SUPER STRIKERS LEAGUE

I never wanted my involvement in sport to stop at playing. Around the same time, I kept noticing that a lot of people my age wanted to play competitive sport outside school, but there was nothing organised for them. Pickup games were fun, but there were no proper teams, no fixtures and nothing to play for.

 

So in Grade 10 I started my own league. Super Strikers League (SSL) is a multi-sport, paid-entry league covering cricket, football and pickleball. Teams register and pay an entry fee, and that money goes towards venues, equipment and prizes. I founded it and ran it on my own, and across Grades 10 and 11 we completed three full seasons. Every one of them was profitable.

 

Running it alone meant doing everything. I booked grounds, made fixtures, handled registrations and payments, and dealt with the disputes that come up whenever people care about winning. I had to think carefully about pricing. If the entry fee was too high, teams wouldn't sign up, and if it was too low, I couldn't cover my costs. Getting that balance right taught me more about business than any textbook.

 

Plenty of things went wrong along the way. Venues cancelled at the last minute, teams dropped out halfway through a season, and the weather ruined more than one weekend. Each time I had to fix the problem quickly and keep everyone happy enough to come back. By the third season I had a much better system, with clearer rules, better scheduling and backup plans for almost everything.

 

My family has been in business for seven generations, so I grew up hearing about margins, customers and keeping your word. SSL was the first time I actually had to do it myself. People paid me money and trusted that the league would run properly, and I took that seriously.

 

Playing taught me how to lead a team. Running SSL taught me how to build something people would pay for and keep coming back to.