U.S. Sports Camps Wins Business Gold - San Francisco Business Times
by Dave Mills sanfrancisco@bizjournals.com
San Francisco Business Times Contributor
In sports, the importance of working as a team is often stressed.
Team spirit, perhaps not surprisingly, is also the corporate philosophy of U.S. Sports Camps, a San Rafael-based sports-oriented business. Like a successful athletic squad, that attitude is paying good dividends.
U.S. Sports Camps has made its employees, its camp directors, its camp participants and their parents all part of the same effort as it has spread its name across the country.
In return, the company's revenue has steadily increased from $22 million in 2003 to $28 million last year to a projected $30 million this year.
The money comes from 400 camps that instruct 52,000 children in more than a dozen sports. The children range in age from 7 to 18, with the average age being 13.
Most of the camps last five days and are held during the summer at college campuses. The average cost is $550, although some camps run as high as $1,000. About 70 percent of them are the Nike sports camps overseen now by USSC. The two most popular are tennis and golf.
Steve Pence, U.S. Sports Camps president, said the company is a "high volume, low margin" business that relies on word of mouth to increase its customer base. He said the goal of every camp is to make sure the children attending are safe, have fun, improve at their sport and have renewed enthusiasm for their activity.
One of the ways they accomplish this is a decision the company made several years ago to make each camp director part of the team. They make the directors "incentive-based partners" by putting them in charge of expenses, facility rentals and the hiring of coaches. If the camp is well-run and well-attended, the directors make more money.
"The facilities are happy, we're happy, and the directors are happy," said Pence.
Parents are apparently satisfied, too. Lisa Bakos and her husband, Steve, are sending their 12-year-old son Alec to the Nike tennis camp at Stanford this summer for the fourth straight year.
Bakos said the camps are well-organized and her son returns with new enthusiasm and a college campus experience.
"We love it because it's like going to college," she said. "And my son absolutely loves it. He can't wait to go every summer."
U.S. Sports Camps was founded in 1975 by Charlie Hoeveler and Bill Closs with $10,000 of their own money. They knew each other from the Adidas tennis camps.
The company focused mostly on the Adidas tennis camps in the early years. The big breakthrough came in 1994 when U.S. Sports Camps switched sponsorship to Nike. They added the Nike Jr. Golf Camps and numerous other Nike sports camps followed.
"When we switched to Nike, it opened up our minds to other sports," said Pence.
Non-Nike-sponsored camps have included acquisitions such as Contact Football Camps and Northwest Basketball Camps.
USSC has a license arrangement with Nike that allows USSC to use the Nike name in association with the camps. However, USSC owns and operates the camps and Nike has no control over the operation or ownership of the camps.
A few years after switching to Nike, annual revenue leveled off at about $15 million. So USSC began buying up "mom and pop" sports camps from smaller operators who were ready to retire. That expanded their reach and increased revenue.
The company also discovered the web. Though it had a web site since the early 1990s, it spent $100,000 last year to upgrade it. That's important considering that a few years ago, 10 percent of parents signed their kids up for camp on the Internet. Now, it's more than 70 percent.
That has allowed USSC to reduce its employee count from 22 to 17, lowering expenses. Pence has also made those remaining employees part owners, increasing their incentive to do well.
At this point, Pence said USSC has probably reached the maximum number of venues it can operate efficiently, so it will remain at 400 camps.
Pence doesn't expect the country's economic downturn to affect his business.
"People are always going to have kids and sports are a big part of people's lives," said Pence. "Parents will always sacrifice for their kids."
Snapshot: U.S. Sports Camps
HQ: San Rafael.
What it does: Operates sports camps.
Founders: Charlie Hoeveler and Bill Closs.
Founded: 1975.
Start-up capital: $10,000 in founders' own money.
2008 revenue: $30 million (projected).
2007 revenue: $28 million.
2006 revenue: $25 million.
Employees: 17.
Number of sports camps: 400.
