Coaching & ParentsComing to The Faceoff

PointShot

A vetted coach, by the session.

Nick D'Errico

Co-founder

Co-founder: Nick D'Errico, USA Hockey Gold-certified goaltending coach
Program: First cohort, Auxilium Innovation Studio, Worcester, Mass.
Built for: Athletes, parents and the clubs that can't staff a specialist
Model: Free to join; coaches set prices; 15% platform fee per the merchant agreement
Website: pointshot.com

What it is

A marketplace and development platform built by coaches, for the kid whose club has nobody to coach the position. Athletes and parents find a coach on PointShot and buy what they need by the job: a session, a film review of game or practice footage, a development plan. Coaches set their own prices, and there's no subscription or minimum on either side; PointShot takes a percentage of each sale (its published merchant agreement puts it at 15%). The trust layer is the point. Every coach on the platform is verified on identity, certifications and U.S. Center for SafeSport status, with hockey coaches checked against the USA Hockey and Hockey Canada certification lookups. Kids under 13 have no public profile, a parent administers any account under 18, and a kid's video is never used in marketing without opting in. It's built around video: upload footage, mark it up in the in-product editor, track feedback over time. Nick D'Errico, a USA Hockey Gold-certified goaltending coach with 15 years in the crease and the owner of D'Crease Goaltending, co-founded it with a fellow coach; the company is in the first cohort of Auxilium's Innovation Studio in Worcester, Massachusetts, with demo day on November 10.

Why it earns the pick

Every small club has the same gap: nobody on the bench who can coach the goalie, or the pitcher, or the keeper, and no budget for a full-time specialist. PointShot lets a family or a club buy the specialist by the session, from a coach who has been checked against the certification lists and SafeSport, with the parent in the loop. For a coach with a specialty, it's a storefront without the admin.

Free to join — coaches set their own session prices