“If you don’t join this team and you miss this tournament, you’re going to fall behind.”

Every athlete has heard some version of it. Club programs, travel teams, showcases, national camps. Different sports, same pitch.

In my experience, the opposite is true.

This is not a moral stance against the youth/high school sports industry. It already has plenty of detractors, from parents to former stars like Landon Donovan and Greg Olsen (ironic how so many chose to ignore those who actually went to the dance).

I’m fairly agnostic to whether club programs and organizations alike are good or bad. The market will do what the market does. But the pitch is a different question. Markets cater to the desires (or in this case fears) of groups. Not truths.

THE NOISE ISN’T NEW

iPhones, social media, etc. Every generation dealt with noise. Ours might have more of it. Okay, so what?

The variable was never the noise to begin with.

The variable is the authentic desire to become great. And that desire creates the ability to tune out the noise.

WHAT THE GREATS ACTUALLY DID

Jason Williams (ask Shaq). Apolo Ohno. Wayne Gretzky.

Pick whoever you want. On their way to becoming great they had: No entourage. No team of trainers. No roster of psychologists. No content plan. What they had was time alone with their craft.

Nobody standing over them approving each rep.

They built their own instrument for judging right from wrong. They knew when a rep was good and they knew when it was garbage. That internal read became their weapon. And it only gets developed in solitude.

COMPETITION IS A SCOREBOARD, NOT A GYM

Competition teaches real things. Pressure, timing, reading an opponent. Don’t skip it. But don’t think it alone is going to bring you to the promised land.

Understand what competition actually is. It’s a display of your current level. A snapshot in time. You’re primarily spending inventory, not building it.

The athlete who competes constantly and never recovers enough to train well is stuck in a cycle. All withdrawal, no deposit. Then everyone stands around wondering why they flatlined at sixteen.

WHAT HAPPENS IN SOLITUDE

No music. No phone. No coach’s voice.

Your mind wanders. You get bored, then curious, then playful. You try something you have no business trying. It fails. You try it again a little differently. Realize a different angle. Try it again.

Iterative practice: Rep, assess, learn, try it a slightly different way. Adjust, adjust, adjust, adjust.

Learning loops are the key, not reps. They occur internally, and tend to only be accessible outside the gaze of an expert. Your body actually has a discovery mechanism - the ability to communicate with itself and learn.

From the outside looking in they appear to be simple reps. But internally, on each rep you’re making micro-adjustments.

When someone is always in your ear judging every movement, criticizing, or praising, you stop developing your own read on things and start catering to theirs.

In this situation, both praise and criticism are the same. They’re interruptions.

Solitude removes these interruptions. You get to find out what you think of your own work.

Some of what you discover never shows up on the field.

Then one day it does. Fourth quarter, bad angle, no time to think, and your body already knows the answer.

It’s not magic. It’s indirect preparation.

FOMO vs JOMO

Someone once flipped FOMO into JOMO. The joy of missing out. Talk about a valuable perspective.

Solitude is free. It doesn’t care about your family’s income, your zip code, which club took you, or which camp sent the invite. It’s the one input in athlete development nobody can outspend you on.

I spent over 15 years working with elite D1 and professional athletes. Outworking their competition wasn’t their actual advantage. The willingness to say no and create time for themselves was.

Regardless of their resources or stardom level, the ones who continued to excel throughout their careers hung on to the one thing that actually got them there. The ability to disappear into their own little world.

IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO BECOME GREAT

Become a pro at saying no.

Do fewer things. Guard your alone time with an iron fist.

No training routine, supplement schedule, or expert can beat the athletes’ best friend.

Solitude.

Onward and upward!

—Ryan

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

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Most athletes view their body as their one asset class. In many ways, at least outwardly, it is the first order of business.

In reality, you’re managing five. And every decision made can build some, cost some, or both.

THE FIVE

Physical: what you can do.

Knowledge: what you know.

Network: who you know.

Reputation: what people think of you.

Financial: what options you can afford.

Each asset class has a long list of attributes (personal brand, earning potential, health, character, etc). We’ll work through the attributes of each asset class another time as I don’t want to turn this essay into a dictionary.

The point of the wheel is for it to be simple enough to hold in your head during a conversation with a coach, an agent, your parents, or anyone else involved in your career.

THEY DON’T BEHAVE THE SAME

Each asset class possesses differing properties:

Physical grows for a period of time, then begins to decay - your career arc. In shorter terms, stop training for six weeks and maybe you begin to lose your edge.

Knowledge almost never decays. What you learn about contracts at twenty will likely remain true at forty.

Network compounds. One good relationship produces the next, which produces the next five, which produces the next ten, and so-on.

Reputation is extremely fragile and it compounds slowly. Ten years to build. One night to torch.

Financial compounds mathematically. Up or down.

EVERY DECISION IS A POTENTIAL TRADE

Athletes tend to sort decisions into “good” and “bad.” A better way to view it is: What did this build, and what did it cost?

• Skip the offseason showcase to recover. Builds physical capital. May cost network capital.

• Sign with the first agent who calls. Saves time. May cost financial and knowledge capital.

• Skip team lifts because your private trainer has you covered. May build physical capital. May cost reputation capital with your coaches.

• Become the league’s bad boy. May build reputation with one audience while destroying it with another. May limit or enhance future financial opportunities.

None of these decisions are inherently right or wrong. Every decision shifts your portfolio in one direction or another.

Nothing remains static.

WEIGHTS

The weight (or importance) of an asset class depends on your objectives and the situations surrounding them.

• If your number one priority is your on the field performance: physical and knowledge lead, network may be matter a little less, and personal brand may be least important.

• If you’re more interested in building a money-making personal brand: reputation dominates, physical matters but may not be as important. Knowledge (market knowledge) obviously matters a lot.

