Play.
These are big brands.
These are ESPN, Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, NFL is part of that, NBC, you know, NBC Sports, and Amazon and others that have come together to say, hey, we're going to put our organizational priorities aside here and we're going to try to solve this problem, right, the access to play problem, and we're all going to bring our best solutions to the table. And in some ways maybe we've got to compromise and sacrifice some.
Of our organizational you know, goals and objectives there, but this.
Is a this is a problem we need to solve, you know, industry wide.
So that's happening as well, and we're part of that.
We represent the youth and amateur space and those conversations and there's been some really good work thought leadership.
I'm coming out of that certainly to turn the tide.
You know, Kobe before he passed away, it was very involved Kobe Bryant in.
That it was a spokesperson for it.
So you know, it's it's getting talked about more so that on podcasts like this. I mean, I love what you guys are doing so that it becomes more mainstream and that parents and community leaders can become aware of this because ultimately that's how it's getting solved, you know, on the ground.
I think that, you know, and I had Tom Ferry you know, from Project All the Aspen Institute on I'm very familiar with him, John Salomon, their work. So I applaud you for being involved, you know. And one thing I know for us at Reform Sports Project, we're very much entrenched on trying to influence everything from a grassroots
level and trying to impact the local organizations. And you know, the economic benefit has often discussed, you know, with the state of the art facilities in terms of tourism dollars being brought into the area, but how do you approach that in such a way that it benefits the local residents, Like what types of initiatives' offerings to provide the surrounding community for instance.
Yeah, well, look, I could point out to dozens of examples in the communities.
That we've been in where businesses have flourished. You know, I mentioned albert Bille, Alabama earlier.
Sure they had zero hotels in their community, opened this complex two years ago. The third one is on the books, are on the boards right now for being developed. You can imagine the economic growth that's happening in that community as a result of the sports tourism that's coming there, and then it provides an opportunity for enhanced weekday programming
for the constituents and the community there as well. Same things are happening in you know Hoover and Panama City Beach and Myrtle Beach that you mentioned, Brandson, Missouri, and all types of different locations, you.
Know, Bedford Park, Illinois.
So residents are getting the benefit of you know, the economic climate, you know, optic being raised as a result of this, and they're getting enhanced programming, and the tax base is increasing as.
Well for those local communities. So it really is a boom to the communities.
And I again, I don't know of one community in the country at least that we're talking to and we've worked with, you know, over two thousand of them that aren't talking about how can we maximize the assets that we already have to take advantage of this opportunity and serve our community really well, and then how can we supplement those right with with additional assets and facilities.
And you know that means something different for each community and what their capabilities are. But they're all talking about it, you know, proactively.
So you mentioned you're involved in trying to help and give back the community. So like, how do you sports facilities companies give back to youth.
Sports, you know, both the short and you know, for the long term going forward.
Yeah, well, we're investing, first of all, financially, we're investing real dollars in sponsoring and scholarship and kids, as I mentioned earlier, they can't afford to play, you know, within these communities.
That's one.
Secondly, we're investing in partnerships within the industry. I read a book recently that we've gone from a production economy right to a consumer economy. We've gone from a consumer economy to a creat economy recently, and the new economy that's coming now is a collaboration economy.
So we're collaborating with the best.
In class leagues, camps, clinics, tournament organizers and providers around the country. We don't have to own them, but we want to find the best that have shared values, that are trying to solve this challenge and this problem that you're talking about. Those are the organizations we want to place into the community.
So we want to.
Help scale them and expand them because they're doing it right, and they've got the right heart and they can balance that mission and margin right and the best organizations can do that.
So we use collaboration as our strategy.
So we're trying to bring the best in class together and help scale that footprint really across the country. And it's a heck of a lot of fun doing it as well. Nick, So, I mean, this is what it's about. My kids are playing, right, I'm traveling around with my kids.
I'm playing in the local rec leagues as well. We're doing sports tourism and so I get to see firsthand what works and what doesn't and in addition to what's happening around the country in the fifty million visits that we have inside these facilities.
