Navsports CEO - Stewart Whicker

Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital 17th May 2010

2010-05-17T15:39:00.002+10:00

So today I received and email via LinkedIn from a gentleman named Don Mast, Don is Elliot Mast`s father.

What made this an inspiring email was Elliot who is only 11years old has decided to dedicate the whole of his 2010 baseball season to raising funds for the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.

His dad posted a link to Elliot’s blog http://elliotmast.blogspot.com/2010/04/challenge.html and after reading and watching Elliot’s video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlBe9m_1F-M I decided to contribute $100 to his campaign.

I think Elliot is doing a wonderful thing by raising not only money but awareness about sick kids and the special care they need, places like the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital is but one of hundreds of institutions that provide 24/7 care.

Well done Elliot you are a true champion.

Good luck this season and may your hits be home runs and your pitches fast.

Cheers
Stewart

Discount Badges 11th May 2010

2010-05-17T15:39:00.001+10:00

We have finally finished our discount voucher system.

Any sports business can now opt into being a Navsports Rewards Member.

If a fan followers any sports business that has opted in they will start receiving discount vouchers via email which they can print and redeem.

Sports businesses can also display what these discount vouchers can be used on, this info is available on their profile.

These discounts are displayed as a 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% badge that appears on a fans profile, every fan starts of with a 5% badge and the more they interact with Navsports, including adding a new friend, uploading photos or videos, writing comments, following sports businesses and a host of other things.

We hope to develop our rewards program further so any feedback is most welcome.

Cheers
Stewart

Who are the real leaders in sport? 30th March 2010

2010-05-17T15:37:00.000+10:00

You would think that the overpaid and most of the time highly egotistical elite athletes are the leaders, you may even think the heads of sporting organization are, some would even say that it's the passionate sports lover.

Well after twenty years of elite sports coaching, training a player that has reached Grand Slam success and being the owner/manager of a successful tennis academy coaching over two hundred kids per week, I have finally realized that the real leaders in sport are the kids and adults that want to make a difference the ones that dare to dream that they could be a star.

Everyone has varying degrees of passion for sport; it may just be they like watching it on television, listening to sport on the radio, playing or even watching live games. But the real leaders are the ones that get up before dawn, train like there is no tomorrow and then get up the next day and do it all again.

These people inspire others to watch them, support them and then ultimately to be like them. Out of two hundred kids in our programs I can only indentify two leaders, these kids ask and pursue for more they arrive early and leave late.

They work the hardest to develop their skills and they draw the attention of the people around them.

We all know of these leaders, we may have one living next door; they could even be a sibling, son, daughter or even the kid in our local team.

These leaders stand out in a crowd because they show more courage and strength to get up when most stay down.

They are the ones working odd jobs and chores around the home to earn the extra money to buy a new racquet, hockey stick, skates or whatever they need to train with.

I call these leaders the Passionate Skilled because you can have all the talent in the world but without skills you can never be a leader and skills come from hard work and belief.

Next time you see one of these leaders give them a pat on the back because they are the ones that make all sports great.

I would be interested to hear who you think the leaders in sport are.

Leave a comment if you like.

Cheers
Stewart

Moving Forward 18th March 2010

2010-05-17T15:36:00.000+10:00

have wrote many times in these blogs over the last few years that if it was easy then everyone would be doing it.

Well to make it a little easy and faster I am excited to announce that Marcelo will now be working fulltime on NavSports.

This is a giant achievement for NavSports as development has been slower than a drunk tortoise.

I never wanted to be the hare as I know that buildiing something worth while was going to take time.

Ok now that we are full steam ahead, our focus is going to be adding value to peoples lives when they join navsports.

There are three key areas that we will be focusing on.

1. NavSports Analytics: When a sports business, team, league or club complete at least 80% of their profile they will get instant access to national statisics on their sport.
Their competition broken down by location, events, personell, fans and more.

2. NavReward vouchers: When Fans follow a sports business, team, league or club that has opted into our rewards program that fan will get instant discount vouchers to use at that business.

3. Scout Me!: This is an exciting product that will allow the kids and adults with dreams of being the next big thing to promote themselves in front of sports management companies and create an opportunity to gather fans of their own.

So thats it for me today.

Take care and enjoy your sport,

Stewart

Feedback and the road ahead 22nd February 2010

2010-05-17T15:34:00.000+10:00

Its nearly March already, wow.

Over the last few months I have met with the Australian sports commission, club administrators and believe it or not NavSports competitors.

Getting feedback is vital to improving the site.

The feedback has been positive, in such a hugely competitive market like the internet its often difficult to stand out from all the noise.

The Crawford report which was a major review of the state of Australian sport, turned peoples heads, made them sit up and listen to the fact that Australian sport is strong in participation but weak in organisation.

Many sports bodies could lose funding because of the report, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief John Coates says the Crawford Report is an insult to everyone who has worked to get Australia to where it is on the Olympic stage.

As the report was commisioned by the Federal government and recommended a review on the way funding is divided between Olympic and non Olympic sports.

Sport is big business in Australia and I believe thats whats hurting sport.

The Crawford report is a timely reminder that things have to change if we want to get back to the heyday of Australias sporting successes.

NavSports is working on three key areas to achieve this goal.

1. Make sport cheaper for people
2. Make sport more easily accessabile
3. Better accurate statistics will help grow sport

Listening to the people on the ground and the people in high places has given me a unique perspective on the state of sport in Australia.

So my team and I will keep on moving forward, building, developing and innovating NavSports to make a difference.

Thats it from me today, have a great day.

Stewart

Ps, Also we are working on locking down the homepage to make NavSports easier to sign up and sign in, so a few changes are coming.

Board Meeting - Japanese 7th January 2010

2010-05-17T15:32:00.001+10:00

Anne Burgot was in Australia on holidays on the 7th January so Dean, Suzy and I all caught up for a nice get together during the evening.

Because Anne loves her tennis, I picked her up from her hotel in the city and we both had a hit of tennis out at the Marconi tennis academy for about an hour.

Anne and Suzy both got to meet Michelle and Riley for the first time with Riley taking an instant liking to both of them. Riley is only two but he likes to socialise lol.

Dean picked the restuarant , a small Japanese restuarant in north Strathfield. Suzy bought two nice bottles of wine one red and the other white.

After a great evening of food, wine and enjoying each others company we headed down to a little coffee shop in Concord for some desert and coffee.

