We had the good fortune of connecting with William Sixsmith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
When it comes to the business of youth sports, many people see the balls rolled out, goals up, coaches in place and think making game day work well is the key to a successful business. The truth is that if game days aren’t the easy part, then you have really no shot. It’s the Mon-Fri 8 – 5 work week that make or break a good program. Marketing campaigns, staffing/training, customer troubleshooting, event ops, ect. All the details behind the scenes that the customer never sees is the key.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
i9 Sports is a developmental youth sports programing and league play. Our specialty is convenience for multi-child families. They have the ability to bring their players to one field, and be able to play multiple different sports, in multiple age divisions in a few hours all in the same day. The first couple of years, like any service business is very difficult. Youth sports programing, almost unintuitively, is easier the more players you have. So early on you have to really curate high quality specialty programing until you get the numbers to run more traditional league play. 13 years later the feedback from the communities we are in has been incredible to see.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a golf guy, so most of my buddies are golf guys as well. I think Torrey Pines is one of the more special golf properties on the planet. I basically take every guest I have to play there at least once. I’m a huge fan of Little Italy for dining and hanging out, so would absolutely do some meals there. And lastly I spent a year in the front office of the Padres, so anyone here during the season we usually end up at a game. Think the experience at Petco is second to none.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My old boss and mentor Mike Ernst. My career started at the Chicago Fire of MLS. As my career matured I found myself drawn to doing business development projects in an effort to drive ticket and sponsorship revenues for the team. This wasn’t really a roll at the time, but Mike recognized I had talent going out to the marketplace and creating these programs and encouraged the organization to support it. I became a top revenue producer amongst all MLS teams. These years absolutely had a direct influence in creating the confidence needed to take the plunge as a small business owner.

Website: https://www.i9sports.com

Instagram: i9sportsis353

Facebook: i9SportsIS353

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