[Tampa, FL, October 2023] – Athletx Sports Group, a leading name in sports event management best known for brands like Baseball Youth, Softball Youth, and Youth Nationals; and MaxU, a pioneering platform for mental performance and mindset development, proudly announce their strategic partnership. This collaboration marks a dynamic alliance that aims to revolutionize the standards of athletic growth and mental resilience.

MaxU provides a versatile array of features individually crafted for each athlete. The platform incorporates scientifically validated techniques, presented in an intuitive and user-friendly interface. This ensures users can effortlessly track their progress and adjust their routines, optimizing their mental approach to their sport.

Christine Herring, VP of Strategy and Business Development for AthletX Sports Group, expressed her enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, “This platform offers tactical and healthy strategies to aid in the development of a strong mindset starting at an early age. The MaxU platform is tailored to help athletes facing challenges or looking to improve on the playing field and in life. This partnership aligns with our mission to empower athletes at all levels, providing them with the tools they need to excel not only in their sport but also in life.”

In celebrating the partnership between MaxU and Athletx Sports Group, Dan Greco, Co-Founder of MaxU declared, “This collaboration is a thrilling union of our visions, positioned to establish unprecedented benchmarks in athletic development and mental performance. This powerful partnership combines the unparalleled expertise and visionary outlook of Athletx Sports Group with MaxU's innovative approach, promising a groundbreaking era in the realm of sports and mental performance for athletes.

The Athletx-MaxU partnership signifies a strategic move towards holistic athlete development, emphasizing the importance of mental well-being alongside physical prowess. Athletes using the MaxU platform will benefit from tailored programs designed to enhance both their on-field performance and mental resilience.

Both companies are excited about the prospects of this collaboration and the positive impact it will have on athletes across the baseball and softball community. As they work together to set new benchmarks in athletic development, the partnership promises to deliver innovative solutions that empower athletes to overcome challenges and achieve their full potential.

About Athletx Sports Group:
Since its foundation in 2012, Athletx Sports Group has brought together multiple brands under one banner, including Baseball Youth, Softball Youth, Game Day USA, Youth Baseball Nationals, Youth Softball Nationals, Pastime Tournaments, Mid-America Baseball, Youth World Series, VERSUS, New Year's BaseballFest and TravelBall Select. Collectively, the Athletx Sports Group brands represent over 600 team-based and individual player events across the nation, featuring over 15,000 teams, 194,000 players, 38,000 coaches and 371,000 spectators. In addition to producing first-class events, Athletx boasts a strong media presence with over 720,000 social media followers across its brands’ various Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok platforms. To learn more, visit www.athletx.com

About MaxU:
MaxU is a cutting-edge mental performance platform founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs. Leveraging the latest advancements in cognitive science and technology, MaxU empowers individuals, teams, and organizations to optimize their mental performance, enhance focus, and achieve peak productivity. With a comprehensive suite of features, MaxU offers personalized training programs, goal tracking, and performance analytics, delivering a transformative experience for those seeking to unlock their full potential. To learn more about this groundbreaking mental performance platform and join the MaxU community, visit www.maxu.co

For media inquiries, please contact media@maxu.co

Louisville, KY., February 15, 2024 — Athletx Sports Group, a leading youth baseball and softball event company, is thrilled to announce a dynamic partnership with The Savannah Bananas, the Most Entertaining Show in Sports. This collaboration marks a significant milestone as both organizations join forces to bring an innovative and experiential event to the youth baseball community.

The highlight of this partnership is the official launch of the Youth Banana Ball Tournament, a thrilling competition that aims to inspire and engage young athletes in the exhilarating world of Banana Ball. Banana Ball, a unique and dynamic version of baseball, has gained popularity for its fast-paced nature and entertaining game play. The inaugural event is exclusively designed to be “Fans First”, creating unique experiences for players, parents and fans alike.

Jesse Cole, founder of The Savannah Bananas,  has successfully brought to life his vision of the greatest show in sports, through the creation of Banana Ball. “We are proud to bring the game of Banana Ball to the youth level,” said Cole.  “We’ve seen countless videos of kids performing trick plays, celebrating, and having fun on the field in pure Banana Ball style. This is great for the game and I can’t wait to see what the youth teams bring to this tournament.”