Well, Jason, a lot of parents, a lot of coaches, they're going to listen to this and they're kind of they're trying to navigate it. And I know you've touched on quite a bit of what you do. What are ways for those parents out there who are looking at youth sports like, man, this is I can't keep up, you know, this is tough, Like how do I navigate this?
Like as someone who's you know, really in the trenches, who's help and cultivate the future of youth sports and the way it's going to go and their kids are going to participate. What would be some advice you'd give to parents, particularly on how they can kind of stay the course, help navigate it, you know, and also make the most informed decisions to help them on their path.
Yeah.
Well, I think the baseline is begin with the end in mind, right, what do you want for your kids? And I'm not talking next year, five years, ten years, you know, what do you want for your kids thirty forty fifty years In terms of a legacy, what are you leaving for them, and it's not going to be that they're the next professional athlete, right, very very few.
Get to play at that level. Very very few, frankly.
Are even remembered, you know in terms of breaking records and those sorts of things.
It's the impact that they're going to make.
And you want to be you know, positive contributors to our community and to our society as a whole. Well sport is a great way to build those fundamental foundational building blocks for character development.
And so start there.
Okay, Now, what decisions can I make and what benefits to get there? And I mean there's a decision every season, right, Well, I put my kid on that travel team or that travel team, do I skip out to go.
To the next big thing or the others?
And I was on a flight three weeks ago and I happen to sit by a Division one baseball coach who's recruiting, is on a recruiting trip, and he said, hey, just because you are talented, Jason, meaning just because you're on the good team, doesn't mean you're talented. Right, when we go watch kids, we're going.
To watch that kid. We're not watching others.
We're at a place in time now where there aren't diamonds in the rough. If your kid's good, they're going to get seen. I mean they just they will. It doesn't matter what team they're they are going to get seen.
So I would say teach those kids. So I'm trying to do the best of my ability on I'd always get it right with my own, but teach them and demonstrate for them in the game and in the decisions that are being made about respect and about how you treat other people and the character development that goes along with that, and that will govern the decision making. And then from there, Yeah, help them get to their potential
right athletically. And there are a number of different ways you know to do that, but first and foremost, it's about making decisions and demonstrating a decision pattern both on the field and off that allows them to make that impact in life thirty forty fifty years from now.
And it's all about how you treat people.
So that's what we're trying to do as an organization that those are the events we're trying to plug into the communities, those are the.
Partnerships we're trying to build. And when you do all of those.
Things and serve people, well, serve the guests, serve the family, well, you know, the business side, all the other positive outcomes will.
Come out of it.
So I hope there's something in there in that rambling response that makes sense.
But man, it's so easy in this divisive, you.
Know, culture and climate that we're in right now to find things to argue about. Youth sports shouldn't be one of them. They really shouldn't. This should be something we can all rally around together, you know, in a quote by partisan way, to figure it out for the kids and for their benefit and so that they can have fun and they can grow up with the confidence that they deserve to grow up with and then ultimately make a positive impact for our country and our communities.
Jason Clement, I love it. I love it.
I can't thank you enough for coming on sharing Sports Facilities companies appreciate you.
Man.
Where can people connect with you and learn more?
Yeah, you can go to our website sports Facilities dot com. There's another website, the sfnetwork dot com to see the facilities that we're with, and anybody can reach out to me at any time.
We love what we do.
We're passionate about it, and man, it's really great to spend time with you, Nick. Thanks for making a difference in an impact in this culture and in this community.
It matters, and the more of us they come.
Together here for the greater good for the kids and families, it's just going to continue to turn the tide. I mean, the best is yet to come for sure in our space because of people like you and your leadership.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you. Brother.
That's Jason Clement, co founder and CEO of Sports Facilities Companies. Thanks for listening to the Reform Sports Project podcast. I'm Nick Bonacor and our goal is to restore a healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sports through education and advocacy. For updates, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check out our website by searching for the Reform Sports Project.