DOES YOUR YOUTH SPORTS CLUB HAVE A FACILITY ACCESS ISSUE? OHIO PREMIER

Case Study 6: Ohio Premier, OH, USA

LEADERSHIP QUESTION:  What options does a youth sports club have when membership growth exceeds the capacity of facilities for training and games?

In the prior five case studies, I have highlighted leaders who have solved facility pressure through partnership, long-term leasing, creative local development, multi-use buildings, and smarter use of existing inventory. Chris Baer’s solution was driven by escalating public rental cost, the point when the board began to see rental cost not just as expense, but as potential investment.

Chris Baer is the Executive Director of Ohio Premier Soccer Club in Dublin, Ohio. He leads a 501(c)(3) nonprofit club serving around 1,400 athletes, supported by 7 full-time and 50 part-time staff. The club now owns a 50-acre property, which makes this case study especially relevant for leaders thinking about long-term control of facilities rather than continued dependence on public access.

The Issue

For years, Ohio Premier relied on public fields. In these communities, recreation programs were the priority users. Clubs had access, but only at a lower tier, with less control and higher cost.  Then the pressure increased. The club grew from 864 players in 2013–2014 to more than 1,100 in 2015–2016. At the same time, local budgets were tightening, field conditions were under pressure, and no meaningful new space was being added. The turning point came when the community fee structure rose sharply, pushing projected public field costs from roughly $16,000–$20,000 to more than $60,000 per year.

The Solution

• Reframed public field costs as a strategic reason to pursue greater control
• Explored an indoor model first, then recognized land costs made that unrealistic
• Used board expertise to widen the search beyond the immediate market
• Identified a 42-acre parcel in Plain City, about nine miles west of Dublin
• Used a bridge financing structure, with a club family purchasing the land and leasing back to the club so it could begin training on the site before owning it outright
• Focused fundraising campaigns to help close the ownership gap, purchasing the land in 2018 and used land equity to secure a development loan
• Built a five-field complex with two turf fields, one Bermuda grass field, and two Kentucky bluegrass fields

Why it worked

Patience. This was not a quick fix. It was a long-term shift in mindset.  The leadership group recognized that rising public costs and limited control were not going away. Rather than keep absorbing those pressures, they built a phased path toward ownership. That included board expertise, fundraising, creative structuring, and a willingness to move step by step rather than wait for a perfect moment.

Leadership Lessons

First, rising rental cost should not always be accepted as your only option.

Second, ownership often happens in stages. Ohio Premier did not jump straight from renting public fields to owning a finished complex. It used interim structures and phased decisions to get there.

Third, the right people matter. Finance, real estate, fundraising, and project management all played important roles in helping the club move from dependency toward control.

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Key Insights

Three Steps Leaders Can Take in the Next 90 Days

SIX CASE STUDIES: Each one focuses on the same core challenge, improving access to the right facilities for the needs and ambitions of the club, yet each leader has approached the issue in a very different way. Together, these case studies demonstrate that the issue is widely shared, and the best solutions are shaped by local context, strategic thinking, and strong leadership.

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