By combining their expertise in entertainment and passion for the game of baseball, Athletx Sports Group and The Savannah Bananas aim to develop an affinity for Banana Ball through this official tournament in hopes of growing the next generation of Savannah Banana players. Athletx Co-Founder and CEO, Jim Haddaway, says, “We are humbled and thrilled to be partnering with the Savannah Bananas in bringing to life the first official Youth Banana Ball tournament. Partnering with the Bananas is a tremendous opportunity to incorporate a playful and fun style of play from a completely different vantage point, to players and fans across the country.”  

Key Highlights of the Event:

The inaugural Youth Banana Ball Tournament will take place August 7-10, 2024 at Victory Sports Park in Cleveland, Ohio. Baseball teams from across the country are invited to participate in this crazy, zany, one-of-a-kind event. 

The tournament will feature wacky entertainment-based competition including a 4-game guarantee, Banana Ball instructional camps led by Savanna Bananas players and coaches, tickets for teams and families to the Savannah Bananas vs. the Party Animals at Progressive Field and a first-time opportunity for young athletes to experience the joy of playing Banana Ball.

Athletx Sports Group and The Savannah Bananas will work collaboratively on various initiatives aimed at promoting sportsmanship, teamwork, playful on-field entertainment and community engagement. Both organizations are committed to fostering a positive and inclusive environment for youth athletes to develop their skills and passion for Banana Ball.

Fans can look forward to exclusive experiences during the Youth Banana Ball Tournament, including meet-and-greets with Savannah Bananas and Party Animals players, interactive games, access to official merchandise, on-site activities and giveaways and hours of smiles and laughter throughout the duration of the event.

About The Savannah Bananas:

The Savannah Bananas are a professional team based in Savannah, GA and play their home games at Historic Grayson Stadium. They take the show on the road on their Banana Ball World Tour. The team has been featured on ESPN, Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, Today Show and Good Morning America and are made popular by their in-game entertainment and social media presence.

The team has been known as TikTok’s favorite team with over 8 million followers, millions more than every MLB team. The Bananas have been featured across the globe for everything from playing a game in kilts, using a Dancing First Base Coach, the first ever baseball player to wear stilts, players backflipping while catching fly balls, and a whole lot more.

The Bananas play their own version of baseball called Banana Ball, a fast-paced, action-packed style of baseball with rules that include no bunting, a two-hour time limit, fans catching foul balls for outs, batters stealing first base, and a one-on-one tiebreaker showdown at the end of the game if the game is tied.

For more information about the Youth Banana Ball Tournament and upcoming events, please visit https://youthbananaball.com.

About Athletx Sports Group:

Athletx Sports Group is a leading sports marketing and event management company dedicated to creating memorable and impactful sports experiences. With a focus on innovation and community engagement, Athletx Sports Group collaborates with organizations to elevate the youth sports landscape. Since its foundation in 2012, Athletx Sports Group has brought together multiple brands under one banner, including Baseball Youth, Softball Youth, Game Day USA, Youth Baseball Nationals, Youth Softball Nationals, Pastime Tournaments, Mid-America Baseball, Youth World Series, Softball World Series, NET Elite Baseball, New Year's BaseballFest and SoftballFest and TravelBall Select. Collectively, the Athletx Sports Group brands represent over 600 team-based and individual player events across the nation, featuring over 15,000 teams, 194,000 players, 38,000 coaches and 371,000 spectators.

For more information about Athletx Sports Group, please visit https://athletx.com.

Media Contact:

Aaron Pridmore
Youth Tournament Coordinator
apridmore@athletx.com
502-357-2900

The fastest-growing youth baseball and softball event platform has joined forces with the leading custom team apparel software and fulfillment service for its nationally recognized brands. 

WARWICK, R.I., May 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Athletx Sports Group announced a strategic partnership with SquadLocker, the leading custom team apparel software, and fulfillment service today.

Founded in 2012, Athletx Sports Group brings together multiple brands under one banner providing resources to enhance the youth baseball and softball world.  These brands deliver hundreds of events and showcase thousands of teams and players throughout the country, opportunities for visibility, and player recruitment.

This new partnership with SquadLocker brings custom online team apparel to all of the Athletic Sports Group brands. Athletic Sports Group players, coaches, and fans will be able to take advantage of SquadLocker's groundbreaking e-commerce software and single-unit fulfillment services allowing for quick turnaround of customized apparel with the convenience of ship-to-home individual delivery.