Anne is back at work in Texas now but memories of that night will last for ever, we all had a great time.

Well back to work for me now too.

CheersStewart

Ps The only two missing were Marcelo who is in Brazil and Mark who is up in Queensland. Maybe this year we all can get together,

Year in Review 2009 17th December 2009

2010-05-17T15:31:00.000+10:00

This year has been the biggest for Navsports since we started this journey.

We achieved so many positive milestones during 2009, I just hope that 2010 will be as big if not bigger.

In FEBRUARY it was decided do a usability study on the Navsports website and overhaul the graphics. With the help of Jenna we created cutting edge profile designs and achieved a clear a coherent user interface.

MARCH saw our first Navsports USA Getting Started video with Jason Peck interviewing Rick Riccobono from USA Baseball.View interview here; http://navsports.com.au/project/cheerit/profile_video.php?id_user=4&video_pos=8

In APRIL with the help of the Rotary Club of Wetherill Park we held a fancy dress Dodgeball Charity event in aid of the Australian National Breast Cancer foundation raising over $2,800.

This is where I first met our now board member Suzy Balogh, Suzy was a special guest speaker from the National Breast Cancer foundation.

Check out the highlights from the day here; http://navsports.com.au/project/cheerit/profile_video.php?id_user=4&video_pos=9

In MAY Navsports branding campaign included having professionally designed tracksuits and shirts printed.

Worn by Zachary Garland and Jonathan Bejar at the National Junior Tennis Championships over the year have help with our brand awareness.

JULY saw a major milestone for Navsports with the launching of the Navsports USA site, with over 8,000 teams/organization in the directory, Navsports USA is now a major contact resource for sports fans.

In AUGUST, I was interviewed by ArLena Richardson an epublicist from Houston Texas on her radio program Deeper than the Game.

Also in August Navsports welcomed its fourth board member Anne Burgot.

In SEPTEMBER Navsports, Inc was officially created giving Navsports a USA base located in Austin Texas.

Also in September Marcelo Moraes our long time Chief Information Officer and Suzy Balogh an Olympic Gold medalist became our fifth and sixth Navsports board members.

OCTOBER was a big month for Navsports, Myself, Mark, Marcelo and Telma all travelled to the United States to meet with Anne and also meet with our Navsports USA attorney Mr. John J Gilluly, III from DLA Piper Attorneys.

Over the year we have had many minor and some major improvements to the site, Linked Data Analytics, NavPoints rewards system, Professional bloggers just to name a few. Over 2010 we will continue to update and innovate.

So 2009 was a great year for Navsports and a great year for me, having amazing people around me inspires me to move forward with my dreams and aspirations.

Thank you for reading this blog and for supporting Navsports.

Cheers
Stewart

National Juniors - Melbourne Park 9th December 2009

2010-05-17T15:28:00.002+10:00

Coaching aspiring athletes is a joy and getting to travel to Australian championships is a bonus.

I have spent the last five days down in Melbourne watching the best junior tennis players in the country.

Melbourne Park is an awesome venue, world class facility and home of the Australian Open.

My player Jonathan Bejar continues to do well, at the moment he is looking forward to the singles final of the consolation and the main draw doubles quarter final tomorrow.

Great weather great tennis and nice food from the Melbourne Park cafe.

Cheers
Stewart

Ps, He played a tough singles final but got the winners trophy in the end. Well done Jonny

Home 5th November 2009

2010-05-17T15:27:00.000+10:00

Well Mark and I have finally arrived back in Sydney, Australia.

Marcelo and Telma have returned home to Brazil, with Marcelo to continue to work on the site and implement the new strategies we developed over the last two weeks.

Building a product that people can use is a hard task, but if it is done with the right motivation it should be a fantastic product in the end.

Coupon systems, Linked data anlytics, Group pages, Commenting on photos, blogs are just some of the things we are working on at the moment.

The trip to America was many things and eye opening was one of them.

Anne continues to liase with our US attorneys in the establishement of Navsports USA and further refine our corporate image for potential investors.

I would like to thank everyone that helped make this trip possible, My wife Michelle and son Riley, the Board of Navsports and the many friends that help keep me focused on the big picture.

Cheers
Stewart

Grand Canyon and Beyond 30th October 2009

2010-05-17T15:26:00.001+10:00

Wow is an understatement when it comes to describing the GrandCanyon.

Breath taking views leave you in awe of the power and beauty of nature.

Spending the last week and a bit with my friends traveling from Texas thru New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and now SanFrancisco has also given me the understanding that happiness in life is about who you spend your jouneys with more importantly than the places that you visit.

This trip is primarily about strengthening US ties with Navsports but is equally about strenghtening my friendships.

Marcelo, Telma, my brother Mark and me have travelled over 2200 miles since Texas travelling hours and hours in a car during the day and spending nights together in one hotel room to save money and enjoying the sites together have been an amazing experience.

A sobering thought for me as I write this blog is that my wife and two year old child are over ten thousand miles away in Australia without me.

I skype them every day and message with text and photo updates two or three times a day, this is no subsitute for not being there and I miss them very much. I cannot wait to have them in my arms.

In a short five days I will be boarding the plane for the 14hr flight home, I will take with me many things besides souveniuors and memories, I will take home a new sense of direction not just for Navsports but for my life. The people that share your life are the ones that matter the most .

I wrote in earlier blogs that even though Navsports is pre revenue, it was already a success.

Navsports has brought together people that have a dream and belief that if you have a little faith that more exists than what you have now, you will find it.

Cheers
Stewart
Ps Next stop Silicon Valley then LA

ForthWorth - Rodeo 25th October 2009

2010-05-17T15:25:00.000+10:00

Following our meeting with John J Gilluly, III in down town Austin, we made a three hour trip to Dallas then over to FortWorth for a Texas style rodeo.

Mark was in his element and loved the atmosphere, we all did but Mark had the most fun because when he was younger he rode horses, bulls and it brought back fond memories.

Stayed at the Radisson in Fortworth but because we had to leave at 5am we ended up sleeping for 4hrs.

We decided to drive straight through to FlagStaff Arizona, Passing through Oklahoma,Texas, New Mexico and then finally Arizona.

17hrs with a few stops along the way, we finally made it. We found a nice but noisy hotel the Rodeway Inn right on the rail line.

We had dinner at a nice pizza diner call the Alpine Diner est. in 1973, a few slices of pizza and a pitcher of beer later we are finally in our room going to bed.

