Athletes Untapped connects parents and kids with private sports coaches for 1-on-1 training. Gene Williams and his wife Elaine, both former college athletes, built the business together after years of private coaching. Through their work, they found a passion for teaching young athletes how to develop their skills, achieve their goals and build confidence in themselves. Private coaching can have such a profound impact on a young athlete’s life trajectory, and the couple found it incredibly rewarding to serve as an athletic role model to the hundreds of kids they trained. 

While the couple was coaching, however, they saw how fragmented the private sports coaching industry had become. It was difficult for parents to find experienced and trustworthy coaches, and it was difficult for coaches to scale their business. Mostly, parents and coaches relied on word-of-mouth to find a trusted, local connection.

Using their backgrounds in tech, the husband and wife duo created a platform that bridges the gap between parents and kids seeking training, and local coaches looking for clients. It handles everything from payments, messaging, scheduling, video feedback, background checks for coaches and more. After taking a year to build the platform, they finally launched the L.A. market in 2024.

At the end of the day, though, what motivates Gene and Elaine is hearing feedback from parents and kids about how awesome their coach is and the impact they made. “My daughter loved working with Coach Julie today. It was her first time with Julie and she was smiling and praising the coach the whole ride home,” reads a review for one of their soccer coaches. “My daughter really enjoyed the session and was asking when she is going back to Coach Julie!” reads another. Reviews like these validate everything Gene and Elaine sacrificed to build Athletes Untapped. “Knowing the impact an award like this can make, our hope is to expand our reach and help more young athletes chase their dreams!” said Gene.

Their platform serves two end users: Athletes Untapped makes it easy for parents to connect with local, vetted private sports coaches. No more relying on word-of-mouth or Craigslist or Facebook to find coaches who aren’t verified. Athletes Untapped is all about simplicity, and only recruits the best coaches. But it’s the young athletes who receive the benefits. They get to train with college and pro players. As a young athlete, is there anything cooler?

To learn more about Athletes Untapped, or to find a private sports coach near you, visit atheletesuntapped.com or email gene@athletesuntapped.com.