In addition to supporting the hundreds of events annually, the partnership with SquadLocker will provide the community of baseball and softball organizations access to their own customized digital storefronts that never close.  Players, parents, and fans can directly purchase team apparel and spirit wear in one place. George Overholser, SquadLocker CEO said on the partnership,

“We are thrilled to bring unique shopping experiences to life for this extraordinary baseball and softball community. Combining our software acumen with textiles expertise to mass-customize decorated sports apparel, this partnership with Athletx Sports Group brings team gear technology and fulfillment to the next level for the thousands of players, parents, and fans across the country.”

“Establishing a partnership with SquadLocker is a no-brainer for Athletx Sports Group. Our focus is to provide first-class experiences at our events and partnering with a company that shares the same values and excitement for creating these experiences, specifically on the apparel side, is exciting. SquadLocker offers access to thousands of different products and has established a user-friendly interface that is revolutionizing the way athletes and fans access their apparel and equipment needs. We are looking forward to growing and marketing our brands through products and consumer services that SquadLocker offers,” said Christine Herring, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development at Athletx Sports Group.

“The partnership between SquadLocker and Athletx hits home for me personally as a former minor league baseball athlete,” said Tip Fairchild, Vice President of Business Development at SquadLocker.  “I am proud to serve the community I know and love with top-tier custom apparel technology. Today is a home run.”

Athletx Sports Group spirit wear stores are ready to shop for Gameday USA Baseball, Gameday USA Softball, Baseball Youth, Softball Youth, Youth Baseball Nationals, Youth Softball Nationals, New Year's Baseball Fest, New Year's Softball Fest, Beach Battles, Mid-America Baseball, Net Elite Baseball, Pastime Tournaments, Softball World Series, Travelball Select, Versus, and Youth World Series (D2/D3).

About Athletx Sports Group
Athletx brings together multiple nationally-recognized brands under one family, including Pastime Tournaments, Youth Baseball & Softball Nationals, Youth World Series, Game Day USA, Baseball Youth/Softball Youth, Mid-America Baseball, VERSUS, New Year’s BaseballFest, TravelBall Select and Net Elite. Recent and rapid growth has propelled Athletx to being ranked #1214 on the Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies nationally, and #3 in the Business First Fast 50, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the Louisville area. Athletx Sports Group and its brands collectively represent nearly 600 team-based and individual-player events across the nation, featuring over 15,000 teams, 194,000 players, 38,000 coaches and 371,000 spectators. These events have featured athletes and teams from all 50 U.S. states and internationally, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bahamas, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition to producing first-class events, Athletx boasts a strong media presence with over 720,000 social media followers across its brands’ various Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok platforms. Athletx maintains offices in Louisville, KY (corporate headquarters), Chicago, IL (Naperville) and Indianapolis, IN (Carmel). For more information, visit www.athletx.com.

Athletx Sports Group
Christine Herring
cherring@athletx.com
502-436-7684

About SquadLocker
SquadLocker is the leading custom apparel manufacturer and e-commerce solution for sports organizations, schools, and businesses. Through innovative online tools, SquadLocker makes it easy to create, manage, and distribute custom apparel. The SquadLocker platform integrates with sports and scholastic management software to empower teams, leagues, and organizations far and wide. SquadLocker combines software acumen and textile expertise to mass-customize decorated custom apparel and free up time for organizers, coaches, teachers, and youth leaders.

In addition to working with 70+ top brands including Under Armour®, Adidas®, and Nike®, SquadLocker manufactures a proprietary sublimated uniform line (SquadGEAR™) that facilitates immediate production and shipping achieving a top-speed turnaround. To learn more, visit SquadLocker.com.

Lara Michaud
media@squadlocker.com

London, Ontario, April 28th, 2023 – Today, EventConnect, the leading youth sports management software provider, announced a new long-term partnership with Athletx Sports Group, one of the most prominent organizers of youth baseball/softball leagues and tournaments in the U.S. Recent and rapid growth had propelled Athletx to being ranked #1214 on the Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies nationally, and #3 in the Business First Fast 50, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the Louisville area. As the exclusive tournament accommodations provider, Athletx will start by integrating EventConnect’s sports technology alongside the Athletx custom-built platform to help streamline operations while maximizing hotel and vacation rental accommodation revenues.

