Member Spotlight: Hartford Athletic Club
In this edition of our “Member Spotlight” blog series, we interviewed Jeffrey Devereux, founder of Hartford Athletic Club.
Hartford Athletic Club offers adult sports and recreational activities, as well as support for other sports and recreation events happening throughout Hartford.
The organization’s mission is to connect the city through sport by providing ways for residents to play with and to support one another, and by supporting youth activities through an organization called Active City.
What inspired you to start Hartford Athletic Club?
“I have always been passionate about sports and I came to realize that they hold quite a bit of power: the power to impact and influence culture and people, to capture people’s attention. Sports have power because they have our attention, and because sports have that power, they have a responsibility. I believe that responsibility has to be held in the best way possible.”
Why did you choose to become a coworker with reSET?
“I was first connected to reSET through its 16-week Accelerator program. The benefit of the co-working space is that is has the potential to create a positive work environment that’s entrepreneurial by nature, and to create a community that helps itself be successful.”
How do you see Hartford Athletic Club positively impacting the community?
“We hope to positively impact adults by providing them with great opportunities to be active, healthy, and social, and to connect with their city and to have fun. In particular, we hope to impact youth sports in Hartford by financially supporting Active City as they find innovative solutions to address barriers to inner city youth sports. Active City’s biggest goal is to make Hartford the most active city for kids in America. It needs to address a number of barriers: (1) make the programs that exist more well-known and (2) find unique ways to engage more volunteers because a lot of parents in Hartford have less time for volunteering.”
What do you want your company to look like five years from now?
“In five years, I hope that everyone in the Hartford community feels like they are part of the Club.”
Why did you start your company in Connecticut? What do you hope to give to and to gain from the community here?
“The Club is a Hartford-specific business. I saw an opportunity to do this here, whereas there might not have been opportunities to do this in other places that I’ve lived. There are more opportunities for growth here because there are few established sports institutions, which is uncommon for cities.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received about being an entrepreneur?
“One of my high school teachers took time out of class one day just to tell the class we were all capable and had the opportunity to do what we were passionate about in life, and there was no reason for us to compromise. She wasn’t telling us to be entrepreneurs but she was telling us to live the life we wanted to live and to do good. I have just chosen to try to get there as an entrepreneur.”
For more information on his work, contact Jeffrey Devereux (jeffrey.devereux@gmail.com).
