Most of my career has been spent in the talent management/human capital analytics space. What does that mean? I've leveraged my expertise as an organizational psychologist to help companies maximize their capabilities and resources to be successful—better places to work, more efficient in their operations, greater profitability for shareholders. As both an internal and external consultant, my Ph.D. training taught me to leverage tools—from surveys and statistics to research on group dynamics and individual performance—to bring stronger talent and engaging experiences to the workplace. As a parent and youth sports coach, my instincts told me that something was missing as I watched my friends and I try to find the best opportunities for our kids to participate in sports. Trying to select a high-quality, competitive-yet-developmental club for my two sons was no easy task. Personally? I got lucky and found a terrific place for my boys to not only hone their soccer skills, but their sense of teamwork, discipline, friendship, and respect. However, with youth sports clubs estimated to be a $15 billion industry that involves more than 21.5 million kids ages 6 through 17, standing out as a club is more difficult than ever. Without a consistent, objective metric of quality, it can be quite challenging for parents to know if a particular club is the right one for their son or daughter. For club leaders and coaches, it is difficult to distinguish and showcase a truly professionally run organization from one that can do more harm than good to young developing athletes. And so, I spent three years researching and developing the YSCindex, a tool that can help the 87% of American kids that play organized sports find options and opportunities that embrace them as players, challenge them as athletes, and create the kind of responsible, caring adults we need the next generation to be.

We are very excited to be able to bring this to you and hope that you decide to join the movement.

Michael Warech, Ph.D.

Founder, YSCindex