Challenger Sports
At a time when there was no US professional outdoor soccer league, and youth participation was still patchy throughout the country, Peter Arch and a group of like-minded entrepreneurs began a journey that would see them establish the largest youth soccer coaching company in the US.
The company started in 1988 as a regional summer camp provider in the Midwest under the name “British Soccer Camps”. Based in Kansas City, they ran 30 camps and coached 2,000 children in local communities during their first year. As soccer became more popular and spread its footprint across the US, the company grew with it and began placing regional representatives into the densest soccer markets around the country.
Growth Opportunity
In 1997, with soccer now firmly established as one of the leading participatory sports in the US, the youth soccer industry began to evolve and each year became increasingly more sophisticated. Community rec programs now had competitive “Travel” teams that were eager to play in competitive tournaments against other teams in the region. There was an increased appetite for better uniforms and equipment, parents wanted higher levels of coaching during the team seasons and clubs needed more support and more solutions to cater to memberships in the thousands.
Peter and his partners saw a huge opportunity in the youth soccer space and decided to scale their company nationally and to diversify from summer camps into a full-service, year-round support structure for the growing millions now playing the sport.
Scaling Operations
They recruited highly experienced management level staff from their biggest competitor and renamed the company “Challenger Sports”. The goal of the new company was to address the many needs and challenges that the growing number of youth clubs throughout the US were now facing. These challenges were consistent across all stakeholders: Player education, coach education, fields, tournaments, travel, uniforms, balls, equipment, registration, fundraising and growing their membership.
Regional Expansion
Challenger added staff, opened new offices, acquired other companies, developed new programs and services, and collaborated with strategic partnerships to create a one-stop shop for youth soccer clubs. Challenger continued to grow both organically and geographically each year. By 2010, the company head 13 regional offices throughout the US and employed 120 full time staff – the majority were British and had come through the ranks as summer coaches.
Building Support for Growth
Demand for their programming was such that they required 1,200 British and 300 Brazilian coaches each year to staff their 3,000+ summer camps and year-round team training programs. Firmly committed to maintaining the high standards they had achieved during their early days, Challenger invested in full-time recruiting, training and staff logistics operations in the UK and Brazil to manage their rapid growth trajectory.
Diversification
During this period of growth, Challenger also continued to expand other soccer related services that their 2,000+ partner clubs could benefit from. They began running tournaments which quickly developed into a series of 20 events catering to over 50,000 payers annually. They created an overseas travel division and forged relationships with some of the top professional clubs in Europe and South America, and curated custom soccer tours for over 400 players each year. The largest growth opportunity was still to come in the rapidly growing field of uniforms and equipment. With no existing in-house experience in this area, Challenger recruited the former owner of one of the country’s leading soccer uniform manufactures. With a wealth of knowledge, and relationships with some of the most reputable overseas factories, Challenger Teamwear was born.
Reviews
I have known Peter for many years and he is one of the most energetic, driven, and intelligent people I have come across in the sports industry. In addition to that, he is an all-around good guy who cares first and foremost about the people he represents and the programs he delivers. Every company Peter has been a part of has grown substantially, in terms of culture, gross revenue, and bottom line income. Anyone looking for help in strategy, marketing, or people development would do well to add Peter to their network.
Paul Lawrence
CEO Challenger Teamwear
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