Tomorrow we are visiting the Grand Canyon which is a few hours from FlagStaff.
More updates tomorrow.

Cheers
Stewart

Ps. The meeting went great with DLA Piper, we all walked away with a clearer understanding of the direction Navsports has to take.

Texas BBQ 23rd October 2009

2010-05-17T15:24:00.001+10:00

Just finished a nice BBQ dinner at Stubs resturant on the corner of River and 1st Street down town Austin.

Earlier today we visited the Austin Botanical gardens and early this evening I played tennis with Anne Burgot and her friend Jorge at the University of Austin's tennis complex.

Now I am sitting in the hotel room with Marcelo, Mark and Telma on our last night in Austin. Tomorrow morning we meet with our Attorney in down town Austin and then we will be off to Dallas.

I think I can say on behalf of all of us, we had an awesome time in Austin.

It was great to meet up with Anne and excellent to see the sites and eat the local food.

Thats enough from me for now.

Cheers
Stewart

New Improvements Coming!

2009-10-02T10:37:00.003+10:00

Navsports has been a work in progress for a few years now and the development was really never meant to be easy.

But as a consequence of the longer period of time to build the site we have had the opportunity to learn, learn what works and what does not.

So graphics change, user interface gets better and new features are added in.Thanks to Marcelo and our small team that are contantly moulding Navsports into a great and successful website.

These are just some of the things we are working on at the moment and should have them up in the very near future.

1. A discount voucher system, this discount system is tied into the NavPoints rewards system which rewards Navsports users with points when they interact with the site.

This means that when you as a user followers a Team/Club/Organization you will get discount vouchers to use at those businesess.

For details see here navsports.com/project/cheerit/voucher_system.php

2. New and improved graphics, The look and feel of Navsports is very important to us and our users. we have hundreds of content pages on Navsports and over the last few years many pages had started to runaway from where they should be, So we have contracted Jenna Law an award winning Graphic design and user interface specialist who is based out of London.

Jenna has been instrumental in bringing Navsports upto date as a fresh clean and crisp site.

3. Navigating around Navsports huge site can get messy and we realised that, so thats why we sat back and went oh crap and then contacted Jenna who has improved the site 100%Well we have a few more things under development like allowing Users to create groups, these groups could be a fan page, sporting activity pages or just a general hang out for you and your friends.

Hope you enjoy Navsports and remember that this site is a stand alone product that has been custom built from the ground up over many years, with a very small team of dedicated people with a vision and that vision is to bring sport to everyone.

Cheers,

Stewart

Navsports Inc.

2009-10-02T10:34:00.002+10:00

Well its official, Navsports Limited has an international arm in the United States of America. Navsports Inc has been established.

Navsports Inc. will make doing business in the States so much easier.

Anne Burgot Navsports Inc`s secretary and treasurer will be making contact with many organisations to get involved with Navsports.

With the upcoming trip to the States in October, we are busy organizing investor meetings and the like.

Also Navsports board has been extended to include Suzy Balogh (Olympic and Commonwealth Gold Medalist) and Marcelo Moraes.

The whole Board welcomes Suzy and Marcelo and looks forward to the many benefits they will bring to Navsports.

Cheers,
Stewart

Marcelo Moraes

2009-10-02T10:33:00.000+10:00

Marcelo Moraes has join the board as an Executive Director.

Marcelo has long been Navsports Chief Information Officer responsible for the development of the software architecture that makes up the Navsports website.

Having Marcelo on the board only strenghtens the company in such a competitive market.We now have six Board members, they are Stewart Whicker CEO, Dean Viglione Chairman, Anne Burgot Managing Director, Marcelo Moraes Chief Infomation Officer, Mark Whicker Executive Director and Suzy Balogh Athlete Representitive.

The Navsports Board consists of the most passionate sports lovers and enthusiastic business people I know.

Having the right people on the bus makes for an exciting adventure.

Enough from me today.

Cheers,

Stewart

Navsports Board

2009-10-02T10:30:00.000+10:00

Hi, its been a few weeks and its time for an update.

I would like to personally welcome Anne Burgot to the executive team, Joining the Navsports board as its fourth executive director.

Welcome Anne and we all look forward to the expertise you will bring to the company.

Further updates include the Navsports American version of the information memorandum and Mark and I have booked our flights to Texas for the 18th October 2009.

If someone said will Navsports become a very successful company, I would say it is already just have alook at the people on the board and the people involved in its development.

As time goes on more and more of the right people are becoming involved in an idea born out of making sport more transparent and easily accessible by all.

Oh I forgot to mention that Marcelo and his lovely wife Telma have moved back to Brazil from Japan to live and will be joining Mark and I in Texas in October.

Well thats the latest update on Navsports.

Cheers for now,
Stewart

Radio Interview - Deeper than the Game

2009-10-02T10:28:00.001+10:00

My first radio interview was a blast.

Ar Lena Richardson the host of Deeper than the Game broadcasted out of Houston Texas USA interviewed me on Skype on the 21st August.

You can hear the interview here spiritquestradio.com/archiveweb/?p=Ar_Lena_Richardson-Deeper_Than_The_Game A big thanks to Ar Lena for having me on her show.

When I skyped into the interview Ar Lena was in the middle of a thunder storm in Houston, but after a few minutes of technical issues we set off on a great journey through my early sporting involvements to running a successful Tennis Academy to the dream that Navsports is.

The interview starts about four minutes in so fast forward.Cheers for now and catch you soon.

Stewart

Here we are!

2009-10-02T10:25:00.002+10:00

Here we are after many a winding road.

Yes, we have finally landed in the United States of America the land of the Free and home of the Brave.

I have long dreamt of launching a sports website in the States and I have to thank a few people.

Number one has to be the Family and friends that have invested in a dream and number two has to be Marcelo Moraes a very humble and amazing man.Without these people Navsports would not be a reality.

So here it is Navsports America, I hope you enjoy, tell your friends and join a great website that can help you better enjoy your sport.

Cheers,

Stewart WhickerFounder/CEONavsports

Top photo - Thats Marcelo (left) and Me in Japan November 2008

So What Now?

2009-10-02T10:16:00.001+10:00

So we have launched the Navsports USA site, so what are we going to do now?Well work even harder to market, develop relationships and improve the functioning of the site.

I made contact with a very delightful lady in Houston Texas who I met through Sportsmarketing2.0 her name is Arlena Richardson and she is a sports publicist.

