SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Youth Enrichment Brands, a new platform of leading youth activities brands, launched today following the acquisition of i9 Sports.
Youth Enrichment Brands is the nation’s leading youth activities company, offering camps, leagues, clinics, and other programs that annually serve more than 600,000 kids ranging from 2 to 18 years old. Backed by Atlanta-based Roark Capital, Youth Enrichment Brands encompasses US Sports Camps, the official provider of Nike Sports Camps, i9 Sports, the nation’s largest youth sports league franchisor, and U.S. Baseball Academy, the country’s largest network of youth baseball and softball camps.
“We love the mission driven organization that the i9 Sports team has built. i9 Sports’ motto of 'the way youth sports should be' could not fit better with our vision for Youth Enrichment Brands. We are so excited to create more year-round access to active development and fun for young athletes and students nationwide,” said Justin Hoeveler, CEO of Youth Enrichment Brands.
“At i9 Sports, we are thrilled to join the Youth Enrichment Brands family. We are proud to have served over 3 million kids up to this point in our journey but we know there are many more families across the country that could benefit from our programs. The partnership with Justin and Youth Enrichment Brands will amplify our mission to help kids succeed in life through sports by extending our reach, broadening our resources, and accelerating our growth,” said Brian Sanders, President of i9 Sports.
The objective of Youth Enrichment Brands is to bring together the best brands in youth activities that help foster the development, health, and well-being of kids. Each brand benefits from one another, and the resources and scale that come with being part of a larger platform. The brands share the common goal of enriching our youth through active programming in positive, safe, and collaborative environments.
“The relationship with Roark has been exceptional, providing us the resources and expertise to accelerate growth at US Sports Camps, and successfully helping us add complementary and passionate operators to the platform this year in i9 Sports and U.S. Baseball Academy,” said Justin.
“The Youth Enrichment Brands and Roark team were incredible to work with throughout the acquisition process. Their diligence was thoughtful and focused, and they did exactly what they said they would do every step of the way,” said Brian.
“We are excited to continue investing in our shared vision for Youth Enrichment Brands. We love the purpose-driven model and see tremendous opportunities to continue growing the platform through organic growth and strategic acquisitions,” said Mike Thompson, Managing Director at Roark.
About Youth Enrichment Brands
Youth Enrichment Brands is the nation’s leading youth activities platform, offering camps, clinics, programs, and leagues that annually serve more than 600,000 kids ranging from 2 to 18 years old across US Sports Camps, i9 Sports, and U.S. Baseball Academy. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in San Rafael, CA, US Sports Camps is the nation’s leading youth sports camp company and the official provider of Nike Sports Camps. US Sports Camps’ offering spans more than 20 different sports, eSports, and academic programs. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Tampa, FL, i9 Sports is the nation’s largest franchisor of community-based, multi-sport youth leagues with locations across 34 states. i9 Sports offers recreational sports leagues, camps, and clinics to kids in popular sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, ZIP Lacrosse™, and volleyball. Please visit www.ussportscamps.com and www.i9sports.com to learn more.
About Roark
Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $33 billion in assets under management. Roark focuses on investments in consumer and business service companies, with a specialization in franchised and multi-location businesses. Since inception, affiliates of Roark have acquired 97 franchise/multi-location brands which generate approximately $54 billion in system revenues from 64,000 locations located in 50 states and 89 countries. Please visit www.roarkcapital.com to learn more.