• Building a business while you play: network (partners or help) and financial lead, knowledge matters a lot, and physical likely helps for brand longevity, but possibly less important.

Same five assets. Different weights for different situations.

Potential: Weights can also be viewed as a snapshot in time that determines ones potential.

Example: an individual who is young, physically dominant, funny, and makes way less money could possess much greater earning power than someone who’s currently raking it in financially and has peaked physically.

Same five assets. But certain assets alone can enlarge the pie chart that reflects your potential (hence power-laws).

COMPOUNDERS

What you choose to do often matters most. As we’ve seen, chasing certain things can cost others.

But, in the same way investors love compounding interest, it would benefit any athlete to think of compounding assets.

Your network expands your knowledge (or your access to it).

Your knowledge protects your finances, your body, or other assets.

Your physical performance grows your options for everything (the power-law).

Your reputation can attract better relationships.

If played well, your five assets stop growing independently and begin reinforcing one another.

That’s where careers accelerate. And this often occurs when you tend to focus on one or two things (your super powers) and make the remainder respectable, delegate them to those you trust (with your oversight, of course), or pull the levers in a way that enhances all.

It’s an art.

IT’S UNIVERSAL

This framework can be applied to any level in any situation. Financial can be paired down for younger athletes considering the fact they likely don’t have much (or any) earning power yet. I understand a parent might elevate financial for opportunity reasons. But I’ve seen too many broke athletes make it, and get opportunities at a young age for that to be an absolute.

Use this as a compass, a guide, a framework.

In the athlete’s world, nobody is handed a portfolio. You’re building one whether you realize it or not. The only question is what you choose to do with it.

Athletic Capital Workbook (professional)

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Athletic Capital Workbook (amateur)

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Onward and upward!

—Ryan

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

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Interestingly, other athlete management programs tend to have more flexibility:

• Nutrition plans

• Sports psychology

• Physical therapy

• Even outside skill coaches — a shooting coach, a pitching coach, a quarterback guru

Strength and conditioning seems to be the gospel on which you shall not tread.

It matters to know that this issue is actually over two different jobs. Your personal trainer’s job is to maximize you. The team strength coach’s job is to maximize 20, 30, and sometimes up to 100 athletes at once.

One optimizes for the individual. The other optimizes for the group/system.

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Let’s set aside some of the obvious benefits of a team strength program, like the fact that not every athlete cares to hire their own personal trainer (reasons for money, time, etc.).

Liability can be an argument. But I think it’s weak. They may argue that if something happens in-house (injury, overtraining) the team owns it. Outside programming in parallel is a variable dependent on the athlete’s personal insurer.

Team bonding is an argument I actually appreciate. A roster that lifts together spends more time together. It builds culture, accountability, a shared standard nobody opts out of.

Practice planning is weak. The team’s strength coach talks to the coaches daily. He has an idea of what certain athletes can handle on a given day. Pretty sure a personal trainer can do that with a few clicks on the old keyboard.

Data tracking only works if everyone logs into the same system. One outlier breaks the picture for the whole roster. At least that’s a common argument.

The theme among these points toward efficiency. Teams are trying to create value for a large group.

Never forget, teams, like companies, like organisms, are programmed to survive, and even grow. You step out of line and you are perceived as disrupting that growth.

IN MY IDEAL WORLD?

Everyone gets their own trainer.

The consensus in academia is that those with private tutors have a major advantage. Many collegiate students skip classes altogether only to take the tests. Why should it be any different for the athlete and the weightroom (I ain’t talking ’bout practice!)?

The benefits of individualized programs are fairly obvious. One individual focusing on your needs which, ironically, better helps the group, beats a program built for the average (injury reduction, movement patterns, specific goals, etc.).

Team programs try to compensate for this with various technologies and questionnaires. The intent is good, but insufficient. It raises the floor, not the ceiling.

At the end of the day, a personal trainer chases your specifics in a way a coach managing a group simply cannot.

HOW YOU CAN MAKE THIS WORK (OR, AT LEAST TRY) IF YOU BELIEVE A PRIVATE TRAINER IS WHAT YOU NEED

The solution to this problem is not obvious, and nobody (I’ve known) has an answer that will cut through all the varying situations. But, here are a couple examples:

Adam Archuleta was an Arizona State football walk-on who ended up going in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. Many give his then personal trainer, Jay Schroeder, an overwhelming amount of credit for this.

He ran his own program alongside the team’s and held back in team lifts to protect his own work. I can’t presume to know what the interactions with his team’s coaches were like. But if they knew he was slacking, I’d venture to bet they weren’t always pleasant.

Bode Miller was an outlier in every sense of the word. He created his own ski team strictly because he hated the US team training requirements. He won an overall World Cup in the process. He later reconciled with the US Ski Team to join them in the Olympics (but I don’t believe he ever re-joined the team workouts).

It’s nice to be the star. However, this was his nature long before becoming the GOAT (at least for the US men).

Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Kyler Murray. All skipped voluntary NFL offseason work to train privately. A pattern more players copy every year. But the key word here is “voluntary.”

You can: go transparent and have your trainer fully communicate with your coaches, try and run both programs at once, or treat your team workouts as a lounging opportunity / become a great actor pretending to work out hard in team sessions.

My take: do everything possible to avoid doing both. Try and convince your coaches that going solo is best for you and the team - and give them examples. Be concession-friendly and have your trainer set up a system to communicate regularly with the team.

Every coach and program is different. See what they say.

If this doesn’t work, you can always utilize your personal trainer as a “fixer” for any deficits incurred during team workouts.

The other two options are something to avoid if possible: tell the coaches to buzz off and see what happens, or try and do both workouts (which sounds exhausting).