We will be working closely with Arlena to promote and develop relationships with the site.

Mark and I are looking forward to traveling to Texas in October to meet with potential investors and meet up with Arlena and someone who has been working very hard on the Navsports USA site Anne Burgot.

We just added a comprehensive children’s policy and new features to notify minors parents of their children’s activities on the site, so now kids 6 to 13 can enjoy the many benefits Navsports has to offer including the Scout Me! area.

Our Linked Data Administration is fully functional and has been made available to National and State bodies to help them better promote their sport by accessing real time metrics on their sport country wide.

Well that’s the update for today.

Sign up, tell some friends and enjoy the site.

Cheers,
Stewart

Branding

2009-10-02T10:12:00.002+10:00

Navsports as a brand should be an easy thing to market; it has so many things going for it.

Navsports appeals to the young and old alike, its a young fresh company, a practical online utility that lets you connect with local and national sports clubs and your sporty friends, it’s a great resource for all sports news and a great environment to contribute to and participate in many different sporting discussions.

So how do we brand Navsports? Well one of our ideas is to sponsor some of our aspiring young up and coming athletes by way of a clothing deal.Navsports has set its eyes on two young tennis players named Zachary Garland and Jonathan Bejar.

Zac and Jonny both train at the Marconi Tennis Academy and are a lead example of professionalism when it comes to their sport.

Two role models that will wear our newly designed warm up tracksuits at tournaments around Australia.Zac trains at the National High Performance Academy at the international tennis centre Home Bush NSW twice per week and is a stand out player amongst he’s peers.

And Jonny is a standout at tournaments around the State, continually making semis and finals of tournaments.

The Tracksuits have been specially designed by a leading Sydney design company called “Percept”.

Percept has worked closely with us to find the right fit when it comes to branding Navsports and we are excited about the fresh young and fashionable concepts they have delivered.

The look we have opted for is above, clean lines and a high fashion feel.

Thanks to Percept, Zac and Jonny Navsports will be branded in just the right way.

Cheers,

Stewart

The Problem with Australian Sport.

2009-10-02T10:05:00.000+10:00

I am not sure if you have noticed lately but over the last ten to fifteen years Australia`s success on a National and International stage has declined dramatically.

Why is this so?I have been studying the decline of Australian sport now for the past five years and the conclusion that I have come to is not without controversy.

Let me be clear it’s not participation that has declined; participation is at its highest rate ever.

It’s the pursuit of excellence and the opportunities to become a world champion thathave declined.

The business of sport has stifled the dreams of so many young people and it’s a shame, human potential denied by greed.

In business the number one thing is to remain in business, the other is to not give your competitors advantages.And here in lies the problem, why give a customer the opportunity to improve by telling them that a better opportunity is just down the road at a competitors business, because that would be business suicide.

A few years ago I had a meeting with the General Manager of a major New SouthWales sporting organisation and the number one problem facing this organisation was, they just did not know how many private businesses and how many people frequent these businesses.

He knew who his affiliates where but not the sub affiliates in a given geographic area.I run a successful sporting complex and any overflow of customers I gladly refer to my competitors in our area.

I do this to keep the consumers interest alive in the sport they want to try.Sadly this does not happen in reverse, because it’s the belief that a lost customer to a competitor only emboldens the opposition.

This is so not true, it emboldens the consumer to know that they can participate when they want and to know that many opportunities exist to participate.

But what about the consumers that want to pursue their sport, the ones that want to reach the height’s that the sport can bring them, again this is stifled by the business of sport.I cannot blame a business person for putting their mortgage payments ahead offurthering an athlete’s development, that’s logical.

I was at a sports training lecture many years ago and the lecturer said that “Goodathletes cost you money”.

So in other words don’t work towards developing top athletes, just provide basic opportunities to keep them coming back to your business.

From a business point of view that statement is correct, so how do we change the way sport is run in Australia.Well businesses are not going to change; it has to be the consumer.

The consumer cannot afford to just stumble into their sport, they have to know exactly what, where and how sport can propel them forward in their endeavors.

In other words sport itself needs to become transparent and the internet is the perfect place to start.

A multiple sports directory and social friends site is the way forward, connect sports businesses, fans and athletes together and better opportunities will exist to get Australia back on top in the sporting world.

Cheers,

Stewart

Relevance

2009-10-02T09:50:00.004+10:00

What is relevance?

According to Wikipedia "Relevance is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable something is to a given matter.

A thing is relevant if it serves as a means to a given purpose."So the word relevance has been floating around my head the last few days and I have been meaning to write this blog about that word and how it relates or is relevant to Navsports.

As a social utility Navsports has been designed to be relevant to the consumer in many ways.1. Comprehensive sports club directory. 2.Latest sports news aggregator. 3. Sports social network of player’s, fans and athletes.

If Navsports is not relevant to consumers then the site fails and what’s relevant to one person may not be relevant to the other, so what is Navsports real relevance to the wider community?

The answer is transparency, that’s why I started creating Navsports in the first place.

To make sport open and easily accessible to the world, because I felt that the commercialization of sport had closed the doors on so many possibilities and opportunities.

I had the opportunity to meet and discuss the idea of Navsports with Suzy Balogh who is an amazing trap shooting athlete who has scaled the heights of her sport by winning an Olympic and Commonwealth Gold medal and she agrees that sport needs to be made more easily accessible to the wider community.

Since that meeting I have been fortunate enough to attend an open day held by Suzy at the Sydney International Shooting Range out at the Cecil Park complex, it was my first shooting experience and I loved it.

Sport allows so much opportunity in our lives from the satisfaction of personal achievement to the understanding of sacrifice, its character building and allows us to make lifelong friends.Suzy also shot a welcome to Navsports promo and a great interview for our Navsports sports intro video series.

Thanks to Suzy the concept of transparency has been reinforced, without it I would never have met her and had my first shooting lesson taught by an Olympic Gold medalist.

Navsports provides these opportunities not just to me but everyone.Over time I hope and pray that more and more people find Navsports helpful in showing them that their sporting opportunities might be just around the corner.

Cheers,

Stewart

A blog I posted on Sportmarketing2.0 (What have you learnt)

2009-10-02T09:46:00.000+10:00

Hi Everybody,2009 with the world in economic crisis, I predict sports social media will explode.

Why because its sport, you can do it anytime and anywhere.

