Kaninika Dey
The idea for Belmont Athletics Development Association (BADA) was born this spring through conversations between founders Royce Pang, Thomas Borkowski and Sophia Pang.
The intention? To help prepare younger athletes — those between the ages of 7 and 15 — for high school sports.
It took the group a few months to cement their idea and bring the concept to fruition, but by the end of June, the organization had a website, advertisements in form of fliers being passed around and the recruitment of coaches was in full swing, according to Pang, rising senior of Belmont High School, co-president and basketball coach of BADA.
“Our main goal was to help the community,” Pang said. “It’s also a great opportunity for coaches to earn some money, if they need a job over the summer.”
The coaches are selected from high school athletes with a minimum of junior varsity experience in their respective sport, according to Borkowski, a rising senior at Belmont High School and co-president and soccer coach of BADA.
“We were able to find all these athletes and coaches through either personal relationships or by reaching out to some of the captains of each sport,” Borkowski said.
The base price for a one-on-one session is $25 with the exception of tennis which is $30 because of court costs. The money goes to the coaches barring a 10% commission to the founders.
“The main goal of this program is not for us to make money, because initially we thought that all of the money should go to the coaches,” Pang said. “However, we need this commission to pay for the fliers and advertisements so that we can find new clients.”
BADA has around 25 clients and 15 coaches after a few months of operation. Pang said the biggest challenge has been finding new clients. When they first started, they had 14 clients in one week but since then, momentum has slowed.
“Despite the challenges, the most fulfilling part of this experience has been the lessons we learned from it, being high schoolers with little to no business experience,” Pang said. “We’re just trying to grow our business step by step. Getting 15 clients in that two week span was a great achievement for us. Now thinking ahead, our goal is probably to get 75 clients in the near future.”
Borkowski feels the organization has been able to bridge the gap between the older and younger athletes, connecting them and inspiring them to improve their sport and potentially pursue athletic careers moving forward.
“I think it’s important that we strive to be more than coaches. Maybe we can serve as inspirations, as teachers and even as role models for these kids,” Burkowski said. ” Through this organization, we are learning how to work well with others and how to create a good community.”
Julian Wong, a rising senior of Belmont High School and tennis coach of BADA believes the organization is building a stronger sports community in Belmont, providing good opportunities for both the high schoolers and younger athletes.
“We try to offer the coaching at a much lower price than a private coach for all of these sports, which is good for parents wanting to get their kids into these sports,” Wong said. “But also great for us because it teaches us– working our own hours, communicating with adults, being punctual, but also we’re getting paid more than we would doing a lot of other summer jobs.”
To learn more visit sites.google.com/belmontschools.net/bada/home?authuser=0