LEVERAGE CHANGES EVERYTHING

As is the case with everything, the better you perform in competition, the more room you get to operate. It’s a part of one’s “Athletic Capital.”

Leverage buys flexibility because it buys the benefit of the doubt. Coaches often let their best players do things they’d never allow from someone still fighting for a roster spot. Earn the leverage first. Spend it after.

Onward and upward!

—Ryan

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

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Elsewhere: Spotify →, YouTube →

Transcript:

Kyle: Uh, hi everybody. This is Kyle. I used to work with Ryan back in the day. We’re kinda doing a podcast type of format. Basically, he needs someone to interview him to get thoughts off his chest.

Ryan: Right, and that’s exactly what I need. I tried doing, you know, speaking to a camera alone. I can’t stand it. I can’t think. I, I guess I just need someone to bounce my thoughts off and things like this. So yeah, let’s get into it.

Kyle: All right. First thing is SCCC, which stands for simplicity leads to clarity, which leads to confidence, which leads to creativity. Can you explain that?

Ryan: Yeah. So I kinda came up with the, uh, SCCC thing, uh, probably like 13 or 14 years ago. Uh, and a short way to put it is when things are simple, your mind is clear. When your mind is clear, you’re confident, and when you’re confident, you’re more creative. So if we back this up a little bit and think about it from an athletic point of view, athletes, as they get deeper into their careers, uh, things get more complicated. Uh, the training gets more complicated. Their lives get more complicated, especially if they’re dealing with NIL or the professional ranks. The thing I noticed with the best athletes in the world is they were really good at simplifying everything. Maybe an example might be something like the weight room. You know, there’s so many people out there trying to hack the best way to train or the best way to do squats or whatever the case is, and they read, you know, ridiculous books like Supertraining, which are just way beyond even the most elite athletes out there. It’s a great scientific book, but nothing in it really you can apply, or very little of it you can apply to your everyday life. If you’re doing perfect squats and they’re simple, those are gonna be valuable to you throughout your entire career, regardless of what sport you’re in. Yeah, you might do them heavy, you might do them light, depending on if you’re a marathon runner versus if you’re a sprinter or a lineman in football, but at the same time, you gotta do it right. So you know, you really wanna keep things simple. You wanna simplify everything as much as possible because when you do that, it clears your mind. It, it gives you a level of clarity. You know what you’re doing, you know how you’re doing it, and therefore you’re confident in what you’re doing, so you don’t have to think about it. You can kinda throw it off to the side and think more clearly about other things. When you go out onto the field, uh, that’s when things start to change. You start to do things that you’ve never even trained for and that the audience has never even seen before. I find it funny when athletes are asked after they make an amazing play or something, you know, like, “Oh, how’d you do that?” You know, when they’re being interviewed by ESPN or something like that, and they literally don’t know how they did it,

and they kinda shake their head and, well, that’s the reality. Uh, they don’t know how they did it, but their body is programmed i-in a very simple way usually, and, um, their mind is programmed in a simple way. But what gives them access, I believe, to whatever it might be out there on the, on the field, was that they had the confidence and the simplicity of their game. And when you have confidence, that’s when you become creative because creativity is a risk in sports. If you want to be creative in your sport like the best athletes in the world, you’re gonna have to take some risks, and if your training or your background is super complicated, you’re focused on those things in particular. The problem with focusing on those things is those things are not the end game. The end game is to be able to be creative out on the field of play and be unpredictable, be hard to cover, uh, be hard to run past, whatever the case may be. In order to be these things, you have to be constantly improving your game, and those who are the most creative are the most dangerous athletes out there.

Kyle: So what you’re saying basically is like simplify the stuff that isn’t the game itself? Kinda sounds like that.

Ryan: Yeah. I, I’d say that’s kinda what it is. It’s simplify everything, and that doesn’t mean automate everything. It doesn’t mean ignore everything else that isn’t the game. But what it really means is put it in a position where you don’t have to worry about it, and actually in a lot of cases, discard experts because as you get better, you’ll be able to understand them in a way that allows you to set it aside and say, “Okay, when I’m in the weight room, I’m doing things this way. When I’m in the psychologist’s office, I’m doing things that way.” When you leave, you wanna forget those things and just perform.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

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As many of you know, the rules around athletes transferring schools have loosened over the years. Players can move more freely now. Though on the face of it it looks like optionality, the reality is more complex.

I’m going to keep the monetary aspect out of this for clarity.

WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS

The simplest explanation is, the transfer portal is a database. You enter your name, and it signals to programs that you’re available to talk.

That’s it.

It’s important to understand that entering the portal is a form of self-listing, not an offer from another school. It’s not a guarantee that you will land at another program, or even back at the program you’re currently at.

SOME BASIC RULES WITHOUT GETTING INTO THE WEEDS

• Under NCAA rules, other programs generally cannot recruit you until you’ve been permissibly entered into the portal.

• Entering the portal can jeopardize your place in your current program (roster spot, athletic aid, etc).

• Most scholarships are renewed year to year, not guaranteed for four years. Entering gives the school a clean, uncomplicated reason not to renew if they desire.

• There are windows. Specific days tied to your sport’s season when you’re allowed to enter.

• Many who enter the portal never land at a new school, or return to college.

• Of those who do land somewhere, most end up at a program equal to or below where they started. The portal is not a reliable upgrade machine.

**I recommend researching your specific sport. Here’s a good overall analysis Link →

Entering doesn’t automatically create a flood of options. It opens the possibility of them.

The roster math for coaches has also changed in recent years. In some sports they tend to build rosters season to season using the same portal you’re counting on as your exit.

Staying is often the safer bet — for your admission status, your roster spot, and your scholarship.

