For those looking to shoot their shot into a more unique league, PickUp USA Fitness Roanoke is the ideal place to be. The fitness club, located at 1108 N. U.S. Hwy. 377, Ste. 104, Roanoke, serves as a basketball training facility for youth and adult hoopers, and also offers professional basketball training for the Roanoke area.
Franchise owner Jarrod Green sat down with Community Impact to discuss how the business got started, what makes them unique and what kinds of services they offer.
What services does PickUp USA Fitness offer?
Green: We're a basketball themed fitness club. We offer refereed pickup games for youth and adults. We also offer youth & adult one-on-one training, and group training. We offer a youth development league and an adult league. We offer birthday parties and court rentals. We also have a full weight and cardio room, and agility turf area.
What is the difference between a pickup game at PickUp USA and a pickup game at other basketball facilities?
Green: In a pickup game, we control everything. We have a kiosk where you sign in and you get added to a team on a first come, first serve basis. We play 10-minute games and the winner stays on with two minutes in between. It takes away all of the arguments, fighting and stoppage of play that every other gym has when offering basketball facilities. We take away the downtime of who has next. If you were to do that at another gym, you're pretty much just showing up hoping you get added on the list or you get skipped over plenty of times.
What inspired you to bring PickUp USA Fitness to the area?
Green: When we moved to Argyle from West Texas, I'd been coaching select teams and been a part of different select organizations. There was nothing around in the area as far as basketball facilities. I started doing some research and we finally opened three months ago.
What makes your coaching style unique?
Green: All of our staff is interested or has been associated with basketball their whole life. Most of my referees are all high school kids that play basketball. All of my staff have a basketball background. That's what we want, especially when we start the development league. Some of these other gyms, they're just asking a parent to donate their time or volunteer. All of our coaches are from a basketball background, so we're trying to help develop the kids.
What are the age ranges for the two sections?
Green: Right now we start out with five year olds up to 12 for the youth hoopers. We have some beginner 13 and 14 year olds that play in the youth games. Most of the time the 15-year-olds and up play with the adults. As we grow we will have the 13 to 16 year olds in their own pickup games eventually.
What does the schedule of games look like?
Green: For adults, it's Monday and Wednesday evenings, as well as Saturday mornings. For youth, we offer group training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and then we have pickup games right after that, as well as pickup games on Saturday mornings.
What has the community response to the opening been like?
Green: It's been great actually. Word of mouth has probably been our biggest marketing. I've been in customer service my whole life, and my number one thing is I want to treat customers as if they’re family. I want them to show up to the gym, enjoy it and have a little family atmosphere for everyone.
To learn more about PickUp USA Fitness, visit their website.
The above story was produced by Community Impact's Storytelling Senior Multi-Platform Journalist Sierra Rozen with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.
