USIndoor's Official Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to owners, managers, program administrators and other professionals, startups and providers involved with indoor recreational sports facilities.
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Focus On: W MARK GROSSMAN President, The Monument Sports Group hen Mark Grossman started playing soccer, the season started in January. He played many snowy, muddy games. Soccer was indeed a winter sport back then. Ah, if only the indoor game would have existed in rural Virginia in the sixties, but, alas, no one there had thought of it yet. Mark grew up near Richmond, Virginia, where he played sports throughout his childhood. Though he loves soccer and still plays the game as an adult, he didn't actually start playing until his sophomore year in high school. Even with his late start, however, he led the state in scoring during his junior and senior year and made All-State in 1974. Soccer was not the only sport for which Mark had a passion. He also lettered in baseball, football, basketball, and golf. During his junior year, he injured his knee and could not play baseball. He fondly remembers his coach driving him around in a golf cart, and Mark played golf with a cast on his leg. Playing soccer at the University of North Carolina resulted in what Mark remembers as "more injuries than goals." He continued with his five favorite sports and landed his first job after college with the Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League. Working in the front office, however, did not feed his soul, and Mark returned to Chapel Hill where he started Heels on Wheels, an outdoor roller-skating park. Heels on Wheels operated out of a van during the roller-disco fad of the early eighties. They rented skates for roller discos and for parties. "The interesting thing is that I didn't even have insurance; I didn't think it was worthwhile. I had them sign waivers, and I kept their driver's licenses, but that was it. A lot of the basketball players for UNC would come and skate. I got a call from Coach Dean Smith asking me please not to let his players skate anymore, so we did him that personal favor." Mark got into the insurance business in order to establish himself as a legitimate businessman. He was ready to begin a more rigorous career. The first companies with which he worked had little to do with sports, but he continued to play and to coach. About five years ago, Mark began insuring athletes when new owners bought the Richmond Kickers, and the team needed worker's compensation insurance. This was when Mark realized that no one really concentrated on amateur and professional sports. He worked and researched and put together programs for athletes. At the United Soccer Leagues meeting in 1998, Mark met Don Shapero who, at that time, was the Director of Operations for the World Indoor Soccer League. After that, Mark began providing insurance for the WISL. Mark and Don continued to discuss ideas for insuring athletes. These ideas eventually led to the insurance program for the United States Indoor Soccer Association. "Don has been one of the best business and personal associations I've ever had," Mark says. Mark left the insurance agency of which he was part owner and started The Monument Sports Group in 14• August/September 2003 • GOAL Indoor by Sylvie Green October 2001. Since then, he has completely dedicated his business to sports, and earlier this year he became a Member of USIndoor's Advisory Board of Directors. "My experiences as a player have allowed people to trust me and the company, because we know sports and we love sports. Alex Deegan, goalkeeper for the Richmond Kickers, was instrumental in helping me start sports insurance. When Alex left, Chris Fox came on board. Not only did Chris come from an academic background, but he was All-American at Brown and was first-round draft pick of the New England Revolution. It was actually nice that Chris hadn't worked in insurance, because it's such a rigorous business." Monument Sports Group has been creating new ways to relate insurance and sports, and Mark needed someone with an open mind who wasn't going to be set in the rules of a previous company. "We pay special attention to coverage for facility operators and for people who run camps and tournaments. We provide workers' compensation insurance. Of course, we make sure to align ourselves with companies that (continued on bottom of page 23)