The portal cuts both ways. It’s more like a bet than an insurance policy.

HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

Commitment with an exit already planned is dangerous. Let’s say you’re in high school, and you’re damn good at your sport. Awesome. The problem is, your recruiting process isn’t going as planned.

Some top programs recruited, then dropped you in the process. You find yourself considering programs that are solid, but not what you were projecting, or hoping for. So, you commit to one of them knowing you’re good enough to play at a more elite program.

This scenario is common.

Often, athletes commit with the mindset that they will go to option B with the intent of transferring to desire A after a year at option B.

Philosophically and mentally this is not an ideal way to think about it.

It’s not dangerous because plans change. It’s dangerous because your mindset changes. A “placeholder” mentality can show up in practice, in body language, in how you interact with coaches and teammates. They will likely feel it when you’re half-in. Even if you’re good at lying, you’re still living a lie.

As soon as anyone believes you’re not invested in them, they’ll stop investing in you.

Optionality you haven’t earned isn’t freedom. While in college, there’s a difference between being aware that other programs would love to have you, and you assuming you could leave if things don’t work out. The first is leverage. The second is a story you’re telling yourself.

There are ways to discover your potential value to programs you prefer (outside of some obvious things like having a record-breaking season, etc.). However, you want to tiptoe around how you find this out.

You can’t speak to other programs directly until you’re in the portal. But, you can still learn your market value before you enter it. People talk.

Remember, the portal is a resignation before employment.

The portal gives your value a market. It does not create that value. It doesn’t build anything for you.

One athlete spends years developing. Climbing. Building leverage.

The other spends those years frustrated, waiting for something to change.

The portal doesn't care which one you are. But everyone else will.

You exercise the option because it’s the highest-value decision available to you. Not because you’re tired, or bored, or upset about a depth chart.

Coaches can often tell the difference between someone leaving from a position of strength and another exiting from fear or frustration. They recruit accordingly.

A player leaving because they know there’s a litany of programs that would love to have them gets a very different reception than a player leaving because he’s buried on the bench, or having a not-so-solid season.

If you’re going to make your desire to transfer known, do it from a position of strength.

Your school doesn’t owe you, and you don’t owe it. A program can move on from you without hesitation the moment it stops making sense for them. A scholarship doesn’t guarantee a future roster spot, and a roster spot does not guarantee a renewed scholarship.

I see no problem in operating the same way. Your job isn’t blind devotion. Your job is to keep increasing your own value.

You maintain, or better yet increase your value to your current team, you’ve increased your potential value to other teams.

WHO’S DONE IT RIGHT

Though he never transferred, Arch Manning (current University of Texas quarterback) redshirted his first year. He then played backup the following season. He didn’t start until year three (technically his junior year).

He was the top recruit in the country coming out of high school. He almost certainly could have started as a true freshman elsewhere. And, if he entered the portal there’s little question he would have landed a new gig in a matter of minutes.

I’m aware that Arch is an anomaly in almost every way possible. If anyone in college football has had the resources and the team around him to make intelligent decisions, it’s him. Yet, even he (the athlete with more apparent optionality than almost anyone) chose development, patience, and continuity over immediate playing time.

At the end of the day the best strategy is to become valuable, wherever you land.

As Dr. Feynman said, “the easiest person to fool is yourself.”

So, don’t convince yourself that better options are going to arrive out of the blue. Go all in where you’re at. Let optionality find you. And if it does, feel free to leverage the shit out of it.

Onward and upward!

—Ryan

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube | Store

If you’re a college or even a high school athlete with meaningful NIL opportunities, or you’re about to turn pro, you’re probably thinking about creating, or expanding your team.

Welcome to your first business venture. CEO of you.

Typically, the agent is the first go-to hire. Makes sense (and you likely already did this). Then, other roles begin to form in your little startup (i.e. you). Enter business manager.

I think it’s important to note that not every money-making athlete needs a business manager. But once things become more complex and you find yourself juggling sponsors, appearances, travel, content, etc., having someone focused on operations is nice.

(THE START) OF YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

Your agent’s job is representation. Full stop. Think of them as the VP of Sales with a bit more power (legally and otherwise).

• Negotiates your contracts

• Finds and closes business opportunities

• Protects your legal and financial interests

• Sits across the table in negotiations, representing you directly

• Holds the appropriate licenses where required. This varies a lot by state. Some require registration. And unlike the major pro leagues, the NCAA doesn’t certify NIL agents at all, so “certified” isn’t really a thing to look for here.

In practice: sponsorships, endorsement deals, brand relationships, compliance issues in your sport and region, new opportunities as they surface.

Your agent’s whole job is to grow your value and protect it.

Your manager’s job is execution. Think operator, not visionary. Closer to a COO (Chief Operating Officer).

• Runs the day-to-day

• Coordinates your team (including you in many cases)

• Handles scheduling and communication

• Keeps projects moving

• Thinks strategically about your brand and career

• Also protects your financial interests

Your manager’s job is to make your career run smoothly.

WHERE THINGS BREAK

Your agent starts trying to make management decisions.

Your manager starts trying to negotiate on your behalf.

A manager can flag opportunities to your agent. That’s healthy. But your agent is the owner of the solicitation and negotiation process. They make the call.

There’s a big (and legal) difference between recognizing, and producing opportunities. Producing falls in the realm of solicitation. Recognition is simply awareness.

Similarly, there’s no problem with your agent making recommendations to your manager. Again, healthy. They hold the relationship with your sponsors and understands their expectations. But your manager should be making the final call with things like schedule and coordination.

Example: A sponsor wants a shoot on Tuesday. The agent negotiates the terms. The manager decides whether Tuesday fits your training schedule, travel, and existing commitments.

