About Us
who we are
Premier Sports Leagues ‘partner’ with like-minded community leaders across North America to introduce youth to emerging, lesser-known global sports that are fun, safe, easy to learn & play so they can have an overall better sports experience when they participate in our franchisees’ organized club leagues, tournaments or special sports programs.
Vision
We provide youth with a memorable sports experience that will serve to teach them new sports skills as well as LIFE SKILLS, so that when they exit our sports programs they will be healthier and better equipped for life to contribute towards building stronger communities
Mission
To partner with like-valued individuals across North America and provide them with a proven business model that will equip them with all the training, resources, tools & ongoing support they need to introduce youth (and others) to lesser known, global sports and successfully deliver quality multi sport programs so they can build a sustainable sports business in their respective communities.
what we value
All our youth, regardless of their social, economical, physical, mental or emotional abilities, should be GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY to learn and play sports in a space where they can feel safe, challenged, encouraged, respected and feel belong while having FUN as they play
Our Youth
The primary purpose of our sports CULTURE is to provide a safe and inclusive environment of play where our participants (players, coaches, officials and volunteers) can collectively come together to learn, to build stronger sport and LIFE skills, to help each other grow more competent, to become ALL AROUND healthier, to compete safely, fairly and respectfully; to make new and lasting connections and to share common experiences that are fun and memorable
Our Sports
Our franchisees are the most connected to our customers therefore we need to constantly serve them by providing all the best training, resources, tools, expertise and devote our time to help them grow THEIR business so they can better serve their staff & volunteers and continuously invest into improving their sports programs to continuously deliver exceptional sports experiences and build a sustainable, profitable business
Our Franchisee
We are grateful for and accountable to all our customers and therefore hold ourselves, our franchisees and our network of suppliers to a level of expectation, high standards and best practices that exceed that of any other sports programs and we take all measures to assure that our business decisions are safe, fair, just and equitable and that our integrity is unquestionable in the conduct of our business and the delivery of our sport activities and programs for our customers
Our Customers
We believe that the primary goal of the Organized (Youth) Sports Industry should be to hold it’s leaders personally responsible and accountable for decisions they make and actions they take in the oversight and operations of their sports programs and to ensure that players, coaches, officials are PROPERLY trained and equip and given equal opportunity to participate, learn, grow and become more competent as they participate in sports leagues, tournaments and challenges while intentionally fostering a culture where the sport itself does not become the end ‘game” but a higher and greater Good of helping to positively shape and build better individuals and communities through sport is attained
Our Industry
who are our customers
Youth
All youth ranging in age from 8 to 18 years are our main focus.
Youth who have little or any sports experience CAN easily participate in any of our sports programs.
Our low profile sports do not require early specialization, elite training nor unique physique.
Participation is for all ages, abilities and genders.
Parents
Parents are continuously looking for alternative sports or additions to their childs current health activities that are safe, fun and inclusive.
Our sports programs focus more on just the technical skills of a sport.
Our sports leaders strive to build an all around healthier child as well as equip them with LIFE skills for the future.
Groups
There are YOUTH groups (social clubs, churches, schools etc.) and CORPORATE groups (military, contact centres, retailers, etc.) that are looking for an affordable health & wellness programs that is suitable for all their members and employees to join.
Our multi sports leagues can be customized to suit each groups’ specific needs and provide an atmosphere for peers to have a FUN time together.
Special Groups
Many groups who require special accommodations find it challenging to assimilate into community sports programs.
Our sports programs can be tailored towards the unique needs of youth and adults groups or demographics(i.e. seniors).
We can work together with special groups to provide a safe, controlled and monitored environment that caters to their special needs and interests.
how we came to be
Discover It
In 2015 a group of sports-minded FOUNDERS happened on a new sport that had been making headway into Canada and USA from Europe.
Curiously, they purchased equipment and set out to learn and play the sport of FLOORBALL with family and friends, and gradually introduced this new sport to more youth in schools and communities.
More Of It
Interest grew and word spread within the local schools. A local school boards reached out and requested training and floorball equipment for their phys-ed classes as they saw the sport meet their curriculum. Over time more youth sought to play floorball outside their school and that led to parents asking for leagues to register their child(ren).
About the same time parents who coached minor hockey teams began to inquire about using floorball as an activity to aid in players off ice skill development.
Started It
The founders embarked upon establishing an initial community floorball club league and experimented with the logistics, protocols, trials and errors in setting up and operating a youth floorball club league. There were many operational challenges that presented themselves among them the recruitment and training of volunteers, coaches and referees. Despite early hurdles, a successful floorball club league emerged and more youth were introduced to the sport.
Demand For it
Over time, more interest grew and a new need to form more floorball clubs leagues of different age brackets and communities. With that so did the challenges to secure gym venues, find qualified volunteers and develop foundational training programs that would ensure floorball clubs leagues operated safely and consistently. As more schools purchased equipment to play floorball the need for sport training increased so as to maintain the integrity of sport (floorball was new to everyone and without regular training of coaches and referees, the sport could easily drift into another version of ball hockey).
Built It
The founders saw how youth took to engaging in the sport and were determined to see floorball club leagues grow into more communities and connect with even more youth. Resources to operate an organized sport league were not conveniently in one place nor easily accessible but were fragmented among many other different sports organizations, so gathering and disseminating the content was daunting.
The founders invested many hours and personal funds into building a sports model that could be replicated. They sought out to find sport management software, insurance providers for sports organizations and equipment suppliers. They created coach & referee training programs, designed websites, tested marketing/ advertising collateral and distribution channels, evaluate operational processes and built helpful financial tools.
