Nation's Leader In Youth Sports Camps Launches Franchises

Posted on June 20, 2007 by

[Spokane, WA] –Since 1979 more than 1,000,000 children have attended a Skyhawks program. “Every day I am grateful and amazed at the reach of Skyhawks” say founder Jeff Heimbigner. In 1979, a local youth sports association asked Jeff if he would offer soccer camps to the youth of Spokane. Jeff would offer the camps, but only on one condition; the camps had to be available to anyone regardless of athletic of financial ability. A handshake later, Skyhawks first camp was born. Now, more than 25 years later, Skyhawks will expand its reach through franchise opportunities.

According to the 2000 US Census, sports and recreation instruction is now more than a 2 billion dollar industry.  If projections prove true, Skyhawks share of the sports and recreation industry will continue to climb. Skyhawks now offers an opportunity to combine a passion for sports, the purpose of teaching youth with a successful business plan to offer Skyhawks Franchises. “Franchising affords us the opportunity to expand into new markets with local owners” says Executive Vice President and Director of Franchise Sales Chris Stiles. “Our goal is to figure out how to maintain the same safety and quality at our camps while growing at a more aggressive rate. We are confident local owners will strive for the same standards Skyhawks has set for the rest of the country.”

Skyhawks offers two types of franchises: A Standard Franchise and a Community Franchise. While many factors are considered in awarding exclusive territories, a Standard Franchise must contain at least 75 elementary schools while a Community Franchise will be awarded in markets with approximately 25 to 50 elementary schools. “By offering different size franchises we hope to expand our impact into a greater number of communities” say President Dave Berto. Dave was responsible for Skyhawks initial growth markets outside of Eastern Washington and Western Montana. During his college days at Pacific Lutheran University and later the University of Washington, Dave was confident Skyhawks could expand its geographical reach as well as the types of programs it was offering. Skyhawks currently offers 12 different athletic camps in 23 states. Dave’s vision was to expand the company from soccer-only camps into multiple athletic programs that taught lifelong skills, winning and losing and good sportsmanship in a safe and fun environment. Declining physical education, increasing child obesity and a limited amount of opportunities has left the youth of America out of shape and lacking many essential skills to life. Skyhawks is doing its part to reverse this unfortunate trend.