Today we’d like to introduce you to ISAIAH ROJAS.
ISAIAH, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started with i9 Sports because I believed in what the brand stood for, kids having fun, building confidence, and learning what it means to be part of a team. That resonated with me on a personal level. I’m a dad. I know what it feels like to watch your kid take the field for the first time, nervous but excited, and come off it feeling like they just conquered something. I wanted to be part of creating more of those moments.
What started as one franchise in the Frisco area has grown into something I’m genuinely proud of. I now operate multiple i9 Sports locations across Frisco and Plano, and recently completed a buyout of a California location in the Sunnyvale area, which I run as well. So yes, I’m technically a three-franchise owner, which sounds impressive until you realize that means I’m also my own IT department, my own marketing team, and occasionally the guy dragging equipment across a field at 7am on a Saturday.
But that’s the job, and I love it.
What keeps me going isn’t just the business side of it, it’s the community we’re building. The families who come back season after season. The coaches who grow into leaders. The kid who was terrified to try soccer and is now begging their parents to sign up again. That’s the real product we’re selling, and it never gets old.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Let’s start with the obvious one. COVID hit our industry like a freight train. Youth sports is a gather-in-person, show-up-on-a-field kind of business, and overnight, none of that was allowed. Six to eight months of zero programs, zero leagues, zero revenue. Just uncertainty. You’re sitting there asking yourself, is this ever coming back? Are the families coming back? Is the business I’ve poured everything into going to survive this? That kind of stress doesn’t just live at the office, it follows you home. But we came out the other side, and honestly, it made us sharper and more resilient as an operation.
Then there’s the everyday reality of running a business, managing staff, coaches, parents, rising costs, and doing it all with a smile because that’s what the job requires. Anyone who tells you small business ownership is glamorous has never had to resolve a rule dispute at 9am on a Sunday.
But if I’m being honest, one of the wildest moments of my career happened in just our second season ever in Frisco.
It was league and picture day, soccer, baseball, and flag football all going at once, families everywhere, energy was great. Then a police officer showed up asking for paperwork proving I had access to the field. I handed it over, and the next thing I knew I was being told I couldn’t be the owner, and I was arrested and sitting on the ground while my staff had to clear the entire field mid-session.
I hadn’t even been in Frisco six months. I didn’t know anyone. I came from Hawaii, moved to a state and a city I’d never lived in, and was trying to build something from nothing. And now this.
That night I sent an email to my parents explaining what happened, no big ask, just transparency. What happened next still gets me. Dozens of families, completely on their own, coordinated emails and phone calls to local authorities and decision makers to vouch for me.
The following week I was sitting in a meeting with those same decision makers, and walked out with access to a bigger and better field. We’ve been playing on it for ten years.
I moved to Texas not knowing a single person. And that moment showed me I had a community.
That’s what this business is really built on.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
i9 Sports is the nation’s largest youth sports franchise, and I’m proud to be the owner bringing that brand to life right here in the DFW area across Frisco and Plano, and out in Sunnyvale, California.
At its core, what we do is simple. We run recreational youth sports leagues, camps, and clinics for kids ages three and up. Soccer, flag football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, t-ball, tennis, and cheer. If your kid wants to play, we’ve got a sport for them and a season coming up.
But what sets i9 Sports apart isn’t the sport. It’s the philosophy behind it.
We are not a competitive travel program. We are not chasing championships or cutting kids who aren’t “talented enough.” What we specialize in is building confidence in kids through a positive, low-pressure sports experience. Every kid plays. Every kid gets coached. Every kid walks off that field feeling like they belong there. That’s not an accident, that’s by design.
What I’m most proud of is the community we’ve built around that mission. We have families who have been with us for years, kids who started in t-ball and are now playing flag football in middle school, coaches who started as parents on the sideline and are now leading teams. That kind of loyalty doesn’t come from a good logo. It comes from consistently delivering something that actually matters to families.
For parents in the DFW area, here’s what I want you to know. We make it easy, affordable, and fun. No crazy time commitments, no travel, no pressure. Just your kid, a jersey, and a great Saturday morning experience that they’ll actually look forward to.
We’re not just a sports program. We’re part of your neighborhood, and we take that seriously.
How do you think about luck?
Luck is a funny thing. I don’t think you can fully control it, but I do think you can put yourself in position to recognize it when it shows up.
For me, the best luck in this business has never really been about a big break or a perfect circumstance. It’s been about people.
Getting lucky with relationships has been huge. There have been moments where I just happened to be in the right place, connected with the right person, a venue owner, a community partner, a fellow business owner, and that one conversation turned into something that shaped the direction of my business for years. You can’t manufacture that. You just have to show up, be genuine, and be ready when those moments happen. I’ve been fortunate that several of them have.
But honestly, the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me in this business is my staff.
I have core team members who have been with me for up to ten years. Ten years in youth sports, which is not exactly an industry known for long tenures and career stability. That kind of loyalty doesn’t happen by accident, but it also doesn’t happen without a little luck in finding the right people in the first place. People who are passionate about kids, about community, about doing the work the right way even when nobody’s watching.
Building a great team is part strategy, part culture, and part being in the right place at the right time with the right people. I’ve been lucky on all three.
And I don’t take that for granted for a single second.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.i9sports.com/franchises/371
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i9sportsIS371
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/i9SportsIS371/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRilLRZoZly4JQ3JTYnMWLw?view_as=subscriber
