It only seems like yesterday that I was launching SportsProsConnect in Barcelona in May 2018. I went to Barcelona to help facilitate a Padel coaching course and visited several tennis academies in the city during my trip. I spoke with them about the launch of a new platform, aimed at promoting coaches and academies worldwide.
Looking back now, what we had to offer back then was very basic, but it was a start! Fast forward 5 years, and SportsProsConnect has emerged as one of the leading platforms for tennis coaching jobs abroad. We have also expanded our services to include a tennis player profile platform and a marketplace for tennis-related products and services. Additionally, we’re currently in the early stages of developing a brand new, user-friendly website.
The Successes
Undoubtedly, our greatest success has been the tennis coaching jobs platform. We have successfully placed over 350 tennis coaches in jobs worldwide. What sets us apart is our personalized approach. We work closely with each coach, building strong relationships and understanding their current situation and future goals. This enables us to connect coaches with suitable job opportunities whenever they arise.
Before working on a job vacancy, we make it a point to contact each recruiter and gain a deep understanding of the coach profile they are seeking. We then assess whether the employer prefers to receive all applications or just a select few that match their desired profiles. This approach has been tried and tested, proving to be highly successful.
Tennis Player Profiles
Our Tennis Player Profile platform has also proved a success. Our aim is to help tennis players find a more cost effective approach to the professional game. Tennis players pay a membership and we create a profile for them and help them to find an academy, coach, university or team. We help with scholarships, discounts and potentially reach an audience to help find sponsorships too!
Why I love running SPC:
One of the things I personally enjoy the most about running SportsProsConnect is the ability to speak and work with people from all over the world. We have tennis, padel and fitness coaches registered from more than 100 countries around the globe each that have their own unique story and background!
The simple fact that I have also been able to visit 3 of the 4 Grand Slams, and travelled to places including US, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, UK, Ireland and been invited to many others, just shows that tennis really is a global close-knit family.
What’s new?
It really doesn’t feel like 5 years since we re-branded from Social Tennis to SportsProsConnect, but I really think that it is time for another re-brand. We will remain SportsProsConnect, but are building a new platform. This is a huge job transitioning existing members and creating new profiles and a new identity for these members.
Having been working on the re-brand since October last year, we are really excited with what we will be bringing you. Estimated launch date will be somewhere between July and August, so please watch out for more news and announcements!
Thank you!
It would be wrong of me to write this article without thanking the amazing amount of people that have been behind the SportsProsConnect platform! There is so many to thank, but I would like to start with my web social media guru Emma Skingley, my profile creator Owen Kerckhoffs and my web designer Chaz Warriner.
There is of course no way I could have created SportsProsConnect without my clients, and members both old and new who have at some point invested in their careers and growth of SportsProsConnect. Special mention should also go to my wife Michelle and sons Joshua and Nathan and of course my Mum, Lin Wylam and sister Sophie for being so supportive of the initiative and allowing me to spend countless hours locked away in the office!
A final mention must of course go to my late father Ralph Wylam. Dad was the initial entrepreneur who was also the owner and founder of Social Tennis. I still remember the day Dad told me he had been given 6 months to live and asked me to take on Social Tennis as it was called at the time. Dad passed away 3 months later! Dad has been and always will be the inspiration behind SportsProsConnect!
Thanks Dad, ‘gone but never forgotten’!
The future:
The last 5 years have been an amazing journey, and I am looking for more of the same for the next 5 years! Please watch out for the next steps in the SportsProsConnect re-brand, and i look forward to meeting you at some point on a tennis court near you!
Until next week,