“Based on our continued growth as a company, we are excited to partner with EventConnect as they will allow a more user-friendly experience for our families participating in our tournaments. This partnership benefits our families and hotel partners by providing a seamless experience for both parties. With our continual growth in the sports tournament market, we look forward to a growing partnership with EventConnect.” Justin Siegel

“Athletx Sports Group is focused on providing first-class experiences for our players, families and fans in the youth baseball and softball market. Partnering with EventConnect is exciting for our company as their services will continue providing excellent customer experiences. Streamlining our processes from start to finish is of the utmost importance. EventConnect aligns with Athletx’s vision, which makes this partnership so important. We are thrilled to be partners with EventConnect and look forward to working with their brilliantly executed technology platform and top-notch team.” -Jim Haddaway, Co-Founder and CEO of Athletx

“We are more than thrilled about this important new partnership with Athletx, and it is yet another example of our connection and dedication to the sport of Baseball,” said Eric Vardon, President of EventConnect. “Athletx is such a powerful and meaningful brand, and to say we are partners is a substantial milestone for our growing tech company. Since 2013 we have continued to invest in our product and team to realize our vision to continually advance the ease and efficiency of sports tournament management with innovative technology matched with unparalleled service and support – today is a huge step toward that vision. We can’t wait to hit the ground running with the Athletx team”, Vardon added.

About Athletx Sports Group
Athletx brings together multiple nationally-recognized brands under one family, including Pastime Tournaments, Youth Baseball & Softball Nationals, Youth World Series, Game Day USA, Baseball Youth/Softball Youth, Mid-America Baseball, VERSUS, New Year’s BaseballFest, TravelBall Select and Net Elite. Recent and rapid growth has propelled Athletx to being ranked #1214 on the Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies nationally, and #3 in the Business First Fast 50, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the Louisville area. Athletx Sports Group and its brands collectively represent nearly 600 team-based and individual-player events across the nation, featuring over 15,000 teams, 194,000 players, 38,000 coaches and 371,000 spectators. These events have featured athletes and teams from all 50 U.S. states and internationally, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bahamas, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition to producing first-class events, Athletx boasts a strong media presence with over 720,000 social media followers across its brands’ various Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok platforms. Athletx maintains offices in Louisville, KY (corporate headquarters), Chicago, IL (Naperville) and Indianapolis, IN (Carmel). For more information, visit www.athletx.com.

About EventConnect
EventConnect is the only event management software in the sports tourism industry that connects thousands of rights holders, tournament directors and accommodations on one platform—working with more than 4,000 events and 20,000 hotels in over 800 cities across North America. EventConnect helps sports tournament organizers reduce time spent on administrative tasks and increase capacity for delivering memorable experiences to all participants. The end-to-end platform is customized for each partner’s needs and is seamless for organizers and participants, creating efficiency while increasing value. EventConnect customers can increase room night reservations by up to 30% while saving up to 24% of hotel costs for teams and creating a 99% rate of booking satisfaction and positive experiences. Learn more at http://eventconnectsports.com

For media inquiries, contact
Eric Vardon, President
EventConnect
226-546-2883
eric.vardon@eventconnect.io

Athletx Sports Group
Christine Herring
cherring@athletx.com
502-436-7684

Since its foundation in 2012, Athletx Sports Group has brought together multiple brands under one banner and is one of the fastest-growing private companies. Collectively, the Athletx Sports Group brands represent hundreds of events and thousands of teams and players throughout the country. Athletx boasts a strong media presence and along with AthletesGoLive will now expand the exposure of teams and players through the baseball and softball world.

The goal of the partnership is to provide at no cost, an all-in-one streaming, digital scoring and recruiting app to all of the teams, athletes, families, and coaches associated with the Athletx Sports Group brands. Players and teams will benefit from live stats, video footage and player awards. Fans will have access to watch their players by teams that stream games and purchase a subscription. Athletes, parents and teams will additionally benefit by gaining direct access to 3000+ college coaches with their Athlete Profile.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Athletx Sports Group. The Athletx Sports Group is the next evolution of events with a strong media presence and AGL is proud to be a part” said Andrew Biele, CEO of AthletesGoLive. “Working with the Athletx Sports Group will help create an even greater experience for both athletes and fans throughout the baseball and softball world.”

