Youth Enrichment Brands, a new platform supporting youth activities, launched following the acquisition of i9 Sports.
Youth Enrichment Brands claims to be “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, GA-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, 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, i9 Sports.
Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with “$33 billion in assets under management.” Since its 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.”
“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 Hoeveler.
“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 Sanders.
“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.
