Ten years ago, varsity soccer coach Justin Sharrock had a dream, a dream that he said “turned out to be a roller coaster.” His dream was to create an adult soccer club, somewhere he could share the love of social soccer and playing soccer with his most deserving peers.Sharrock took a long time to find the right investor, the right place, and, most importantly, the right partners. His family is excited considering how long he has worked up to this point.“There’s a need for quality fields with lights, and a real need for that in Northwest Austin,” Sharrock said.Sharrock recognized this need and realized that since he knew so much about soccer and the business behind it, he should be the man for the job.
The business was planned out in two phases, but this did not mean it happened quickly.
“Phase one is like a semi-private golf club, but for soccer players, with synthetic turf, seven-on-seven [players], lights, and a parking lot. It’s located in Northwest Austin, [basically] Leander, near Crystal Falls,” Sharrock said.
Phase two involves adding another small field and a clubhouse, a building for hanging out and talking about soccer. Sharrock worked over the summer to get to this point in his plan, and continues to work on it most evenings.
Now the real question is money: how and when will the business ever achieve profits?
“In the beginning, I’m not going to make very much [money], but eventually, the partners will share profit based off of ownership,” Sharrock said.
But he is unique from his partners since he has ‘sweat equity.’ That is, Sharrock did much of the manual labor for the job, so he gets more money. Whenever the time does come for profits to be divvied up, Sharrock will receive a payment for his work.
“It’s like a putting a puzzle together. You just have to find the right parts,” Sharrock said.