“We are excited to work with AthletesGoLive. Our strategy is to emphasize excellence within our team which then translates on the field. We believe with team success comes participant satisfaction and AthletesGoLive will be a great new part of our team,” said Co-Founders John Ruby and Jim Haddaway. “We look forward to building something special long-term with AthletesGoLive.”

The staff at AthletesGoLive is proud to bring the game to families, fans and athletes everywhere! Learn how to set up your Team Account on the Athlete'sGoLive website!

NET Elite Baseball (NET Elite) has officially joined the Athletx Sports Group (Athletx) family, home to multiple other nationally-recognized travel baseball and softball events and media brands. This is a key geographical move for the fast-moving Athletx brand and its rapid expansion plans. NET Elite represents the sixth brand merger for Athletx in the last four years.

NET Elite and its events were born in northeastern Tennessee in 2014, thus the acronym “NET” used in the company name. NET Elite’s original game plan was to host travel baseball tournaments and showcases for high school age athletes at major college campuses, minor league venues and premier high school fields. In 2018, NET Elite added youth events that were hosted across eastern Tennessee.

NET Elite events attracted approximately 1,400 teams in 2019, 1,900 teams in 2020 and the expectation is to host well over 2,000 teams in 2021. Over the last few years, NET Elite has experienced 15-20% growth annually at the high school age level and nearly 100% at the youth level. NET Elite’s youth events serve teams ages 7u (all levels) through 13u D2-D3/AA-A teams and the high school age events host 13u D1/Major teams through 18u (all levels). NET Elite also hosts the Smoky Mountain Collegiate League (SMCL), a summer baseball league in its fourth year, which features committed and signed graduated high school players and current collegiate players from around the country. Games are played at collegiate venues including feature field, Lindsey Nelson Stadium, home of University of Tennessee baseball.

Wesley Jones, who founded the company in 2014, will continue to lead the brand on behalf of Athletx as Co-Owner and President of NET Elite. Wesley was born and raised in Kingsport, TN, where he was a stand-out athlete at Dobyns-Bennett High School. Jones went on to play baseball at Milligan College, where he set numerous school and conference records on the diamond. After college, Wesley spent 3 years playing in the minor leagues and with various independent baseball teams. Wesley’s brother, Brad Jones, joined NET Elite shortly after its inception and will continue to serve as General Manager. Jason Sewell, who joined NET Elite in 2018, will serve as Youth Director.

“First off, I want to say thanks to the Athletx family for bringing us onboard. We, at NET Elite, are very excited about our new venture with Athletx and strongly believe coming together will help expand our brand by allowing us to add new destinations geographically along with increasing participation at current events,” said Wesley Jones. “With the strong team and infrastructure in place at Athletx, it will allow NET Elite to use a top-notch, technological approach by implementing immediate improvements to our existing logos and website, streamlining our team registration and communication processes and enhancing our overall marketing and branding efforts. We look forward to being a part of a winning, nationally-recognized company, thus adding new life and minds to an already great product to make NET Elite grow and flourish even more over the years to come.”

“We are truly excited to have NET Elite join our family of brands here at Athletx Sports Group. The brand has a strong presence in an area and region that has a lot of really high-end talent at the high school level,” said Tom Davidson, Partner of Athletx and President of Pastime/Mid-America. “NET Elite matches the focus of our existing brands, Pastime Tournaments and Mid-America Baseball, in regards to utilizing top-end venues around the country, while providing a unique tournament experience that only these college venues can provide. Adding NET Elite will allow us to reach some of the top teams and players in that region as we push to provide even more national exposure opportunities to athletes looking to get recruited at the next level.”

Aaron Flaker, Co-Founder and CBDO of Athletx, added, “Athletx prides itself on constantly searching for and adding great brands with great people powering them and, most importantly, adding partners that are just as passionate about baseball and competing as we are. NET Elite fits that mold perfectly and allows us to significantly expand our geographic footprint into the southeastern U.S. as well as deepening our reach in the high school travel baseball market. This represents another big move for us at Athletx for sure, but as they say, ‘we ain’t done yet.’ More to come!”