Tested It
Over the span of 5 years in operating floorball leagues, running school programs and tournaments a number of shortcomings in the sports model were revealed. This resulted in many innovations and improvements in the model to better the efficiencies and lessen the unexpected costs during this learning curve time. Roles & responsibilities for club leaders and volunteers were defined, safe sport policies/ waivers/ data collection forms were put in place and better operational process established and documented
Although the sport proved to be fun and engaging, the founders were still not comfortable that the model would assure growth or sustainability and feared that it could still risked the fate of other floorball start ups in Canada.
Improved It
As the founders became more experienced with operating floorball club leagues and fine tuned the problematic nuances, they continued to invest into new marketing initiatives and reach out to new groups and communities with their innovative sports programs that they developed, tested, iterated and proven to work. The sports model started to show results as marketing strategies were working properly and floorball club league operations were more standardized and running more smoothly. It now looked like many of the ‘systems’ were working together and showing promise to produce a replicable sports model in other communities.
What was missing was a deliver vehicle where the founders could ensure all the systems would be adhered to, the policies and standards upheld, the leaders be held responsible and the quality in delivery of the floorball club league be assured.
ReThought It
Knowing now that the founders had a sports model that worked, they undertook to find a method for delivery into more communities. They began by researching the current traditional organized sports landscape. Surprisingly, a number of third party youth sports advocate organizations identified shortcomings and subsequent lasting consequences within current organized recreationally sports market structures. Poor cultures, irresponsible leadership, lack of training, high turnover, personal agendas, elite athlete preferences and disregard for properly aligned youth development were just a few of the shortcomings brought to light in many of the current (youth) sports organizations, despite their popularity.
This new found research shed light on the problems facing many existing sports but also presented an opportunity to bring change to the industry. This would become the impetus to the founders building a better ‘mousetrap’ for youth sports.
It became clear that, in order to establish a new sport club league in an already busy landscape of popular sports, an innovative approach that mitigate these shortcomings and delver a better sports experience for youth was necessary. This new sport “platform” would need to assure that each floorball club league maintain consistency in operations, quality delivery in programs, high standards of play, accountability in leadership and a core understanding and training that centred around best practices to develop youth.
The founders were even now more invested into bringing change to the organized youth sports market with sports like floorball
ReInvented It
An compilation of the attributes for existing not-for-profit and for-profit sports organizations (community, private, professional sports groups) was compiled to gauge similarities and differences.
The founders took attributes and best practices from each organization that they felt would be best if they were to reinvent sports club leagues. The result was a hybrid sports platform for delivering better organized (recreational) sports. This new platform would see more accountability from leaders at the club level, a consistent application of best practices and standardization of processes, better training programs for coaches & referees, sharing of resources, more dependable supply chains and more collaboration with experts in youth health education to develop/ train leaders to have a positive impact on youth playing floorball.
Realized It
Based on the success in the roll out and testing of the new sports platform in the existing floorball club leagues, it became evident to the founders that they had created a better way to deliver sports to youth. In their opinion, if sports are to thrive these shortcomings, cultural toxicity and poor leadership need to be addressed by many of today’s youth sports organizations otherwise the organizations will eventually create an environment of just trying to survive.
The parents who registered their child to play in the founders floorball clubs leagues were excited to find a new type of sports organization that put their childs’ needs ahead of the organization or (adult) leaders agenda. They cherished the idea that a sports organization would help their child not only have fun but also incorporate learning life skills and developing better physical, mental, social and emotional health into their sports programs.
It was at that point the President realized that the new sports platform could be applicable to not just floorball but many other sports, more so the LOW PROFILE sports as they did not have any pre existing culture or professional hype to contend with having to change.
Re Imagined it
Given the importance that sports play in the life of youth and in every community, the founders even more adamant in getting their new sports platform in more communities and reaching more youth to bring them newer sports and a better sports experience.
The traditional, more popular sports were already established in most communities, and were more commonly known to parents as the only sports choices. In some cases, these mainstream sports were worthy of investing many dollars and time in hopes to see their child excel to professional levels, so the idea that other lesser know sports could be attractive to their child was distant or an after thought.
Given the right method of delivery for their sports platform and right individual within the community, the founders were confident they could break into a community and offer youth a healthier alternative to sports or a complimentary addition to their existing sports regime.
Additionally, if they were to reach a broader range of youth, they would need more sports so, they turned their attention to other low profile (non-traditional) global sports that were relatively new or emerging and were in line with what floorball represented- safe, fun, easy to learn, easy to play and affordable. Over the course of their vetting process several low profile sports met their criteria and formed part of their sports platform.
Now all they had to do is get into new communities.
Scale it
The founders set out to bring a better sports experience to youth and to ensure these new low profile sports within their sports platform would:
reach more communities and their youth
ensure the play environment aligns with the founders’ vision & values
hold sports leaders more accountable in creating a culture that is in interest of the youth above all
deliver high brand standards
incorporate safe sport policies and customer focused protocols
offer ongoing coach & referee training,
consistently deliver sport programs
follow the best practices and well-defined processes
assure a positive and enriching experience for their participants
bring ownership down to the community level
be innovative and sustainable
It was decided that the best deliver of the founders new sports platform would be through franchising. Although franchising is uncommon in the current organized (recreational) sports space, it is common to amateur and professional sports clubs who also have to cooperate with a higher level governing body. This resonated with the founders as the best way to bring multi sports to thousands of youth, and so, Premier Sports Leagues was born.