True it can cost but not to kick the ball around in the park or not to much cost to catch a live action game.

Interacting online is probably the quickest and one of the cheapest was to keep informed and to engage with your favourite team.So what have you learned in the last year, have you become wiser and more optimistic or have you hit a brick wall.

Jason Peck has it right on the money when he talks about brands interacting with their consumer base, providing one to one interaction is the key to success.

I want to know who in the group is doing this and how has it worked for you?.

Consumers want to not only feel that they are part of a team they want to feel they are the star of the team and rightly so, they are the ones who drive up the revenue.

Widgets, blogging, ratings and reviews are just a few of the things some major brands are starting to use, Some with great success and others sadly not.

Today more than ever the internet is one of the the most resourceful tools to engage other people, but after checking their emails, logging into facebook and catching up on the lastest news on Digg why would anyone come to your website?How to make your website one of only 3 or 4 stops is the key.

Personalised engagement is the answer, make the consumer feel like they are the star of the team, interact on a one to one basis, allow them to take control and you will have the next big thing in sports social media. Creative thinking is all you need, so what are you waiting for go on get in there.

CheersStewart Whicker

Dodgeball Charity Event - April 09

2009-10-02T09:34:00.002+10:00

Wow what a day, I think many players are still sore even 4 days after the event.

April 5th will go down as one of the highlights of 2009.

We raised $2800 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and had such a ball doing it (excuse the pun).

Thank you to all the players and especially to the Wetherill Park Rotarians that made the day possible.

And a huge thank you to our major Sponsors - Club Marconi and Lazer Runner Smithfield. For photos and a video of the day check out the our Dodgeball page on Navsports navsports.com.au/project/cheerit/club.php?id=20126 We even had an Olympic Gold medalist Suzy Balogh come out and give us a talk on what its like winning a gold medal and also as an Ambassodor for the NBCF a talk on a very worthy foundation.

What a day.

April already

2009-10-02T09:32:00.000+10:00

How time flies.Again things are moving along really well, Marcelo is finishing of the new user profile designs and fixing a few small bugs here and there.

Dean is off to Singapore on the 8th April for an investor meeting.

Deans contacts in India like what navsports represents and have shown an interest in the product.

Jason Peck in America is putting together the sports intro interviews that will be featured on the Navsports USA website.

I am working on getting more sports intro interviews going to provide more quality content on the site.Members are streaming in nicely and the feed back has been awesome.

Well thats a small update on all things Navsports.

Keep tuned for moreStewart

Navsports update no# 1088

2009-02-15T17:48:00.003+11:00

Navsports update no# 1088, just kidding.

Thou it does feel like that sometimes.

Seriously I could not be happier with how Navsports is going, with all the ups and downs the future gets clearer every day.

Chief information officer and all round nice guy Marcelo, is powering ahead with the Navsports build. Functionality wise we are in a very strong position, In between snowboarding in the Japanese Alps he is fine tuning our awesome platform and is nearing the goals we set early last year.

So what next, I am glad you ask.

I have set in motion a series of events that will hopefully have Navsports Australia and Navsports North and South America fully operational by mid 2009.

Before I talk about those events I want to tell you a little story.

I have been coaching tennis for over 18 years now and early on in my coaching career I develop certain philosophies, one of the philosophies was to bring in not just better players to train with my students but professionals. Guys and girls that have been there and done that before.

Professionals that were not going to win 6-4 or 6-3 against my students but players that could flog them 6-0.

Why would I do that, well I did that to give my students a reality check for they would have to make a decision after the flogging “Do I give up and take up some other sport or do I train harder and be determined to come back another day and fight once more”.

I would never let my students play these matches without me being there as I had to observe how these professionals broke my students down and then we could work hard on them if that’s what the student wanted.

Well it works; I trained a player this way all the way to multiple Australian junior championships, a junior grand slam (Australian Open) doubles final and on to a world ATP ranking.

How does this relate to Navsports, well in a very big way it does.

I have been hitting with players of my own ability and sometimes with players that could just beat me (metaphorically speaking). I have been too blinded and scared of reality because I really did not know the reality of where I was with Navsports.

So I have taken the leap of faith and called in the big boys the guys that could flog me 6-0.

At first I was scared of getting a flogging because I thought I was already good, but I realized it’s the floggings that can make me great.

Enter Demonz Media http://www.demonzmedia.com/index.html headed by the charismatic David Barrett an IT specialist that has been there and done that.

David and his team at Demonz Media have given me that flogging I sorely needed.

Bruised and nearly broken by the brute reality of where I was with Navsports David showed me the weakness in my game, his honest opinion and belief that Navsports can be a world beater has given me the strength to hold my head high and fight on, not blindly, not ignorantly but with clarity.

Navsports weakness is neither in its ideas nor its team but in its knees and its mobility around the court.

Getting a little lower to the ground and strengthening our speed around the court would improve Navsports game tremendously and that’s what David and the Demonz crew are currently helping us on.

Making Navsports simple on the eye (getting closer to the ground) and developing a better User interface (faster navigation around the court) are the areas we are now working on.

Demonz Media are the professionals and I am so glad to have them on our Team.

Stewart

Demonz logo – Check out their website its cool

Japan

2008-12-27T16:36:00.001+11:00

It`s funny where life takes you isn’t it?

One minute I am dreaming about making a big internet sports business the next thing I am in Japan.

Well the trip to Japan was all in the aid of developing the business, you see Marcelo our chief information officer and creator of all Navsports great functionality has moved to Japan.

One would say that distance when it comes to developing an online business is no problem, but I say unless you can talk eye to eye then things are sure to fail.

Marcelo is married to a fantastic woman and her parents just happen to live in Japan, Marcelo told me months before that he was moving, so I had plenty of time to organize a business trip with Navsports other director Mark (my brother).

We arrived on November 21st for a ten day trip. It turned out to be a great journey. Marcelo and his wife Telma chaperoned us all over Japan, without Telma`s grasp of the Japanese language we would have seen only a quarter of what we saw.

We travelled daily, using the super efficient local rail system and the awesome bullet trains (270kms hr) for longer distances to places like Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Hamamatsu and Tokyo.

At night we would work on the site.

We achieved so much in Japan, getting the site online and strengthening our friendship.
I must tell you the things that really stood out for me was the amount of vending machines (they are everywhere), the amount of restaurants (again they are everywhere) the urban sprawl (not much open area) and the most striking thing was how polite and respectful the Japanese people are.