ABOUT ATHLETX SPORTS GROUP:
Athletx brings together multiple nationally-recognized brands under one family, including Pastime Tournaments, Youth Baseball & Softball Nationals, Youth World Series, Game Day USA, Baseball Youth/Softball Youth, Mid-America Baseball, VERSUS, New Year’s BaseballFest, TravelBall Select and Drive & Company. Recent and rapid growth have propelled Athletx to being ranked #1214 on the Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies nationally and #3 in the Business First Fast 50, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the Louisville area. Athletx Sports Group and its brands collectively represent nearly 600 team-based and individual player events across the nation, featuring over 15,000 teams, 194,000 players, 38,000 coaches and 371,000 spectators. These events have featured athletes and teams from all 50 U.S. states and internationally including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bahamas, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition to producing first-class events, Athletx boasts a strong media presence with over 720,000 social media followers across its brands’ various Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok platforms. Athletx maintains offices in Louisville, KY (corporate headquarters), Chicago, IL (Naperville) and Indianapolis, IN (Carmel). For more information, visit www.athletx.com.

ABOUT NET ELITE BASEBALL:
NET Elite Baseball was founded in 2014 as a tournament company serving northeastern Tennessee with the primary purpose of hosting high school age travel baseball tournaments and showcases. NET Elite has grown to hosting over 2,000 teams at events throughout TN, VA, KY, NC and SC. NET Elite's primary focus is to host quality events for all ages as well as serve as a platform to help high school student athletes be able to maximize exposure to colleges. For more information, visit www.netelitesports.com.

Panama City Beach, Florida: Athletx Sports Group is pleased to announce a partnership with SportsIQ. SportsIQ, based in Dallas, is the developer and owner of a baseball-related app that was designed to improve the Baseball IQ of young ballplayers through fun and interactive games. The app will be launched on December 27, 2020 at the inaugural New Year’s BaseballFest, hosted by Athletx in Panama City Beach, Florida.

“Developing Baseball IQ is a critical element in the maturation of young players, and this new product lines up perfectly with our desire to provide unique educational and instructional opportunities for our athletes,” said Rich Janor, Partner at Athletx Sports Group. Athletx is the home of numerous baseball event and media brands, including Youth Baseball Nationals, Game Day USA, Baseball Youth, Pastime Tournaments, TravelBall Select, and Versus.

The inaugural New Year’s BaseballFest will feature 93 teams and athletes representing nearly every U.S. state. The event will take place from December 27, 2020 through January 1, 2021. “As excitement builds for a new year, this will be an ideal time and place to launch our product. Athletx has some of the very best baseball brands in the industry, and we are thrilled to put this partnership in place for 2021,” said Joel Ferrier, Creator and Co-Founder of SportsIQ.

SportsIQ is the Official Mental Training App of Athletx, effective immediately. A similar product for softball is currently in development. For more information about SportsIQ, visit https://sportsiqpro.com/. For more information about Athletx Sports Group, visit https://athletx.com/. For more information about New Year’s BaseballFest, visit https://newyearsbaseball.com/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: December 26, 2020
Contact: Rich Janor, rjanor@athletx.com, 847-477-7507 mobile/text

For Immediate Release: October 8, 2020
Contact: Aaron Flaker  |  Email: aflaker@athletx.com

TravelBall Select (TBS) has officially joined the Athletx Sports Group (Athletx) family, home to several other nationally-recognized travel baseball and softball events and media brands. This is yet another major move for the fast-moving Athletx brand and its rapid expansion plan; thus completing the fourth brand merger since 2017.

TBS has been nationally known for nearly 15 years for providing quality, elite tournament experiences that are targeted towards the D1/Major youth level teams and programs, and has served as a media brand promoting and telling the stories of the elite youth teams and their players from across the country. TBS has annually produced preseason, in-season and postseason national rankings for deserving teams ages 9u through 13u. Athletx also produces its Baseball Youth Elite 25 Rankings, which will now be combined with the soon-to-be released TBS postseason rankings for 2020, powered by Baseball Youth.

“At Athletx, we are all about making big, bold moves! Bringing TBS into our family is yet another one of these moves that will change our ability to compete in the national tournament landscape, as well as allow our Athletx brands to produce a unified set of national rankings for elite youth teams,” said Jim Haddaway, Athletx Co-Founder. “A significant portion of our business is already geared towards the youth travel baseball player, but we didn’t have a brand where the primary focus was specifically geared toward increased competitive opportunities and an elevated level of exposure for the elite youth travel baseball teams, athletes and coaches.”

