Have you played basketball from a fitness perspective and not just as a sports? Playing basketball has many benefits as it promotes cardiovascular health, strengthens your bones, boosts your immune system and develops better coordination and motor skills, and much more. However, alongside playing your favorite sport if you wish to workout and get into great shape then don’t look further than PickUp USA Fitness.
PickUp USA Fitness is a basketball-focused fitness club franchise. It offers amenities such as gyms, lightweight rooms, cardio rooms, retail goods, etc. that are all infused with basketball.
A Perfect Layup
PickUp USA Fitness runs an hour-long basketball boot camp 7 days a week. The franchise offers one-on-one basketball training. Its PickUp basketball with referees is among its most popular services. It takes normal PickUp basketball and improves it exponentially by adding referees and timing all of the games at 10 minutes.
What makes the PickUp USA Fitness’s experience unique is it provides fun yet challenging basketball boot-camps and result-oriented private training sessions for all its athletes. It helps them to learn and develop their skills to achieve their goals. Another key differentiator of the franchise is its organized and officiated PickUp Games.
All the members of the clubs have the opportunity to play in daily competitive PickUp Games. They are able to retain all the enjoyment attributes of pickup basketball yet eliminate all the unnecessary hassle.
“A Better Way To Play”
Leading with Zeal
With his diverse industry expertise and a passion for the sports industry, Mr. Gary Mazakian, the VP of Franchise Development has been successfully helping PickUp USA Fitness through his various roles at the franchise over the last six years.
Gary began his journey by taking on the position of GM (General Manager) in the Franchise’s Irwindale location. After delivering remarkable results, he became the club’s operating partner.
After working for years at the club level, Gary was offered a position at the corporate office as a Sr. Franchise Support Specialist. Gary has also served as the National Director of Operations and VP of Operations.
Today, working as VP of Franchise Development, his responsibilities include: Franchise acquisitions, Develop an understanding of the PickUp USA Fitness model to all potential franchisees, grow its sphere across the nation, oversee the franchise’s development team and its real estate division.
Blocking the Strides
The development process that brought the franchise from an initial concept to where it stands today has been challenging. Through the road of trial and error, PickUP USA Fitness got the opportunity to learn countless lessons. This allowed the franchise to strategize its initatives to exceed its customer’s expectations and thrive as an independent gym.
In the words of Gary, “Name an obstacle and we’ve probably overcome it. From site location to construction, to scheduling, to staffing, to training, to sales; we’ve encountered the whole gamut of challenges and can now confidently implement our tried and true system to fitness entrepreneurs looking to avoid those same pitfalls.”
After seven years of operating experience, the franchise has a business model that has been crafted through experience and continuously evolves to adapt to consumer preferences.
Three-Pointers Ahead
Within less than four years, PickUp has boasted its sites in six states with additional sites pending in three other. Gary adds, “The sky’s the limit because basketball is a truly global sport. We envision ourselves to be a nation-wide brand that will be operating in all 50 states and possibly beyond.”
For its future endeavors, the company strives to deliver strong unit-level economics at each franchise location. It aims to continue to enrich its business model to ensure PickUp USA Fitness delivers world-class service to the customers and yields strong economic returns for the club owners.
A Word from the Ball Handlers
- George Li, 33, of Temple City, CA has been a member of the Irwindale gym at 2387 Buena Vista St., since 2013.
“My friend invited me to play here and I ended up becoming a member,” he said. “I like it because they have referees and there’s good cross action. I go about three or four times a week and stay for about two hours each time. I play basketball and also do workouts. It’s more comfortable here than places like 24 Hour Fitness. When you go there you have to wait a really long time for each game.”
- Christine Kurata, 29, of Monterey Park, CA has been a member of the Irwindale, gym at 2387 Buena Vista St., since 2017.
“PickUp USA Fitness is a really versatile gym with ample space to play basketball on the courts and get a good workout in the weight room side. I’ve been here for a couple of years and the atmosphere has always been really chill with great people. The group classes are a quick way to get a solid workout in. Paolo’s classes were a killer and he pushed everyone to get the most out of the drills.”
