Pro-Tips Sports Corporation, by Jeffrey Reed

As Published By Business London Magazine

Competition for athletic scholarships and multi-million-dollar pro contracts can be as fierce as Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. To complicate matters, most athletes are just junior high school age when they must decide their future. Even with parental guidance, it’s a big gamble.

Now, elite athletes, and even youngsters simply playing for the love of the game, have a new off-ice teammate to help guide their future and improve their skills. Pro-Tips Sports Corp. of London, established in 2004, is a new sport training company. Athletes ages 7 to 18 are taught athletic and life skills through coaching, competition, and personal growth instruction.

"The basis of our business is to build a sport training and education company, bringing in the proper people to make it happen in various sports," explains Andy Forcey, Pro-Tips director overseeing day-to-day operations.

London entrepreneur and sportsman Brian Semkowski founded Pro-Tips in order to merge player training with education and guidance for pursuing an athletic scholarship or career. His goal is for Pro Tips to become "the trusted advisor, someone who can point (boys, girls and parents) in the right direction."

Semkowski knows all about career goals and sports. He’s president of parent company Southwest Sun Group Inc., a big-time investor with roots in computer technology, and has ownership in sports properties including ClubLink, Canada’s largest golf course owner, operator and developer, and the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock.

Beginning with hockey and career coaching in summer 2004, Pro-Tips added golf to its mix of sports and counseling in August 2005. ClubLink’s Greenhills Golf Club played host to a program which included a guest staff of top local instructors and NCAA college coaches. In addition to golf instruction, topics covered included, "How to be recruited," and, "Life as a scholarship athlete."

Says Forcey, "U.S. coaches get tons of letters from kids wanting a scholarship. They can’t get out to see them all. Now they can come to London, and encourage kids to come to Pro-Tips camp and meet with them, see their game. It’s great to have NCAA coaches endorsing and promoting our program."

Including its popular hockey division, Pro-Tips has already seen about 1,000 youngsters enroll in its program. There are plans to add lacrosse in spring 2006, and eventually baseball and soccer. But Forcey cautions, "We don’t want to get into other sports until we have perfected hockey, golf and lacrosse. We want to grow in a controlled manner."

"We don’t pretend we know everything about hockey," adds Forcey, himself a former college player at Ohio State, and Swedish League pro. "But we bring in professionals (like Dave MacQueen, head coach of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League) to coach our kids."

House league and elite programs include skills development camps, NCAA elite camps and an OHL camp. Pro-Tips instructors, including former NHL players, teach at local rinks including Western Fair Sports Centre. There are 3-on-3 tournaments, elite spring tournaments, and important off-ice sessions covering everything from confidence building to pursuing scholarships.

Costs run from $99 for weekly sessions, to $400 for elite camps. And for a fee, Pro-Tips will also send a qualified coach to a team’s practice for an on-ice skills development session.

Consider it an investment in your child’s future. 

PRO-TIPS SPORTS CORPORATION
BUSINESS Sport training and education for athletes 7-18 and their parents
ESTABLISHED 2004
EMPLOYEES 4 full-time, 20-plus part-time
MARKETS London, southwestern Ontario with planned expansion