PROTECT THE LANES

Mix a few responsibilities if you want. In practice that’s more realistic. We’re humans, not robots. Outside input is generally a good thing. But you need a rule for what happens when responsibilities blur.

There needs to be accountability for when things go wrong.

• If a decision could create legal or financial exposure (contract terms, compensation, exclusivity clauses) > that’s your agent’s call, always.

• If a decision only affects your time and logistics (which day, which city, which slot on the calendar) > that should be your manager’s call.

• If it touches both (a sponsor wants exclusivity and a same-week shoot) > your agent negotiates the terms, your manager greenlights the timing, and neither moves without the other.

When responsibilities genuinely overlap, you need a tie-breaker type process or rule.

The simplest version: your agent has final say on anything with a signature attached. Your manager has final say on anything with a date attached. If it’s still unclear, it comes to you. After all, you are the CEO.

Agent: creates, negotiates, maintains brand relationships, leverages opportunities.

Manager: executes and maximizes the business (marketing, revenue, etc.)

You: own the vision, make the final call, and break ties when the first two disagree.

THE FRIEND TRAP

There’s nothing wrong with your manager becoming your friend. I think that can be a good thing. But, make a friend your manager and you could be in a world of hurt (unless, of course, it was previously their occupation).

Hiring friends usually starts with good intentions.

A friend begins helping with travel. Another offers to answer emails. Someone else starts talking to brands because “they know people.” Before long, responsibilities overlap, accountability disappears, and in some cases people begin stepping into areas that carry legal or contractual implications.

Obviously, you want to like the people you’re working with. But don’t make it the point.

Because your agent and manager play the biggest roles in your career, you want them to be true professionals.

BEFORE HIRING

There are a ton of business books that address the hiring process (best practices, what questions to ask, social Q’s to look for, etc.).

I’m certainly no expert in hiring, but friends (I seriously trust) have made some recommendations (none of which I’ve actually read):

• Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street (2008)

• Hire with Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams by Lou Adler (original ~1998, with later editions)

I hope they’re useful.

And, here’s a great episode around hiring great talent with Tim Ferriss and Graham Duncan. I simply enjoyed the conversation. But it’s obvious that Duncan is obsessed with the hiring process. Worth the listen.

LET’S WRAP THIS UP

The agent owns sponsorships, negotiations, and outreach. The manager owns operations. You own the vision.

Oh yeah, and there’s pay. Agents earn commission (upside). Managers are more often fee-based (flat rate).

Your goal shouldn’t be to build a large team. It should be to build a lean machine. Where every person owns a clear job. The tighter the lines, the better the collaboration, and the better the outcomes.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

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Downloadable club team decision worksheet > bottom of article ↓

Club sports can be a valuable tool. It can also be an expensive mistake.

I’m first going to describe what is going on, then jump into some ways to navigate it.

IT’S A BUSINESS

Club sports exist because there’s demand.

Think of a club as a living organism. Its primary objective is survival. Everything else flows from that.

The incentives lead to keeping families engaged (like social media).

• More teams →

• More showcases →

• More travel →

• More revenue →

• Repeat.

I don’t believe that this was the intention of the “founding fathers” of club sports - it’s somewhat emergent. Still, it’s important to recognize that their incentives won’t always align with yours.

Marketing tends to outperform your instincts: Effective messaging influences all of us. Don’t pretend it doesn’t influence you.

Everything from highlight reels to college commitments, to savvy messaging promising a brighter future, has the potential to hijack anyone’s brain.

Antidote: recognize that you can be influenced, and learn some of the tricks of their trade. Once seen, you can’t unsee it.

Price tells you something, but it doesn’t tell you everything: More tournaments, more travel, and more showcases certainly means more money. But it’s usually inversely correlated with more/better development.

Clubs started out as a side gig for most coaches. Things have changed. Now, there are more full time coaches than ever before.

Businesses like growth.

FRAMEWORK

Club programs exist to serve you and your kid. FOMO is their greatest tool against that. Don’t let them infect you with it.

Most families think they’re buying both development and exposure. Very few clubs are exceptional at both.

If your objective is development, you’re looking for coaching, not constant competition.

Research participants: Ask to speak with a few families whose athletes are somewhere in the middle of the roster. Star players often have a different experience than everyone else.

Even better, ask to speak with athletes who used to be in the program and are now playing in college or elsewhere. They’ll usually be more candid.

Research: Coaches who genuinely love training often share. A lot. Youtube channels, blogs, etc. They can’t help themselves.

Events: “When you travel to tournaments, is the objective to win, or does everyone get roughly the same playing time?”

There’s no right answer. You just need to know what you’re buying.

Actions speak louder than words.

If they’re traveling every week, odds are they care more about their programs image than your kids development.

Exposure is about being seen by the right people. If a club attends the right events but your kid never gets meaningful playing time, mission-fail.

If the program attends events in which the scouts are from programs outside of your kids league (too high, or even too low of a level), mission-fail again.

Some clubs are exceptional at creating recruiting opportunities.

• They’re well connected.

• They understand the event circuit.

• They know where to be, and when to be there.

• College coaches listen when they pitch.

Again, talk:

• To middle-of-the-roster families.

• To former players.

• Research the program’s track record.

If a coach ever says they can get your kid recruited… Correct them. “You mean you can put them in a better position to be recruited.”

They should be able to prove it. Especially with the mid-tier players.

Pay attention to the events they attend. Not every showcase carries the same value.

Learn which events college coaches actually prioritize before writing a check.

You want both. Most families do.

That’s the challenge.

It’s possible, but rare.

Fortunately, club programs are more flexible than most realize.

If your kid is talented, exposure-focused clubs will often let them join for selected events without committing to the entire season - and at a discount.

