Challenger Sports is a multi-faceted international sports company who provide a wide variety of player development programs, coach education clinics, tournaments, tours, and uniform and equipment supply to hundreds of thousands of players, parents, and coaches across the globe.
Operating originally as ‘British Soccer Camps’ Challenger Sports began running summer soccer camps in the US in 1985. Each year the company grew and the founders of Challenger diversified and expanded their range of services and products in response to the increasing demands of the rapidly growing North American soccer population.
In 1997 the “Challenger” brand was created along with a vision of duplicating the highly successful soccer services and products model into multiple sports. Within two years, company owners Ron Matsch, Peter Arch, Alan Jones, Paul Lawrence, Derek Shoare and Andy Bennett had established a network of regional offices serving soccer communities in every US state and 7 Canadian provinces. Challenger also invested heavily in the United Kingdom and were the first US based soccer company to set up a full-time recruitment and training operation in Britain.
In 2001 Challenger established a sister company, Challenger Teamwear, to manufacture and sell soccer uniforms and equipment directly to the thousands of youth clubs who made up the rapidly growing US youth soccer community. Challenger expanded this division quickly seeing triple digit growth within a few years and since have become direct distributors for internationally known brands such as Under Armour, Adidas and Inaria, among others.
Diversification and specialization continued as Challenger Sports acquired the TetraBrazil Soccer Academy in October 2009. TetraBrazil, based out of Rio de Janeiro, had been providing unique Brazilian style coaching to players in the US for over 10 years and now under the Challenger umbrella grew exponentially.
2010 saw Challenger Sports enhance their activities for young children by enlisting the support of specialist childcare and sports professional, Chris Sharman. His industry experience and specific knowledge of early learning development helped Challenger create an innovative preschool soccer program called TinyTykes. This curriculum of games, music, stories, and fun soccer themed activities was immediately a huge success throughout the US and remains one of Challenger’s fastest growing brands.
This success led Challenger to launch a new global franchise division based out of the UK. Initially franchising TinyTykes and TetraBrazil the company subsequently combined all of its coaching brands into an innovative and flexible Challenger Sports Franchise. Within two years over 50 franchise operations have launched across the UK, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Spain and Italy.
In 2012 Challenger Sports partnered with Tony DiCicco and acquired his highly respected residential goalkeeping camp SoccerPlus. The late Coach DiCicco was the former coach of the highly successful US Women’s National team. His SoccerPlus curriculum continues practices used by both his World Cup and Olympic Gold medal winning teams.
2014 saw Challenger Sports expand its goalkeeping division further as they partnered with former England International Goalkeeper Richard Lee and his innovative goalkeeping franchise GK Icon. Initially launched in 2009, Richard set up GK Icon to provide innovative training specifically developed for goalkeepers, backed by professional players’ training methods.
In 2018, after 33 years and being the first to deliver industry leading British themed soccer instruction to hundreds of thousands of young players, Challenger fused their British Soccer and TetraBrazil camp programs together to create a new and innovative model, again forging new territory in the world of soccer coaching.
The new Challenger International Soccer Camp reflects the truly global nature of the sport today and provides young players with a wide variety of coaching styles, practices, and influences that help them develop a well-rounded skill set. Challenger has taken the best coaching methodologies and practices from the most influential soccer playing nations, and have woven them together in a multi-faceted, multicultural, on and off field training experience.
Also featured in Challenger International Soccer Camps is our ground breaking iCHALLENGE app provided by our technology partner. Designed to help players prepare before camp, learn skills quicker and more efficiently during camp, participants continue their education and skill development with camp homework and on-going virtual training throughout their season, and the year.
Challenger Sport’s combination of youth coaching, manufacturing, franchising, and technology development, clearly positions the company in a unique space in the global soccer world. As the company continues to grow both vertically through expanding their range of product and services, and horizontally with continued global growth through strategic partnerships, franchising and internal expansion, Challenger is now realizing their original vision of positively impacting “all children” in “all” sports, by currently expanding their expertise into multiple sports.
Challenger Sports wants to ignite kids’ passion for sports and is committed to growing the game with partners like you.