I will never forget my trip to Japan; it was really special made even more special because of the people I shared it with.

Bye for now…Stewart

Dodge Ball Tournament for Charity

2008-12-27T16:34:00.000+11:00

Back in 2005 Tony Destefano (owner of Body WorksLife Gym) and myself put together an awesome event. We put together a fancy dress dodgeball tournament with imported sanctioned dodgeballs from America all just for fun and now on February 8th 2009 we will be doing it again this time with the help from the Rotary Club of Wetherill Park and Navsports. The ultimate fancy dress dodgeball tournament and all in the aid of Breast Cancer research.

Music, BBQ and lots of fun await all participants and spectators.

Keep tuned as more details will be available of the coming months.

Check out the photo below from our last tournament in 2005.

Close to launch

2008-08-09T11:48:00.006+10:00

So here we are after months of hard work at times very frustrating and at others very rewarding. Navsports is less than two months away from launching what is going to be the " Ultimate sports community for news, organisations, teams and friends". That tag line was critiqued by Jason Peck who has now become Navsports North American media contact and sports marketing consultant. I met Jason who lives in North Carolina through http://www.sportsmarketing20.com/ a sports digital think tank. With Jason`s experience and knowledge I believe we have the right man for the job.

Over many months Navsports has been refined and continues to be refined by a dedicated team, no one person can claim ownership of navsports it belongs to all the hard working people like Marcelo, Derek, Kirrily, Ash, Spencer, Kyle, Alfie, Matt, Dean, Mark, Wendy, John and many more volunteers. These are the people that have made Navsports grow from an idea to a reality.

So what ever happens when we launch if its a huge success or not, I want to say thank you.

Keep tuned cause navsports is coming soon.

Stewart

BRW top 100 Australian websites

2008-06-25T18:07:00.004+10:00

Last week Dean and I went along to the BRW top 100 Australian web 2.0 company luncheon.
Nice wine and posh food and some very passionate speakers.

What did I take away from the luncheon? I took away the feeling that 99% of all web companies in Australia are struggling and that they are having to go off shore to find any VC firms that may be interested in their venture.

Speakers included Sean Aylmer - Editor-in-chief BRW, John Butterworth - AIMIA CEO, Duncan Riley - CEO The Inquisitr, Malcolm Thornton - Investment Director Starfish Ventures. They all spoke about the online state of innovation in Australia and all concluded that there are many Australian companies willing to have a go no matter how many barriers are in place.

I suppose thats the Australian spirit, no mountain is to high.

From my experience if I did not have such a great supporting wife and a successful business outside of Navsports I would have packed it in a long time ago. Passion is one thing but cold hard cash is by sure a major driving force of the worlds best entrepreneurial ideas.

My mate Mark Chen from Sportslogic sent me an ebook called Good to Great by Jim Collins, I have started to listen to it and it makes a whole lot of sense and is helping me put a lot of things into prespective.

Running a great company is about the people in the company and acquiring great people is a very hard thing to do, finding passionate people with a vision of what can be is hard.

I have come to realise that it takes time, I am glad I have hit hurdles (big ones at times) and some times encounted huge set backs. The vision I have had for Navsports right from the beginning has changed. It has evolved, it had to to have any chance of success and I realize know that its not always about the product but about the company you keep the people you bring along for the ride. Having people that share your vision and get excited about the possibilities is what makes Navsports great to work on, any more from here is just a bonus.

Stewart

Making Meaning

2008-05-28T17:27:00.003+10:00

So the other day I came across a video of Guy Kawasaki, Guy was at Apple computers in the early days and help build the company into one of the prominent industry leaders of the day.

But these days Guy heads up a venture capital company called Garage Technology Ventures.

The video focused on his book "The Art of the Start". One of the many great points in this video was this rule for successful entrepreneurs.

Make Meaning

Focus on making meaning, not money. If your vision for your company is to grow it just to flip it to a large company or to take it public and cash out, "you're doomed". Kawasaki says that great companies are built around one of three kinds of meaning:

1. Increase the quality of life. Make people more productive or their lives easier or more enjoyable.

2. Right a wrong. A variant on the above. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

3. Prevent the end of something good. Preserve something classic or historical. Save the whales.

I believe that Navsports follows this rule and it was great to know that what I am trying to do with Navsports is all about the three points above.

The rest of his video was equally insightful and I pick up some great pointers.

The status of Navsports, is that we are moving ahead swimmingly. Great progress and features are being developed every day.

We are heavily using Ajax throughout the site to maximise the users experience and I must say that this technology is really cool.

Well back to work for me.

Stewart

Top Contributors

2008-05-17T18:22:00.002+10:00

The members of navsports are the ones that make the site great. Without their contributions every day the site would not be growing and have the wonderful content it has.

So with that said we have just launched a new feature recognizing the top contributors to navsports.

On the homepage you will find a new section which shows you the top members by "comments" (last seven days), "submissions" (last seven days) and the all time "navpoints" leaders.

More great stuff is coming, our aim is to offer a unique product which is painfully easy to use.

We are constantly talking with national sporting bodies, local clubs and the people that play sport. We are implementing their feedback into what promises to be an excellent resource tool for community sports clubs, participants and fans.

Listening and learning is what I have come to realise as one of the most important things to success, so that is the reason after seventeen years I have finally made it to university, Sydney Uni to be exact.

I am studying web design and programming and gee coming from a sports management background this has been a huge eye opener. I have realised that I can create even better products to help grassroots clubs and anyone interested in sports to truly find out transparent info relating to all things sport.

Back to study for me, bye for now.

Derby Day

2008-04-27T11:15:00.002+10:00

I had a great day yesterday at the lawn party for the Royal Randwick Derby Day (Sydney).

It was a suit and tie event with about six thousand people and some great race day races.

Once you got in it was free food and drink and as the day got on you can imagine six thousand intoxicated people.

The site development is going well but without outside investment its slow. Marcelo is great and passionate about making navsports work, he has the technical skills to implement the design Kirrily created for the site late last year.

Members are steadily growing and providing valuable feedback.

Thats me for today, bye for now.

Cameron Mooney AFL star joins Navsports

2008-03-29T08:02:00.002+11:00

Well we finally wrap up filming and editing the promotional video with Cameron Mooney an AFL player and team member of the 2007 grandfinal winners the Geelong Cats.

