GO Indoor

move to Albany and help with the business because he felt it was important to have family around. Afrim and Skelly have a rich history. Born in Kosovo, the brothers moved to the United States as young children and, with their family, settled in the Bronx, New York. They spoke Albanian at home and took English as a Second Language in school. These classes usually divide students along class lines, as new immigrants are not always as established as those who have lived in the United States long enough to know the language. Afrim worked from the bottom up. Growing up in a diverse neighborhood and attending classes with students of various nationalities added to his experience. Afrim and Skelly have one other brother who still lives in the City, as do their parents. Growing up there, however, they have come to appreciate the countryside of Albany. Afrim has a wife and three daughters, one of whom is old enough to play soccer and does. At the end of 2000, the Washington Avenue Armory closed and the Colonie Athletic Club opened. Since Afrim's facilities had always been booked, he knew he needed another facility. The Colonie Athletic Club, however, is in a high-end business area, where real estate is quite valuable, like the Park Avenue of Albany. Paying such high rent was a business risk. The building also needed a lot of work. The Colonie Athletic Club began as two fields with indoor turf and dasher boards. At the beginning of 2001, Afrim opened two new FieldTurf fields with higher blades of grass and a rubber sand mixture to simulate outdoor play. More recently, the turf on the original Afrim Nezaj two fields has been replaced with Play Field, another brand of indoor turf that simulates outdoor play, and the dasher boards have been removed. The four fields are wider than other indoor fields because they have no walls. The players prefer this because, according to a survey Afrim did, they can p l a y sideways, not just up and down the field. B a l l possess i o n simulates outdoor action and there is pressure to keep the ball in bounds. Playing on these fields requires a certain skill level so that team members must control each kick. Like in futsal, which has been played on these fields, the throw-in and the corner kick have become integral to the game. The controlled environment of the Center City Sports Complex and the Colonie Athletic Club makes indoor soccer in Albany the better option. Playing indoors makes evening games more appealing to some people. Adult leagues enable the facilities to operate year-round, rather than being dependent on the seasonal play of youth. Coed leagues play during the summer. Soccer Moms, whose primary purpose is aerobic activity in the form of a fun sport, play throughout the year. Afrim's Sports' website, located at www.Afrimsports.com, gives directions to the facilities as well as posts indoor soccer schedules. The creative names of the teams, such as Chicken Kiev, Mad Cows, or Bethlehem Lazy Bums, reveal the type of players involved in the leagues. Many of them are college students, even pre-med and law, who take the sport seriously enough to play well, but have enough fun to call themselves something like the Pimps. The members of the Over-40 teams are like a Who's Who of this group who enjoy the athletic and social benefits of the game. The players, fans, and staff of Afrim's Sports started a trend more than ten years ago, which has now spread across the nation. Still, they continue to encourage more and more involvement -- for the fun of the game and as a vital community function. Marketing Basics: Utilizing Existing Advantages to Increase Your Opportunities veryone knows that they can market their business better; everyone thinks they don't have enough time. As a result, marketing, which should be the pleasurable part of running a business, is put off and put off and assumes the dimensions of a monster project. Arnold Zirkes has been in the marketing business for over 15 years and is one of the few marketing specialists in indoor soccer. Currently at The Soccer Spot in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a member of USIndoor's team of professional consultants, Arnold has a very straightforward approach: You already have a captive market through your facility. Maximize your marketing with your existing customers. Here is Arnold's seven-point formula for success. E 1. Promote while you are the busiest - The people who like you best are already in your building. Half the task is already accomplished. You don't need to sell your basic product as your target market is already buying it. 2. Everybody, from management through the cleaning crew, must realize they represent the company, even when off duty inside the building. Your customers have bought a product. You must ensure that what they continue to buy meets their and your expectations – and that they are close to being the same. That requires a clear identity and quality control. 3. People's impression of your company comes from all your employees, not just management. A straightforward expression of the importance of item 2. 4. Hand out information to coaches for their players, while they are inside the building. Getting coaches and organizations involved in this subtle way can augment your credibility. Junk mail and unsolicited telephone calls take time and are unwelcome. On-site efforts are the simplest and most welcome and effective way of distributing literature and information. Make sure that everyone in the organization understands this. 5. Use the current session to promote upcoming sessions. Properly handled, this can even improve the perception of the product you have already sold. Naturally, from the direct feedback you receive, you will be constantly improving your programs' quality and offerings to meet the needs of your customers. 6. Use the current session to promote future events: a) Tournaments b) Camps - both indoor and summer c) Other in-house programs This has the same effect as item 5. 7. Create a network. Assemble existing names, e-mail addresses, and details of clubs or organizations with which they are associated. Do this, as before, while your customers are in the building. This is the most efficient way of gathering information and extending your network. As before, it will enhance the perceived value of your product to your existing customers, while reaching out to others. All the above require a modicum of planning – preparing and printing the information, being prepared for encounters and questions, and having a clear and visible projection of future events and schedules. These elementary preparations take far less time than mounting a whole new marketing operation. You are simply continuing to do what you do already - just doing it better. G O A L I n d o o r • June-July 2002• 21

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