Likewise, development-focused programs often allow athletes to train without participating in every tournament - again, at a discount.

Ask.

Programs negotiate more than people think.

The club landscape is highly competitive, and families have more leverage than they often realize.

Money changes your options. It doesn’t eliminate them.

The best solution to a tight budget is for your kid to be damn good at their sport. And the best athletes I’ve been around tended to develop in solitude - free of charge.

Scholarships, discounts, and financial aid are more common than realized—especially at programs built around winning and exposure.

Competitive clubs want competitive athletes.

THE YEAR-ROUND MYTH

Year-round participation is becoming more common. Hate it all you want, but the market isn’t just allowing it, it’s asking for it.

Many development programs and exposure-based programs participate year-round. Often, they expect you to commit for the year.

For some it’s great. For others it’s a scheduling nightmare. But the idea that you have to, or need to do it is 100% BS.

Remember what these programs need: talent and numbers.

Again, being really good gives you leverage. But, if a program is struggling with numbers, it’s another position to negotiate from.

If your kid is good and is a multi-sport athlete and a program is telling you full, year-round commitment is the only option, push back.

There are options. Join a training first program. And, if you believe it’s time to get exposure you can always attend a specific college’s camp. It doesn’t need to have “showcase” in the title for your child to showcase their skills.

Coaches most certainly recruit from non-recruiting-specific events.

Nothing tickles me more than when a kid comes out of nowhere to be one of the top recruits in the country in their sport. No club program, just a camp here or there, and bang. The family saved money, time, and their sanity. It’s more common than people think.

IT’S A TOOL, NOT A GOAL

Club sports are a tool. They’re not the goal.

The families who navigate club sports best understand the incentives of the system, understand their kid, and make decisions accordingly.

They don’t outsource those decisions.

They own them.

For parents

(parent) Club Sports Decision Planning Guide

112KB ∙ PDF file

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Download

For athlete

(athlete) Club Sports Decision Planning Guide

124KB ∙ PDF file

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INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube

One of the advantages I’ve had throughout my career is seeing athlete endorsements from both sides of the table.

I’ve been the one writing the checks. And I’ve advised those receiving the checks.

It’s good to understand and learn from those who’ve received endless deals. However, every athlete’s situation is unique and you’re often getting survivorship-bias (or failure-bias) information. Understanding the perspective of the person writing the checks is infinitely more valuable.

Companies don’t think like athletes.

They think like businesses.

And businesses think in numbers - return on investment.

It’s an Investment, Not a Reward

An endorsement deal is almost never a reward. It’s a third-party bet on your future.

The company isn’t paying you because they like you. They aren’t paying you because they think you’re a good person. They’re paying because they believe the money they’re investing in you will eventually come back to them in spades.

That’s it.
Nothing more.

I often hear athletes say, “I just want to get paid what I’m worth.”

That’s not how markets work.

You don’t determine your value.

The market does.

Companies think, “What is this athlete worth to us?”

Every endorsement starts as an expense.

Your job is to turn yourself into an asset.

Not Every Company Thinks the Same

Not all companies evaluate athletes the same way.

A local business doesn’t think like a regional company.

A regional company doesn’t think like Nike.

Every company has different budgets, different timelines, different angles, and different levels of risk tolerance.

A small business owner may have spent twenty years building that company. Assume that to them every marketing dollar matters. If they spend $15,000 sponsoring an athlete and nothing happens, they feel it.

A global brand can afford to experiment, and on longer timelines. They have larger budgets, more data, and a portfolio of athletes. One endorsement that doesn’t perform isn’t going to put a dent in their ship, let alone sink it.

Understanding who is writing the check matters just as much as understanding the contract.

Your First Deals Are an Education

This is why I advise younger athletes to view their early endorsement deals differently.

Most athletes think their first deal is about making money. Sure. But I believe it’s more about learning.

Most of you won’t begin with global brands.

You’ll begin with local dealerships, restaurants, banks, construction companies, medical practices, and regional businesses.

Good.

These companies can teach you how business actually works.

How meetings are run.
How campaigns are measured.
How professionals communicate.
How expectations are managed.

Take advantage of this. Use it as an chance to build business experience while getting paid.

That’s opportunity.

Nike likely won’t give you the time of day to learn their thought process. But smaller business owners often love talking shop. If you’re curious enough to ask questions, they’ll teach you how they think.

It’s also why I don’t believe athletes should obsess over squeezing every dollar out of their early deals.

I’m not suggesting you undervalue yourself.
I’m suggesting you understand leverage.

If you’re just entering the endorsement world, you probably don’t have much of it yet. That’s okay. View this stage as your apprenticeship.

You’ll have shorter contracts. This creates the opportunity to test, iterate, and learn.

Learn what types of companies you enjoy working with.

Pay attention to what actually creates value.

You may think companies want you because you’re scoring goals.

Later you might realize they hired you because you’re scoring goals and:

You’re authentic on camera.
Or because you’re exceptional with kids.
Or because you naturally build community.

Sometimes your marketing superpower has less to do with your athletic superpower and more to do with that superpower plus another trait of yours.

The earlier you discover what that might be, the better.

There Are Different Types of Athletes

Athletes tend to evaluate themselves based almost entirely on performance.

Companies don’t.

They evaluate both your performance and your marketability.

Some athletes are good.
Some are great.
The rare few are generational.

Separately, some athletes are entertaining.
Some are mysterious.
Some let their performance do all the talking.

None of these are inherently better than the others. They’re simply marketed differently.

An outgoing athlete with a large following is often an easier sell to executives because the strategy may be more clear.

A quieter athlete requires more imagination, but sometimes ends up becoming the stronger long-term play because the company gets to build the story alongside them.

