SportTechie’s Athletes Voice series features the views and opinions of the athletes who use and are powered by technology. SportTechie spoke with Calgary Flames minor league defenseman Josh Healey about the app he has developed to provide transparency and guidance to young players looking to hire an agent, or for players seeking to find a coach.
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Soon after competing for Canada West in the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, defenseman Josh Healey, then 18, returned to his club team, the Sherwood Park Rangers in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. A couple of agents approached Healey in hopes of representing him, and the circumstances of that arrangement colored his perspective on the business of hockey.
Healey would go on to be named the AJHL’s Most Outstanding Defenseman that season and, later, a first-team All-Big 10 selection at Ohio State. After graduating with a degree in finance in 2017, he signed with the Flames and is now in his second full season with their AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.
Now 24, Healey recently released TheSportsAux, an iOS app in which hockey players can rate and review agents and coaches. The platform also licenses the vast EliteProspects database of stats and biographical information to help agents, coaches, and scouts track the progress of potential recruits more easily. The app requires players to verify their identity before leaving reviews. TheSportsAux is currently free, but once a critical mass of reviews are posted, Healey plans to institute a subscription plan for access.
The Genesis of TheSportsAux
“I was playing at Sherwood Park for the Crusaders back in the AJHL. I just came back from the World Junior A Challenge. It was then that I had two agents come and watch me and liked how I played and said they wanted to represent me. I went with them after asking them a few questions and thinking about a little bit because I really didn’t know any other option. I didn’t know what my options were. These guys came first and had some big name [clients], and they seemed legit, so I decided to go with them.
“At the tail end of that conversation, [my mother] joked that ‘We’ll look you up on RateMyAgent.com,’ and the look the guy gave was almost like he was in disbelief and kind of concerned a bit. It was kind of funny. We looked at each other after and thought, that’s an odd way to react.
“A few weeks later when they came back to town, the first thing that he mentioned to us was ‘Hey, there’s no such thing as RateMyHockeyAgent.com.’ It was kind of then that the idea clicked in my mind and my mom’s mind that this really could be a thing. If this agent who’s making lots of money and representing lots of high-end clients is concerned about what my mom might read about him online, then there must be something more to it.”
Agent Accountability
“The main focus, really, is just to create some accountability for these agents and coaches, and just create some transparency for younger players coming up or parents who maybe never went through the system growing up. I use the phrase ‘a platform for the players,’ where we can have a voice and just help alleviate some unknown out there. It’s all kind of word of mouth as to who’s good, who’s not good, and you don’t really know what a lot of these guys have done or how good or how bad they can be.
“There’s definitely a lot of guys who let me know that this is something they would have used if they were looking for an agent a few years back when they were just starting out. They really think it’s going to help kids making that first step in choosing an agent and parents as well, just to find the information that they need. On our website, we have a section where they can ask a lot of questions so they can know what to expect.”
“Being around the rink the last year and a half here with pro guys, a lot of them switch agents and have trouble with agents, so it definitely will be beneficial to guys now still playing at a high level looking to switch agents. But I’d say the primary audience is kids who are coming up in that 14-, 15-, 16-year-old range looking for or maybe approached by an agent at a rink—and for their parents as well to have a little information and not be in the dark if they haven’t been down the path before.”
Finding the Right Coach
“To leave a review for a coach, you first have to be verified on the app. Because we’re using a database that has a lot of player stats going way back to bantam or midget, it has to cross-reference their coaches with the years that they played there. You can’t just go rate any coach. I can only rate the coaches I’ve ever been coached by. That creates a lot of valid reviews [being] left. I just hope players can look at that and say ‘Is this a guy I want to play for? Is this a school I want to go to? Is this the transition I want to make?’
“It definitely would have been something I looked at [when choosing a college program]. I got my agent right around the same time I was looking at schools. It’s all kind of a blur, and this app would have been perfect. I could have gone on there and found out what I needed to know. But for me, looking back, if this would have been out there, for sure I would have looked up the coaches just to see the coaching style, what past players have said, and done a little more research that way just to see if it would be a good fit for me and if they were a coach I would want to play for.”
From Defenseman to Entrepreneur
“Quite honestly, I never really had an interest in app development. The idea came back a few years before I went to school, and I just sat on it a little bit, wondering if it was something I [should] pursue. Towards the end of my junior year, I was thinking, ‘What’s a way I can make some money and also start a business if hockey doesn’t work out?’ Also, it was something I could do on the side if hockey does work out.
“The idea ran with itself once I started to see and hear guys who had troubles with agents and coaches. I talked to my mom last spring and said ‘Let’s go for it.’ I got some money with the bonus and whatnot, and I’ve kind of been a risk taker in that regards. So I said I’ll put a little money into this and see where it takes me, and that’s when I looked for an app developer. I can’t say I knew much about the tech world before this, but it’s definitely opened my eyes to how things work behind the scenes. It’s been a good learning experience.”
“I’ve always been a guy who’s interested in business, whether that’s mowing lawns in the summer or shoveling snow and getting the book out and running some numbers that way, even at a young age. It’s always been in my blood where I enjoy doing it.
“There’s a lot of different books I ready, and obviously going to Ohio State and being in the business school there really helped open my eyes to what I need to do or ways that I can benefit that was [presented] in class.”
Breaking Hockey Barriers
“One of the main reasons I started this: I walked into United [Sport &] Cycle, which is a sports store down in Edmonton. I looked at the price of sticks and saw one for $320 and I was like ‘This is crazy. Hockey is such an elitist sport. It’s really expensive, and there’s no way anyone can afford to play this game.’
“Yes, I am developing an app, and I am going to make a business out of it. But a large portion of our profits are going to go towards either a fund or a sports center for kids who can’t afford to play hockey. That’s a big focus for me. I want to give back to the hockey community just because it is such an expensive sport. I know there are kids out there or players out there who would love to play and just can’t afford to do so.”
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