Rick Goff, who joined TBS in 2007, will continue to lead the brand on behalf of Athletx as Co-Owner and President. Goff brings over 12 years of tournament management experience and 30+ years of coaching experience for Michigan Sports Academy and elite national travel baseball program, the Motor City Hit Dogs.

“The biggest thing for TBS customers to understand is that NOTHING is going to change from the past, as far as the quality and the level of competition at TBS events. The customers will, however, see a big improvement in how Athletx can help TBS take an already strong event experience and enhance that immensely with its access to a solid infrastructure of staff and resources,” said Goff. “We have seen immediate impacts from this new partnership including enhanced websites, registration processes, professional logos and branding. Additionally, TBS customers will soon see massive media-related and event experience enhancements, like a highly professionally produced rankings show, elevated onsite social media presence and exposure for our athletes, improved event merchandise offerings and more. This is really exciting for me personally and the TBS brand as a whole!”

As a part of this new partnership with Athletx, the TBS National Championships will relocate for its 10th anniversary from its original location in the Atlanta area to the Elizabethtown Sports Park, just south of Louisville, Kentucky. This state-of-the-art park features 12 fully-lit and turfed fields, onsite batting cages, HiCast video streaming, plenty of family-friendly park amenities and a large outdoor pavilion that is perfect for an event of this size and stature.

Aaron Flaker, Athletx Co-Founder, adds “I am personally familiar with the TBS Nationals, as I coached a nationally ranked team that finished runner-up in the event in 2018 and 2019. Our players and families loved the elite-level focus of the event, and always appreciated that we were hand selected and personally invited by Rick and TBS. As far as Athletx goes, we are super excited to bring the TBS National Championships to Kentucky for 2021. It’s a natural fit given that the Louisville area is already home to many other elite level champions and sports brands like ‘The Greatest,’ Muhammad Ali, the world famous Louisville Slugger and the fastest two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby.”

ABOUT ATHLETX SPORTS GROUP:
Athletx brings together multiple nationally-recognized brands under one family, including Pastime Tournaments, Youth Baseball Nationals, Youth World Series, Game Day USA, Baseball Youth, Mid-America Baseball, New Year’s BaseballFest, Youth Softball Nationals, Softball Youth and Drive & Company. Recent and rapid growth have propelled Athletx to being ranked #1214 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

Athletx Sports Group and its brands collectively represent over 600 team-based and individual player events across the nation, featuring over 13,000 teams and over 600,000 players, coaches and spectators. These events have featured athletes and teams from all 50 U.S. states and 12 countries, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bahamas, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition to producing first-class events, Athletx boasts a strong media presence with over 650,000 social media followers across its brands’ various Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms. Athletx maintains offices in Louisville, KY (headquarters), Chicago, IL and Indianapolis, IN.  For more information, visit www.athletx.com.

ABOUT TRAVELBALL SELECT:
TBS was founded in 2005 and has long been considered a leading news source and media outlet for youth travel baseball. Its national rankings for elite D1/Major-level travel baseball teams are nationally regarded and considered highly unbiased.  TBS has also been producing events across the eastern half of the U.S. in the states of Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. In 2021, TBS will likely expand to other states including Mississippi. The TBS National Championship has been one of the nation’s most competitive tournaments for elite-level travel ball teams for the last 9 years. Teams from across the nation strive to attain a coveted invite each season, as well as a spot in the TBS rankings. For more information, visit: www.travelballselect.com or www.tbsnationals.com.

With roughly 30.2 million small businesses in the U.S., inclusion in the Inc. 5000 is a distinguished honor, according to Inc. Magazine Editor in Chief James Ledbetter. “This achievement puts you in rarefied company,” he said. “The elite group you've now joined has, over the years, included companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Vizio, Intuit, Chobani, Oracle, and Zappos.com.”

“We are extremely humbled to be included among such lofty company,” said ASG Co-founder and CEO Jim Haddaway. “With the latest additions to our growing family of brands in 2018, and as we continue to look for new opportunities to grow, we expect to climb this list significantly every year!”

About Athletx Sports Group
Athletx Sports Group is a youth sports event management and media company specializing in baseball and fastpitch softball. Athletx hosts a variety of invitationals, championships and other events throughout the country for teams and individuals of all skill levels. ASG also boasts a strong media presence with over 525,000 social media followers collectively, making it the largest youth diamond sports network in the world, and publishes a quarterly baseball magazine, Baseball Youth – Live The Baseball Life.