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NextUp '26

Eight sessions from LeagueApps' NextUp '26, Oct. 14 at Civic Hall in New York: the state of the youth sports organization, what investors actually want, how to lead parents, and what it means for the people running programs.

LeagueApps' NextUp '26 Youth Sports Conference · Oct. 14, 2026 · Civic Hall, Union Square

Photo: Paul Variano / The Coach's Board

NextUp '26 logo wall at Civic Hall

The Sessions

In the order they ran on Oct. 14.

Brian Litvack and Jeremy Goldberg on stage in front of a slide titled Eight ways to be a youth sports organization
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Session 1

LeagueApps' Map of Youth Sports: Eight Kinds of Organizations, One Business Problem

Brian Litvack (LeagueApps) · Jeremy Goldberg (LeagueApps) · Host: Suzy Kolber

Marc Lasry speaks into a microphone between Arn Tellem and Suzy Kolber under a Building a Championship Organization slide
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Session 2

Marc Lasry and Arn Tellem: Let the Kids Have Fun, and Watch Women's Sports

Marc Lasry (Avenue Capital Group) · Arn Tellem (Detroit Pistons) · Host: Suzy Kolber

Benita Fitzgerald Mosley speaking on stage beside Jeremy Goldberg
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Session 3

SafeSport's CEO to Operators: Check the Database, Then Join the Alliance

Benita Fitzgerald Mosley (U.S. Center for SafeSport) · Moderator: Jeremy Goldberg (LeagueApps)

Matt Miller gestures while speaking, seated with Nathan Harris, Lance Smith and Shaun Smithson in front of a screen reading The Business of Operating at Scale
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Session 4

What Breaks When You Grow: Uniforms, "Absolutes" and the M14 Way

Shaun Smithson (FCA) · Lance Smith (Next Level Sports) · Nathan Harris (Harris Family Fund / Spire) · Matt Miller (M14Hoops) · Moderator: Melissa Macaluso

Five people seated on stage beneath a slide titled The Forces Reshaping Youth Sports
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Session 5

NIL at 16, Rec at Preschool and $50 Million That Can't Find a Home

Zack Weiner (Overtime) · Justin Kentor (Varsity Brands) · Adam Geisler (Youth Athletes United) · Kerin Hempel (Sparrow) · Moderator: Jeremy Goldberg (LeagueApps)

Eric Rapps, Kelci Tyson and Jordan Baltimore seated in front of a screen reading What Investors Actually Want, with the moderator speaking at right
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Session 6

"We Have Capital, but We're Not Capital": Rocket Youth, RISE and an Investor on Who They Back

Eric Rapps (Rocket Youth) · Jordan Baltimore (New York Empire Baseball / RISE Partners) · Kelci Tyson (Willow Reserve Capital) · Moderator: Brian Litvack (LeagueApps)

Panelists seated on stage beneath a slide titled Beyond Registration: Building New Revenue Streams
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Session 7

Start a Club PTA, Sell the Mouthguard: Five Revenue Ideas From the Beyond Registration Panel

Frank Decembrino (Clubhouse Partners) · Durward Williams (Sports Endeavors / 431 Sports) · Mike Juels (GameBreaker) · Jace Robinson (Elkhorn Athletic Association) · Kelci Tyson (Willow Reserve Capital) · Moderator: Nick Naso

Four people seated on stage beneath a slide titled What Parents Want Now
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Session 8

Parents Are the Customer. Three Operators on How to Lead Them Anyway.

Erika Badan (Mule Media) · David Jervis (New York Red Bulls) · Lance Smith (Next Level Sports) · Lorin Thomas-Tavel (BrainPOP) · Host: Suzy Kolber

Free. Join the founders, operators and coaches building youth sports.

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