Web site: wwww.ussportscamps.com
USSC teams with Nike to run 400 camps nationwide
San Francisco Business Times Contributor
In sports, the importance of working as a team is often stressed.
Team spirit, perhaps not surprisingly, is also the corporate philosophy of U.S. Sports Camps, a San Rafael-based sports-oriented business. Like a successful athletic squad, that attitude is paying good dividends.
U.S. Sports Camps has made its employees, its camp directors, its camp participants and their parents all part of the same effort as it has spread its name across the country.
In return, the company's revenue has steadily increased from $22 million in 2003 to $28 million last year to a projected $30 million this year.
The money comes from 400 camps that instruct 52,000 children in more than a dozen sports. The children range in age from 7 to 18, with the average age being 13.
Most of the camps last five days and are held during the summer at college campuses. The average cost is $550, although some camps run as high as $1,000. About 70 percent of them are the Nike sports camps overseen now by USSC. The two most popular are tennis and golf.
Steve Pence, U.S. Sports Camps president, said the company is a "high volume, low margin" business that relies on word of mouth to increase its customer base. He said the goal of every camp is to make sure the children attending are safe, have fun, improve at their sport and have renewed enthusiasm for their activity.
One of the ways they accomplish this is a decision the company made several years ago to make each camp director part of the team. They make the directors "incentive-based partners" by putting them in charge of expenses, facility rentals and the hiring of coaches. If the camp is well-run and well-attended, the directors make more money.
"The facilities are happy, we're happy, and the directors are happy," said Pence.
Parents are apparently satisfied, too. Lisa Bakos and her husband, Steve, are sending their 12-year-old son Alec to the Nike tennis camp at Stanford this summer for the fourth straight year.
Bakos said the camps are well-organized and her son returns with new enthusiasm and a college campus experience.
"We love it because it's like going to college," she said. "And my son absolutely loves it. He can't wait to go every summer."
U.S. Sports Camps was founded in 1975 by Charlie Hoeveler and Bill Closs with $10,000 of their own money. They knew each other from the Adidas tennis camps.
The company focused mostly on the Adidas tennis camps in the early years. The big breakthrough came in 1994 when U.S. Sports Camps switched sponsorship to Nike. They added the Nike Jr. Golf Camps and numerous other Nike sports camps followed.
"When we switched to Nike, it opened up our minds to other sports," said Pence.
Non-Nike-sponsored camps have included acquisitions such as Contact Football Camps and Northwest Basketball Camps.
USSC has a license arrangement with Nike that allows USSC to use the Nike name in association with the camps. However, USSC owns and operates the camps and Nike has no control over the operation or ownership of the camps.
A few years after switching to Nike, annual revenue leveled off at about $15 million. So USSC began buying up "mom and pop" sports camps from smaller operators who were ready to retire. That expanded their reach and increased revenue.
The company also discovered the web. Though it had a web site since the early 1990s, it spent $100,000 last year to upgrade it. That's important considering that a few years ago, 10 percent of parents signed their kids up for camp on the Internet. Now, it's more than 70 percent.
That has allowed USSC to reduce its employee count from 22 to 17, lowering expenses. Pence has also made those remaining employees part owners, increasing their incentive to do well.
At this point, Pence said USSC has probably reached the maximum number of venues it can operate efficiently, so it will remain at 400 camps.
Pence doesn't expect the country's economic downturn to affect his business.
"People are always going to have kids and sports are a big part of people's lives," said Pence. "Parents will always sacrifice for their kids."
Snapshot: U.S. Sports Camps
HQ: San Rafael.
What it does: Operates sports camps.
Founders: Charlie Hoeveler and Bill Closs.
Founded: 1975.
Start-up capital: $10,000 in founders' own money.
2008 revenue: $30 million (projected).
2007 revenue: $28 million.
2006 revenue: $25 million.
Employees: 17.
Number of sports camps: 400.
Web site: wwww.ussportscamps.com
USSC teams with Nike to run 400 camps nationwide
