ETEAMZ, a locally based site geared toward amateur and children's sports, has hit one out of the ballpark by recruiting as its new chairman and CEO a former president and CEO of Adidas America.
Steve Wynne will officially start in his new position this week, though he has been involved
with the company on an advisory basis for several weeks.Wynne grew revenues at Adidas from $400 million when he started in 1995 to $1.7 billion when he left earlier this year. He left the company with no plans except to take several months of rest and spend time organizing his personal affairs, doing things with his family and getting in shape.
Eteamz's founders contacted Wynne about becoming the company's CEO, and he initially declined, but did agree to advise the company. He soon changed his mind and agreed to sign on full time.
"I was really drawn to what these guys were doing," he said. "Youth sports are particularly compelling to me because I have two teen-age daughters."
Both Wynne's daughters play soccer, and his younger girl plays basketball and runs track as well.
"Even though time has clearly created a proliferation of sports programs for women, one of the things I've seen in the evolution of girls' sports is that schools haven't really graduated enough women athletes yet who have their own children," Wynne said.
As a result, it's difficult to find mothers who have played sports and are willing to coach their daughters' teams. Fathers are certainly candidates to be coaching, but often feel more comfortable coaching boys' teams. All parents can benefit from eteamz, Wynne said.
"What eteamz can do is create a community where people who want to contribute can talk to people who just don't feel they have the skill set," he explained. "I think it's one of those rare opportunities to build a successful business and make a contribution to something you care about at the same time."
Because the job will involve a lot of online communication and travel, Wynne will work out of his home in Portland, Ore., for now Eteamz founder Brian Johnson, who had been serving as CEO, will now become the company's president.