Cameron is a great amassodor for Navsports as he really believes that promoting grassroot sports is an excellant cause.

I have just sent out press releases to the major print, radio, and tv outlets in Victoria letting them know about the online promo with Cameron Mooney, you can view it here http://www.navsports.com.au/video/navtv.php?video=1206336173.flv

With many things happening with the development of the site including me enrolling at Uni studying webdesign and programming. Things are really looking up, Members are increasing daily and the online sports store is trading well.

I will keep you all upto date with the next developments in my next blog, some exciting things are coming to Navsports.

Bye for now
Stewart

New month - March

2008-03-02T15:03:00.004+11:00

Things are starting to pick up, the navpoints have been implemented which means our members get get heaps more than just good sports articles, they can get shirts, hats and even movie tickets. Check it out just signing up gives you 2000 points.

The sports stars are very close to signing up as navsports ambassadors. I can not mention who they are yet not until we nut out their roles and responsibilities, but I must say the two guys we have coming in are top notch guuys and I am very happy they think we have a great product to help grassroots sports in Australia.

I also have to tell you we have made great improvements to our online shop, you can now get lots of different sporting equipment from dodgeballs to basketballs, check it out and the prices are very competitive.

Well back to work for me, bye for now.

Stewart

Moving forward

2008-02-21T10:20:00.004+11:00

Ideas are one thing putting them into practice is another thing all together.

What makes a good idea in the first place, now thats another thing.

Well the things I have been working on are a combination of my ideas and borrowed ideas so hopefully at least one will work.

I have engaged a number of sports agencies to find like minded sports stars that are interested in promoting grassroots sports and to my surprise there are quite a few stars that are willing to get involved. So stay tuned as over the next month Navsports will be working closely with some well known sports stars to promote Navsports and in turn promote grassroots sports.

The other things in the pipeline is navpoints a rewards system for loyal navsports members.
For each action a member undertakes on the site, they will be rewarded with navpoint and then when they reach a certain level of navpoints they can redeem them for rewards such as shirts, hats, discounts of navsports shop, movie tickets and so on.

I great website that I have recently joined was Sports Marketing 2.0 http://www.sportsmarketing20.com/ the site is a great resource of industry leading experts in sports marketing.

Will add more updates next week and let you know who the sports stars are that will be supporting Navsports.

Stewart

Australia Day 2008

2008-01-26T15:08:00.000+11:00

Watching the womens final of the Australian Open having a few beers and a BBQ is a great way to spend Australia Day.

Over the last few days I have been assessing the direction of the company and along with the revised IM I have decided to explore merging the two existing sites navsports.com and navsports.com.au the former being the club directory and the latter being the sports news aggregator. I will be looking to implement a few features that should keep people coming back time and time again.

The release of a new media release through the AAP network has been well received with many news outlets picking up the release.

New member registrations are flowing in steadily and the feed back I am receiving is extremely encouraging.

Well my steak is ready so by for now.

Stewart

So much to do

2008-01-17T14:35:00.000+11:00

Gee I cannot wait to get venture capital, there is so much to do I get a headache just thinking of it.

From researching market sizes to editing the navsports tv show to constantly trying to improve the functionality of the websites and much much more its driving me crazy.

The number one priority is to get funding, indepth market analysis and finachial forecasting is what I am working on at this moment and will probably take me a few weeks.

Ok back to work for me...

2008 the beginning of something special

2008-01-09T21:41:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone as my first blog for 2008 I would like to wish everyone a great 2008.

My last blog mentioned the birth of my my first child Riley, Michelle and I are so blessed its hard to describe. If the adventures of sports entreprenuer does not quite work out the way I hope it will then I take solice in knowing that my greatest achievement is my beautiful son.

I have to build a business for Riley to work in one day so I better turn the attention back to what this blog is really for, talking about the trials and tribulations of building the worlds best sports promotion company.

We, that is Matthew, Craig, Derek and Kristen have finally finished shooting the first episode of Navsports Tv for Sydney`s local community channel. The show is about promoting grass root sports and taking the piss out of current hot topics in sport.

You know the hardest thing is editing the first episode, we have plenty of footage but having never edited a tv show before and then coming up with something good is a hard task.

Something funny I said to the boys was what do you expect for a budget of $7.50 (thats what 3 bottles of water cost that I bought for the guys when shooting the show).

Well the community channel gave me good feedback so now I am re-editing the show, I am confident that the show will work and will help drive up our memebers on the site.

It's back to editing for me so bye for now. Catch ya next week as I hope to make these blogs a weekly occurance.

Birth of first baby

2007-12-30T11:19:00.000+11:00

Riley Ronald Whicker arrived on the 16th November at 7:59am, the day my life changed.

Riley had been planned for many years and has taken over 4 years to arrive but wow was it worth it yes yes yes.

Mum and bub are doing fantastic and at the time of writing this Riley is now 6 weeks old and smiling at us constantly (it could be wind not sure).

Between changing nappies and nursing Riley I am learning more and more about coding and running a sports social media site. Everything is a learning experience both being a father for the first time and running a business that in todays world is very hard.

Over the last few months many things have opened up (still no major investors yet) I and Navsports chairman Dean Viglione have had meetings with venture capital firms Accede Capital and Southerncross investments, some great feedback was acquired from both.

I will be working on some new strategies over January 08 and hopefully we will move ever closer to raising badly needed funding.

Well nappies need changing bye for now.

Time sure does get on

2007-10-29T11:49:00.000+11:00

Well its been a few months since the last blog, so I will give a brief run down on whats been happening.

The venture capital broker is working out well the company has been restructured to be investment ready. The site has many great functioning features such as the sports news aggregation service, our getting started program, our navsports tv show and the online shop. The sports clubs directory and social networking side is in development and is looking to be a huge influence on sports promotion.

The employees have finished up working out of my rumpus room and are just doing some fine tuning at their homes to make the existing features on http://www.navsports.com.au/ bug free.

An information memorandum and multi media presentation has been created and sent out to prosepective investors, so its a what and see game now. Navsports will only reach its true potential if it gets funding. (fingers crossed)

Michelle has stopped work and is due in three weeks OMG. I`m going to be a dad. I am blessed.

The babies room is complete and we are just awaiting the arrival of our first child now.

Michelle finished up work on Friday and received nice presents and a warm goodbye from her work mates and bosses.