Neither is right or wrong.

They’re just different.

Start thinking about where you sit in this equation.

Professionalism Is Part of the Product

All endorsable athletes should understand that companies have different levels of tolerance depending on who they’re sponsoring.

The more exceptional you are, the more mistakes people will tolerate.

But don’t confuse tolerance with immunity. Even the biggest stars eventually run out of second chances.

For the overwhelming majority of athletes, professionalism is part of the product.

Showing up on time matters.
Following through matters.
Being easy to work with matters.

If you’re not a unicorn (well, even if you are), reliability becomes part of your competitive advantage.

The Best Question You Can Ask

If you remember one thing from this article, remember this question: “How will you measure success?” or, “What’s the end game for you, or how do you view success in our situation?”

You do this, you’ve changed the relationship.

To them, you’re no longer potential asset receiving a check. You’re a teammate trying to help them succeed.

Questions like this break the ice and spawn conversations that will teach you more about business than any contract ever will.

Don’t Forget Why They Hired You

Finally, don’t lose sight of the reason any of this exists.

You’re being endorsed because you’re exceptional at your sport.

The second your image becomes more important than your performance, you’ve started attacking the very thing that got you there.

Never forget what created the opportunity in the first place.

Companies certainly won’t.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube

From my perspective, a lot of athletes neglect their greatest strengths.

They spend most of their time fixing weaknesses instead of maximizing strengths.

I’m not saying athletes should never work on their weaknesses. However, most of the better athletes I’ve worked with focused a majority of their time on that which gave them a disproportional advantage.

Each athlete is typically better in one or two aspects of their sport. And usually, they never find out how good they could have been because of their desire to be well-rounded.

There are certain athletes who possess one or two extraordinary traits, and they discover them early. If that’s you, this is your permission slip to lean in.

Elite performance is asymmetrical.

Barry Sanders wasn’t great because he was balanced. He wasn’t. He was great because he was impossible to touch. Everyone knew what he was going to do, but not how. Didn’t matter. You can’t hit what you can’t catch.

Same with Jerome Bettis. Everyone knew he was running downhill. Through you. Didn’t matter.

Our world operates under power laws. The highest performers understand this.

A tiny percentage of their traits produce the overwhelming majority of their results.

A lot of coaches claim to love “well-rounded.” And perhaps they do (or think they do). But even they tend to bank on their asymmetrical players.

The most dangerous athletes tend to be uneven.

One has absurd vision.
Another has freakish speed.
Another scores from impossible angles.

For them, those traits ARE the thing. Everything else is minutia.

That doesn’t mean weaknesses should be blindly ignored. If a weakness keeps you off the field, fix it.

But if you’ve discovered the thing that separates you from everyone else, I strongly encourage you to spend the majority of your time there.

Because spending years sanding down your edges often destroys the thing that made you dangerous in the first place.

Don’t mistake high-agency traits for laziness.

The kid who hates conditioning but can’t put the hockey stick down? Maybe they’re lazy. Or maybe they have the best hands on the team.

That’s the part most systems miss.

Obsession is directional. Athletes naturally drift toward the parts of the sport they’re built for.

And usually, what athletes enjoy most is connected to what they’re best at.

The obsession creates the iteration-based reps. Those reps create the outlier.

Good CEOs understand this.

They hire marketers to market.
Builders to build.
Designers to design.
Salespeople to sell.

Nobody walks into a company and says: “We need everyone equally competent at everything.”

That would be ridiculous.

The best athletes eventually force reality onto the system. If they are dominant enough at one thing, the game bends around them. That’s just on the field.

From a business perspective, it can help shape your brand. It can become a large part of who you are off the field. An identifier of sorts.

Discover your natural proclivities and figure out where they are best utilized.

If you’ve found the thing that makes you different… Unapologetically lean in.

The rest will take care of itself.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube

Sports has an originality problem.

Not a talent problem.
Not a resource problem.
Not an access problem.

For over half a century, every generation seemed to produce athletes who permanently changed their sport. They weren’t just great. They became reference points. Every kid wanted to imitate them, every competitor had to adjust to them, and every generation wondered who would come next.

Today we have more resources than ever before. More coaching. More science. More specialists. More information. More travel teams… More opportunity.

Yet the athletes who innovate or show us something wholly different have become increasingly rare.

We’ve become remarkably good at producing exceptional athletes—and surprisingly poor at producing transformational ones.

Perhaps the problem is that these athletes were never something we produced in the first place.

I. THE AGE OF OPTIMIZATION

The last twenty or so years have been a relentless pursuit of optimization.

Better training.
Better branding.
Better coaching.
Better media training.
Better analytics.

Optimization excels at producing exceptional athletes. But it doesn’t show us what’s possible. And it has a tendency to converge.

When everyone takes in the same information, follows the same developmental path, and chases the same metrics, they begin making the same decisions.

The outcome is predictable.
And fewer genuinely surprise us.

Somewhere along the way, sports confused optimization with innovation.

They’re not the same thing.

Optimization raises the floor.
Innovation raises the ceiling.

II. THE FACTORY

Modern athlete development increasingly resembles a factory.

Factories exist to reduce variance. To eliminate mistakes and standardize outcomes.

The modern athlete is expected to join all the same programs, go to all the same events, market themselves the same way, pursue the same partnerships, and often even speak the same way.

Everyone seems to be aping everyone.

Athletes arriving through increasingly similar experiences, making increasingly similar decisions, and becoming increasingly similar expressions of excellence.

Where is Bode Miller!?

III. THE ORIGINALS

The greats were never built from the same blueprint.

Their stories were wildly divergent.

Their childhoods were different.
Their personalities were different.
Their flaws were different.
Their career choices were different.

