May 8, 2017

Meet Chris Hastings of Chicago Sport and Social Club in Downtown

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Hastings.

Chris, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Chicago Sport and Social Club (CSSC) began in 1989 with a 250 person flag football league in Oz Park. From there the company has grown to include activities across 20 different sports, over 100 social events per year and 100,000 plus annual participants. CSSC also now includes 20+ annual sponsorship partners allowing brands access to its young professional, active audience. CSSC has truly become a rite of passage for young, active Chicagoans to experience some of the best parks and resources the City of Chicago has to offer.

I began working for the Chicago Sport and Social Club (CSSC) as an intern in 1997, primarily involved with our Beach Volleyball Leagues at North Avenue Beach. I was amazed at the experience we were creating on Chicago’s lakefront for young, active Chicagoans and fell in love with the company. When I graduated from graduate school the next year I began as a League Operations Coordinator for CSSC, and was named the Director in September of that year. After two ownership transitions in 2000 and 2001 I became a partner and Vice President in 2001, and President in 2015, my current position. In 2007 we expanded our operations to include the Dallas Sport and Social Club, with an office in Dallas, TX. I have been involved with the Sport and Social Industry Association (SSIA), an industry association with 65 member organizations similar to CSSC, as the President of the Executive Committee for the past two years. The Association includes Sport and Social organizations from every major market in the US.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The growth of our company has been steady, but there are of course challenges along the way. Finding adequate space to expand our programs has been the largest challenge we have faced. We sometimes have more demand than we can meet. We do not own the courts, fields or venues we us for our leagues and events so we work hard to find available resources to meet our demand and continue our growth.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Chicago Sport and Social Club (CSSC) specializes in producing coed sports leagues for adults, providing both an athletic and social outlet for our customers to engage in playing a sport they enjoy while meeting new people and strengthening existing relationships. I am most proud of the numerous benefits our offerings provide which are primarily fitness, networking, access to unique and interesting resources the city of Chicago has to offer and a setting to engage in fun activities with friends, co-workers or new people you meet. What separates us from other organizations is the strong social culture our activities include naturally because for the most part they are coed, and also because we design the experience to be highly socially engaging.

What were you like growing up?
I was outgoing, fun-loving and definitely loved sports.

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