Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Thompson.
Kevin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The idea for Interactive Football was born in 2015 when my daughter asked me to play tackle football in a youth league. I said no due to safety concerns, but she is relentless and really wanted to play. So I signed her up to play flag football at the local YMCA and I coached the team. I played tackle football in my youth until I graduated from high school. As I coached my daughter’s team, it was a lot of fun but very frustrating teaching the kids to pull on a flag to make the “tackle.” My daughter had fun and I was left with a feeling of “there must be a better way” for kids to enjoy the GREAT game of football without pulling on a flag.
At the same time in 2015, concussions in football where being discussed and featured in movies such as “Concussion,” starring Will Smith. Further, this was a time when the IoT (Internet of Things) concept was starting to grow. This is when I had the GREAT idea to merge wearable tech, data acquisition, and sports to make playing sports safer, interactive, and more fun! I filed for my first patent in 2016 to protect my technology innovations and started building and testing prototypes. After acquiring initial funding in 2017, Interactive Sports Group, Inc. was founded and in January 2020, we launched our Interactive Football League initiative for tournaments, leagues, and camps in Spring 2020… then COVID-19 came along. We are excited about Interactive Football and are launching in strategic markets as we prepare for post-COVID-19 sports activities.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There is no such thing as a smooth road when you are developing an innovative product that does not exist in the marketplace today. A key challenge is to stay focused on bringing a viable product to market without getting distracted with all the potential future applications and products we can develop. Everyday, we learn something new and innovative and must balance innovation, timing, and cost to ensure we stay focused and deliver on our goals. Our biggest challenge has been navigating through the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry. We do, however, see the COVID-19 impact not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity to innovate.
We’d love to hear more about Interactive Football.
Interactive Sports Group is focused on developing smart, innovative wearable technology hardware and software applications in the youth sports industry. Our mission is to make sports safer, interactive and fun for our youth. The first product we will launch is positioned to be THE option for athletes and parents interested in playing a non-tackle form of football. Our non-tackle form of football is called Interactive Football and we use patented technology to denote a tackle when a player is touched in specific areas of the jersey.
We are very proud and honored to bring this innovative form of football to the community as it does not exist today…we are the first to approach football in this manner where technology and data are part of the game experience for the athlete, family, and fans.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our future plans include launching in key markets post COVID-19 and introduce additional wearable technology features to make sports safer, more fun, and interactive. The future is bright for our form of football.
Pricing:
- Sensor Vest – $45
- Wireless Module Set – $180
- Sensor Gloves – $50
- Sensor Wrapped Football – $70
Contact Info:
- Address: 5570 FM 423
Suite 250-1107 Frisco, TX 75034 - Website: www.interactive-football.com
- Phone: 972-333-4767
- Email: kevin.thompson@isportsg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactivefootball/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InteractiveFootball
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