Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathon Dues.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Basketball is in my blood. My lifelong passion for the game has paid innumerable dividends in a wide-ranging form: close friends, a college scholarship, world travels, several lifetimes worth of life lessons, and enough glory days stories to keep my kids impressed with their old man through their high school – strike that, middle school – graduations.
When my career brought me to Chicago in 2003, I still kept basketball as a core part of my life. While Hillsdale College basketball may have been behind me, I found a great group of guys, also former college players, who became our own team for a handful of years playing together in various leagues several times per week.
While the legendary Chicago league championships and even more legendary championship celebrations at our favorite Lincoln Park bars felt like they’d go on forever, soon flourishing careers and families brought this post-collegiate era of basketball to an end.
Filling The Fitness Void
While the end of my basketball team days was loss enough, I soon also said goodbye to my basketball body. As I would soon find out, pairing the end of my primary form of physical activity with marriage, fatherhood twice over, frequent work travel and a mid-30s metabolism was the recipe for gaining 47 pounds above my old playing weight. Yikes!
I knew a change had to be made and naturally, I looked back to basketball, but to little avail. My work travel schedule made it difficult to find a league to which I could commit. Pickup games were an option, but I was frankly out of the loop on where the good games happened and an overweight and out-of-shape former player matching up at a health club pickup game against 20-somethings who just finished playing in the Big 10 is as close to a sure-thing as injury prediction gets.
So, I turned my back on basketball and I tried to stay in shape through running, lifting weights, doing Crossfit, yoga, boxing, but none of them worked for me. As we mature, our time becomes more precious and doing physical activity that I either barely tolerated or full on hated (hello, treadmills) just to lose a few pounds is not the makings of the sustainable fitness lifestyle.
My Solution: HoopsLink Fitness
After a particularly agonizing run on the treadmill, depleted and panting around the gym, I started thinking about what else I missed about basketball; it was the countless shooting drills with my dad in my backyard as a kid and how I used to be so exhausted after a tough basketball practice in college. But the difference was I loved those drills and practices. Not only did I have a ball in my hands which took my mind off of my burning legs and lungs, but I was doing it with a group of guys I loved to be around.
What if instead of killing myself on the treadmill, I could get a killer workout on a basketball court instead? With that simple premise, HoopsLink Fitness was born! It’s an incredible group fitness workout on a basketball court comprised of shooting, strength training, cardio drills, and competitions that take you back to your playing days while running on average three miles per session and burning one hell of a lot of calories.
Since starting HoopsLink, I’ve dropped 25 pounds and I’m just getting started. More importantly, I’ve learned that if you really want to be fit for life – you have to find an outlet that you’re passionate about and that outlet has to be healthy for both your body and mind.
A Basketball Fitness Community
I’ve also learned that fitness success is much more likely sustained on a team. Our leadership team could not be a more amazing group of people with whom I’ve built lifelong friendships. Our workouts are effective, but doing them with our community of incredibly cool members is what keeps me accountable for showing up as much as possible. Nothing brings people together like sports, and taking a group of people with similar interests seeking to accomplish the same goals takes HoopsLink Fitness to another level. While we continue to strive for an amazing full body strength and cardio workout, what makes our sessions special is how personal connections happen naturally through like-minded people doing what they love.
Has it been a smooth road?
No – because no one has ever done this before. We have taken the game of basketball and developed it into a group based fitness class. Originally we started HoopsLink as an app where you could find pickup games whenever you wanted and with players of similar talents. We learned quickly there’s a need for this – but 1) it is tough to make money on it and 2) it’s tough to deliver a consistent, controllable quality experience for members and 3) pick up games are not innovative. However – a basketball fitness class is very innovative and for the most part, people absolutely love it because we can deliver what no other fitness class can – a nostalgic experience for anyone who loves the game of basketball and played it growing up/in high school or college. It’s much more of a sustainable fitness solution than anything else if you love basketball. And millions of people do.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the HoopsLink Fitness story. Tell us more about the business.
The vision for HoopsLink Fitness is to create a community of lifelong basketball lovers who sweat and smile through the shared experience of a high-intensity basketball fitness class. We are known for the fun, high energy culture of our classes where you experience competing with others in a team environment. Our classes are meticulously designed to evoke happiness and nostalgia around a mutual, genuine love for basketball through celebrating their pasts. Whether it’s wearing an old jersey to classes or sharing old photos and stories on social media – we embrace our members’ former glory days in a way that no other fitness class can. We are proudest of: 1) our incredibly high rate of over 90% member retention and the tight-knit community we have built because of this and 2) our talented 7 person ownership team – all of whom are successful former pro/college athletes who work every day to disrupt the traditional fitness trends that are individually-based and do not provide a nostalgic class experience built around the shared passion for an authentic team sport like basketball.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
More and more people have gotten away from traditional big box gym memberships. HoopsLink was built off of a single premise- that humans are more inclined to stay committed to a fitness outlet that they truly enjoy vs. something that they tolerate or even dislike. Amazingly most people settle for a workout that is a great calorie burn but offers no genuine passion or connection to something they’ve loved doing their whole life. More people are trending towards group fitness classes and HoopsLink aims to capitalize on these trends.
Pricing:
- Classes are fairly priced between $17- $20 per class
Contact Info:
- Address: Classes are offered at Mercy Home for Boys at 1140 W Jackson Blvd in the W Loop neighborhood of Chicago, IL
- Website: Www.hoopslink.com
- Phone: 312-226-0347
- Email: jdues@hoopslink.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoopslink
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoopsLink/
- Twitter: @HoopsLink
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