Coaching Platform Gives Players Access to Great Athletes

Apex Sports is changing how amateur athletes learn

Sure, everyone wishes they could play tennis like Novak Djokovic or maybe run a route as quickly as A.J. Green, but for most, becoming as good as the pros is a pipedream. Instead, we study them: watch tapes, review top ten plays and best jump shots to see if we can learn from their basic mechanics. The only thing that’s missing?  Advice from the athlete themselves. Apex Sports in Cincinnati is hoping to solve that problem by giving all aspiring athletes access to lessons from the greats with their new online platform.

“We saw a dilemma in the youth sports market where high-level coaching is what athletes need to reach their goals, but this is often financially out of reach,” said Marcus Davis, co-founder and CEO. “Great coaching is usually expensive and based on location. To solve this, we partner with professional athletes to develop online sports courses where amateur athletes learn their sport and position directly from the best players in the world.”

Logging on, up-and-coming athletes are greeted by familiar faces like Cardale Jones, former quarterback for The Ohio State University and current Los Angeles Chargers QB. The platform not only provides videos that break down position-specific plays and mental tips, but also written reviews that test the amateurs athletes’ knowledge. By breaking down financial and circumstantial barriers, Davis hopes to “even the playing field” by making access to big sports names more prevalent.

“Each of the three founders are lifelong athletes,” said Davis. “Growing up, I played football in high school and college, and my uncle is NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, so I learned firsthand from one of the best players who ever played the game. This was such a lucky, impactful circumstance and we realized that there are millions of athletes who are never going to have that kind of access.”

Additionally, because certain locales might not have access to coaches outside the “big 4” of soccer, baseball, football and basketball, specialized videos like those from Under Armour-sponsored lacrosse players Eric Law and Taylor Cummings are especially helpful. In this way, the digital platform isn’t just about access for young athletes — it also provides professional athletes a way to expand upon their existing brand by doing something positive for their communities.

“We’ve been trying to go more grassroots and build relationships with middle and high school coaches to bring their teams on as a larger group,” said Davis. “Ideally, we want to get to a point where we offer every major sport and grow our catalogue in terms of the interactive packages we offer.”

The UpTech accelerator graduates have built their future with the help of the greater Cincinnati network, where they’ve refined their ideas and focused on building meaningful relationships as members of Cintrifuse, a partner of Ohio Third Frontier.

“We considered going out to Silicon Valley, but right now, Ohio and the Cincinnati-area are taking off,” said Davis. “As a part of the entrepreneurial community here, we’ve been able to find great mentorship and resources that have made staying local our priority.”