Well its time to get back to work. bye

Racquet Ball King

2007-08-07T20:33:00.001+10:00

Well I have regained my crown as the racquet ball king today flogging Dean in straight sets.

Racquet ball is a favourite sport of mine manly because I am good at it. Next week Dean will probably get his revenge but thats ok because it will be a competitive match.

The team is working tomorrow, still a few weeks behind so they will have to lift their game and get up to speed if we are to finish the project by November.

Oh Michelle and I are picking up the babies room furniture tomorrow, something we are both really looking forward to.

Bye for now...

Time In Vicentia

2007-08-06T22:47:00.001+10:00

Michelle and I spent the weekend down at Aileens holiday home in Vincentia southern NSW. We slept in Saturday, watch a pregnany dvd and a couple of Harry Potter dvds.

Saturday night we went to a stonegrill restaurant, it was very unique as they bring your steak out raw on a very hot stone, you cut bite size pieces and it cooks right there in front of you. (very good night).

Things are moving slow with the website but its moving in the right direction.

I have engaged capitalised.com to help raise $1,500,000 for expansion and development of the navsports website.

At the moment I am putting together an information memorandum, its coming together very nicely and I should have it done by the end of the week.

I will be moving the company to an unlisted public company which will make the company more transparent.

I have asked Dean Viglione to be the chairman of the company as he has many years experience in running very successful companies.

well time to hit the pillows big day tomorrow when I take on Dean in a game of racquet ball, he got me the last couple of times but tomorrow will be payback time.

Week Goes Quick

2007-07-25T14:54:00.001+10:00

Gee the week goes quick.

I had the meeting today with capitalised.com and the meeting seemed to go well. Its the next step to get the company really moving along.

Michelle and I had lunch with Wendy and her sister Cheryl at Rossettis today, Wendy is my brother Marks wife. She is down from the coast to visit her mother who is in hospital at the moment.

I have decided to employ Glen who will be assisting Ashley with design implementation, he will start next week Mon,Wed and Thursdays.

Brother Billy is moving back to Western Australia next week to work with people with disabilities his family is following a couple of weeks later.

I have to work at the MTA tonight till 6pm as Aileen one of my staff is on a mystery tour today and wont be back until then. I am really not at the MTA except when I have lessons or its a weekend.

Ok pasta tonight again for dinner, I really have to learn to cook more food than just pasta.

See Ya...

Short One

2007-07-24T21:22:00.001+10:00

Just a short one today.
I picked Michelle up from her work and we went to the park for lunch today.
Later in the day I had three hours coaching with my 4 top students.

The guys are working well and should have something for the public in the next few weeks.

bye for now...

Monday 23rd July 08

2007-07-23T10:25:00.001+10:00

Its Monday 23rd July and Ashley and Kirrily are starting their 5th week working on Navsports. Ash is dropping back to three days per week this week because of other work commitments but we may possibily be getting an assistant programmer(Glen), recommended by Uwe (project manager).

Kirrily is ahead on design but engineering the software is taking longer than expected, Uwe assures me that we are making good time. I am not sure as November is b day. Birth of our first child and I promised Michelle that I would not have anyone working from our house by that time.

I forgot to mention that I set up work stations in our rumpus room for the team to work in, I did not want to go back to what the situation was before, having the old team work as contactors just led to wasted money and time. In this enviroment managing the team is so much more productive and professional.

So what is Navsports about, well its a sports news aggregation site, multi sports club directory and social friends networking site. You might think that their are plenty of these sites around, there are sites that cater to this market but Navsports is 3 years worth of research and development and will be the most comprehensive sports networking site in the world. Already we have over 14,000 clubs listed and growing and we are only in beta mode.

Hardest thing is coming up with the funding to keep the project going (good segway), actually on Wednesday I will be having a meeting with a venture capitalist broker. Should be interesting.

Well I better go do some work, I have the MTA to run Navsports to run and a babies room to start preparing. bye for now.

Shopping for Baby Stuff

2007-07-23T10:17:00.001+10:00

Michelle and I went shopping for baby stuff on Sunday and we pre ordered the furniture for the baby room from babies galore out at Penrith. On the way back we called in to see mums grave (mum past away earlier this year, mum was 74).
After that Michelle, her parents and I went to lunch at the Blue Star cafe at Stocklands Wetherill Park.

Pretty much a lazy Sunday, we both watched a dvd then went to dinner then came home and watch another dvd.

I am looking forward to Ashley and Kirrily coming tomorrow to continue on Navsports.com.au.

Day Two

2007-07-21T16:51:00.003+10:00

Day two of my blogging experience and its a Saturday. I was up early this morning at the tennis centre preparing the for a big day of coaching I had 5 coaches on 5 courts and about 150 kids today, It was the first day back for term 3 and it was a busy one with parents paying and rebooking. but its nearly 5pm now and I am about to cook dinner for Michelle and I in about an hour.

The website is going really good over the next few entries I will let you in on what we will be doing over the next few months, investment for the business wise and the look and feel of the site. My project manager is happy with the progress so far and is confident that we will have something for the public to play around with in the next week or two.

Dinner for tonight is pasta, I can`t cook that much but my pasta is the best.

Sunday tomorrow and Michelle and I will be going to baby kingdom to buy some stuff for the babies room. still three and a half months to go but the furniture takes 2 months to come in.

Will write more tomorrow bye for now.

Gotta Start Somewhere

2007-07-20T08:56:00.000+10:00

Starting is sometimes the hardest thing to do, Well this is my first blog entry of many I hope. I have been reading lots of other people blogs and was inspired to start my own.

My name is Stewart Whicker from Sydney Australia and I am the founder and CEO of Navsports.com.au a Multi sports directory and social friends networking site.

I have been working on the business model for three years, I have gone through two versions and am now on the third. Things were not meant to be easy but I am exicited because after a lot of research I believe that I have the right team and business model to make it work.

My background is sports centre management and elite sports coaching. I currently run the Marconi Tennis Academy in the western suburbs of Sydney. The MTA is a very successful facility I employ 12 coaches and we coach over three hundred students per week.

My own coaching experience includes training a player to multi Australian Junior Championships, Australian Open junior doubles finals and to an ATP world ranking.

Well this blog is to be about my adventure at trying to create the worlds best Sports website. So I will start tomorrow with that.

I will sign off today with letting you know that I am happily married to Michelle and we have our first child on the way, the baby is due in November and we are both very excited to welcome a new person into this world. Bye for now...