While becoming a professional sports star is the dream of many youngsters, it will remain just that for most young athletes.

But there are, nonetheless, plenty of opportunities for children to compete in myriad sports, one or more of which might become a lifetime sport.

To that end, All Star Sports Instruction, based in Geneva, was started with one primary goal in mind: to provide camps and programs where children of all ages can learn their desired sport in a fun, safe and structured environment.

Park districts have traditionally offered these services, but were often bogged down trying to hire and schedule coaches for classes, while keeping costs down. All-Star Sports offers park districts and other organizations a package deal—hire them and provide a place to play, and the company will do the rest.

President and founder Derrick Smith took the concept to area park districts to sell his camps in a way that matched the needs of the community.

The company covers a wide variety of sports for a wide variety of ages. The youngest age group starts at 2 and spans the grades all the way to high school.

Instruction is offered in baseball, basketball, soccer, football, hockey, lacrosse, cheering, tumbling, volleyball and in-line skating. Through All-Star Sports, the park districts provide the space and the marketing of the programs, while Smith and his staff provide the rest, from equipment and coaches to insurance, uniforms, rules and regulations and more.

“They love it because they don’t have to train staff, find coaches. We do everything for you,” Smith said.

The concept isn’t brand new. Even before Smith opened up shop in 2001, a few other companies were offering similar services. Smith worked for one of them right out of college, but the demand from the park districts was so great, and so immediate, that the coaching business got overwhelmed. It couldn’t come through on its promises to communities.

“He ended up burning a lot of bridges and left people disappointed,” Smith said. “You never want to turn work down, but if you can’t do it right, don’t do it. That was the biggest lesson I learned.”

With All-Star Sports, Smith takes that lesson to heart. He planned a system where staff would be trained and nationally certified before programs were given start dates. Sometimes this meant delaying a start in a given community until staff was hired and trained.

“It’s not like I invented the wheel,” Smith said. “I just filled the tires with air.”

Smith said the company strives for the children to develop confidence and believe in themselves, which will help them see that they can succeed in whatever they try. That means hiring coaches who are not only skilled athletes but also involved and interested in education.

“Any company is only as good as its employees,” Smith said. “In our business, they have to know the game, but also be able to get down to the kids’ level.”

This means more than just basic game skills. At All-Star Sports, coaches learn the importance of customer relations, even if those customers are pre-schoolers.

“It has to be fun, and it has to be safe,” Smith said. “They have to know all the kids’ names, and do everything they can to make the kids as comfortable as possible out there, or they won’t want to play.”

Instructors are trained to pass on the knowledge and skills they have learned from playing and coaching. The certifications process, a host of hands-on training and time served as assistant coaches long before moving up the ranks are prerequisites.

“Coaching requires a great deal of responsibility and we expect nothing but the best from our coaches,” he said. “We want to make sports a positive experience for everyone involved.”

In fact, of Smith’s 52 employees, 35 are employed all year long, with about 20 full-time staff members.

“Due to the high demand of individuals searching for their dream job of coaching sports, we are given the ability to hire the best possible candidates,” he said.

That attention to staffing has proved advantageous. Low turnover among coaches is one of the things All Star Sports is known for, and Smith said it makes both park districts and parents very happy.

“Providing qualified coaches to the community rather than students at the high school or college level makes a huge difference and ensures a higher return rate of students and their families.” Smith said. “We feel that having consistent coaches gives our customers a great level of comfort in our various camps, classes, and leagues. This creates a more relaxed and comfortable environment for the children as well as the coaches.”

But until recently it wasn’t very relaxed for Smith. The growth of the company, now up to 35 accounts, had created more details that he could handle alone.

“Until January, I was doing the whole business end of things myself, for all the communities,” said Smith. “Scheduling, hiring, insurance, all of it. I was going crazy. I needed to hand some of it off.”

So Smith created regional management positions, allowing some key members to work up and take over a lot of the scheduling, hiring and other off-the-field duties. This also meant more full-time opportunities for his coaches, which again, adds to the low turnover rate.

And that’s where the direct selling begins. While All-Star Sports markets itself to private clubs and park districts to set up programs, once there, the focus shifts to the parents.

Flyers, free programs, special days, trophies all go into making the experience as positive as possible for the families enrolled so that season after season and session after session, they return.

That’s another reason why Smith is so proud of the longevity of his staff members.

“People know them in the community. They see them season after season, and it makes them comfortable,” he said. “There’s not this big revolving door.”

Still, as All-Star Sports grows, it adds challenges. Now working with community and private club accounts throughout the suburbs, Smith struggles to keep scheduling on target and at the same time plan for future growth.

“I am amazed at how quickly we have grown,” he said. “I knew there was a niche, but to start out with four accounts and now have 35, that’s really something.”

And now Smith is looking to expand even further, taking his programs north to the Milwaukee area. But he doesn’t think it will be easy.

“People who have always lived in this area, they don’t realize that the Chicago area has the best park district system in the country. Every town has a park district or a recreation department,” he said. “It’s not like that everywhere else. Having said that, expanding in those areas is going to be tough, but we are certainly going to try. There is most definitely a need.”

Quick Facts

All Star Sports Instruction

611 E. State St.

Geneva 60134
Telephone: 630-845-0705

Fax: 630-845-8080

Employees: 52

35 suburban accounts

12 sports