Soccer
One of the most frightening moments for
Jan came during his facility's first summer.
Forty teams had registered, and Jan was
depositing their checks in the bank. He
knew he owed the contractor money and
would have to work to pay it back; that
wasn't what scared him. What scared him
was the possibility of his letting down the
soccer community that had entrusted him.
He had, after all, been a member of the
community for a long time.
When the United States hosted the World
Cup in 1994, more Americans became
interested in soccer, which would prove
good for Off The Wall. During the early
years of the business, however, Jan
worked hard to sustain it. At that time,
he was coaching six teams. He was at
the facility from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. "I
was literally hiding my car from the repo
man, as I hadn't made a payment on it
in a while!" Perhaps overcoming such a
struggle enhanced Jan's relationship with
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his bookkeeper at the time, Janet Benassi,
who, 20 years later, is his General
Manager.
In 1999, Off The Wall formed a
relationship with a facility in Chico and
began operations there, too. In 2001,
Jan opened a third facility in Portland,
Oregon. After 9/11, however, the business
model changed. He reversed course, sold
the Portland facility in 2006 and invested
heavily in remodeling the other two
facilities.
Because it is in Silicon Valley, many
of the teams that play at the Santa Clara
facility are from computer, software and
internet companies. During the dot-com
bubble, teams were good indicators
of how the economy was faring. "In the late
90s and early 2000, we could almost tell
you which IPOs to invest in because we
would see their teams coming into
our facilities."
Like most facilities, Off The Wall
represents its community and has,
therefore, been technologically advanced.
It was the first facility with a website,
the first to offer online registration and
to provide membership with photo ID
cards. Off The Wall has set the standard
technologically largely because of its
location in Silicon Valley.
Throughout the changes in the economy
and in technology, some aspects of the
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