Intoxx Fitness, Fair Lawn, NJ, is just one of the clubs that has outsourced its sports performance training. Its programming is run by Parisi Speed School. Photo courtesy of Parisi Speed School.

Even though obesity numbers in children—20 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds are obese while 18 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are obese—would indicate a revenue opportunity in serving this market, some club operators are experiencing revenue growth by catering to a different segment of America’s youth.

In sharp contrast to the stereotypical image of today’s children as video-game-playing couch potatoes, millions of kids regularly compete in a more active way, through school athletics. Sports participation for the 2010-2011 school year reached a record-breaking total of 7.7 million participants, according to figures from the 50 state high school athletic/activity associations, plus the District of Columbia, that are members of the National Federation of State High Schools.

“Adolescent and children’s sports performance programs are some of the hottest and fastest-growing services in the industry,” says Gregory Florez, CEO of First Fitness Inc./FitAdvisor.com, Salt Lake City. “They help children gain skills and a strong work ethic for any sport when they are administered correctly.”

And for a fitness business operator, properly implemented youth sports performance programs can help increase non-dues revenues.

“We help clubs capture the 7- to 18-year-old demographic and drive it similar to small group personal training,” says Bill Parisi, founder and CEO of Parisi Speed School, Wyckoff, NJ, which has 50 licensed sites in health clubs throughout the country. “Clubs run our business similar to a personal training business, so the returns can be similar while reaching a non-traditional health club audience.”

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