Michael Jordan didn’t remind us of someone else.

Larry Bird didn’t.
Muhammad Ali didn’t.
Wayne Gretzky didn’t.
Barry Sanders didn’t.

They didn’t become memorable because they perfectly executed someone else’s formula.

They became memorable because no one had ever seen anything quite like them.

They left legacies of permission.

Many of today’s greatest athletes often arrive trying to be like, or comparing themselves to someone else.

Perhaps the most gifted player of his generation entered the league wearing 23.

Signed with many of the same companies.
Followed the same branding playbook.
Even acted in a different version of the same movie.

Pretty hard to beat the OG-23 at his own game.

IV. THE HIDDEN COST OF SAMENESS

When everyone is chasing the same opportunities, using the same methods, the herd instinct kicks in.

They compete for the same scholarships.
The same roster spots.
The same endorsements.
The same attention.

They become interchangeable.

Originality is deceptively hard.
We’re hardwired to follow the pack.
But the pack is where competition is greatest.

Skipping out might be the beginning of a new way.
A better way.
Your way.

VI. THE LABORATORY

The future doesn’t belong to athletes who simply execute the current blueprint better than everyone else.

It belongs to athletes willing to explore beyond it.

Yes, sports needs discipline.
It needs methodology.
It needs universal truths.

But it also needs environments where curiosity is encouraged.
Where experimentation isn’t viewed as failure.
Where independent thinking isn’t always treated as an unnecessary risk.

Not just because every transformational athlete began as an experiment.

But because curiosity and experimentation has always preceded every meaningful breakthrough, and every unique career path.

New ways of performing.
New professional opportunities.
And sometimes new markets.

THE WAY FORWARD

I believe the best careers are self-authored.

The decisions athletes make during their careers shape the way they perform, the businesses they build, the relationships they foster, and the lives they ultimately lead.

There are principles every athlete should learn, but very few paths every athlete should follow.

No blueprint can tell an athlete who they are, what motivates them, or what they’re capable of becoming. It can only show them what worked for someone else.

Agency is the advantage.

Sometimes that means following convention. Sometimes it means walking away from it.

But it always means refusing to outsource judgment.

Knowing the difference is what separates athletes who simply participate from those who leave their mark.

If sports has become too eager to hand athletes blueprints, then the answer isn’t another blueprint.

It’s helping athletes understand the landscape well enough to chart their own course.

That’s the experiment I believe is worth running.

Because athletes with agency don’t just build better careers.

They make room for the originals the next generation is looking for.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube

I’ve noticed that a lot of really good “amateur” athletes and their families are considering hiring agents.

An agent reaches out.

They have connections.
They have relationships.
They can help with NIL deals.

Sounds great.

Maybe.

The reality is most high school and college athletes do not need an agent.
At least not yet.

The sports industry (and especially agents) likes to pretend endorsements and sponsorships are incredibly complicated.

Most aren’t.

A local car dealership.
A restaurant.
A camp appearance.

These are often straightforward agreements in large part because local business owners built their businesses from the ground up. It was a simple but difficult process that dealt with a lot of local trust. They’re not big time CEO’s or reps.

You don’t need someone taking 15-20% of that.
If you have the resources, a fee-based attorney is often a better option.

Pay for the help upfront.
Keep the upside.

Hire when it hurts.
That’s the rule.

If opportunities are becoming difficult to manage, contracts are becoming complex, brands are reaching out constantly, and you’re spending significant time negotiating deals, then it may be time for an agent… maybe.

Not before.

Most NIL agents work on commission.

Professional contract agents often earn 3-5%.
NIL agents often earn 15-20%.

Partly because NIL is newer.
Partly because the deals are smaller.
Partly because nobody really knows what the hell is going on.

I believe these percentages are going to steer closer to professional contract numbers in the not-so-distant future.

So…

Shop around.
Talk to multiple agents.
Negotiate.

If you are one of the chosen ones, the first offer is rarely the only.

In fact, if only one or two agents are interested in representing you, that’s often a sign you probably don’t need one yet.

The market is giving you information.
But even that is often not a good enough barometer.

If you are one of the chosen ones, understand what agents actually do.

They help secure sponsorships.
Negotiate endorsement deals.
Manage brand relationships.
Handle compliance issues.
Help identify opportunities.

That’s it.

They are not your business partner (if you are under 18, the only business partner should be your legal guardian - more on that another time).
They are not your co-founder.
They are not entitled to equity in your future ventures.

Never give an agent ownership - that’s the equivalent to getting married.
Pay them for the work they perform.
Nothing more.

The contract matters.

Many athletes focus on commission or agent networks and ignore the most important part.

The exit clause.

Make sure the agreement holds the following:
A termination clause without cause with 14-30 days notice.
A sunset clause that limits post-termination commission on any deals the agent might have procured (harder to get - but push for it).
DO NOT be flexible with this.

Relationships change.
Circumstances change.
You need a clean exit plan.

One final point.

Compliance matters.
A lot.

NIL rules differ by state, school, conference, and governing body.
[these are the following states that currently have prohibitions, but the bylaws differ in each and things are rapidly changing: Alabama, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Wyoming]

A good NIL agent should know the rules in your region better than you do.
If they don’t, keep looking.

The best agent is the one who solves a problem(s) you actually have.
If you ever feel puzzled about what an agent can offer you, don’t go with them.

But, I will repeat myself.

You likely don’t need an agent.

Use common sense.
You’re (and your family are) smarter than you think.

Enjoy the ride.

And if/when it starts to really hurt, consider hiring one.

INNO ATHLETE

Helping athletes think clearly about performance, strategy, and business.

Connect: Website | Tiktok | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn | YouTube