Hello and greetings to all,

2011 is in the history books and 2012 is rapidly pushing ahead. It’s February already!
It’s been a couple of years since I have written an annual letter. The past two years have been challenging, but rewarding as well and obviously a lot has changed at NSP, but a lot of what we do, and who we are, and what we believe in has stayed the same.

This past weekend I’ve been reminded on Facebook just how connected we are as friends, players, and skiers and snowboarders. I see all of the posts for all of the socials and events that everyone is attending and I think back 16 years ago, when TESSC/Not So Pro® started and I am truly amazed at where we have come today. I wonder if any of us would have met if it weren’t for the love of sport and social and the tool of Facebook to keep us connected. All of this from four nets on the beach in Toronto, I am sure there are lots of good times ahead and new friends to be made.

With the NSP leagues, Socials, Beach Tours, and Ski and Snowboard Club all having a strong brand in the market place, growing and diversifying has been something I have been working hard at over the past two years and I have some announcements to make.

I have decided not to expand to Hamilton this year. I was not confident about the vision or abilities of the people I was partnering with and not comfortable with the associations they were planning to work with. To further this decision, I was not at all prepared to build up the NSP brand only to have it again put up for auction to the highest Government agency bidder four years from now, without a long term contract. Not So Pro® has many great brands that we will focus on to expand and grow as well as some new ones in 2012.

As many of you know, we expanded to Niagara 6 years ago and now NSP is the largest sports league company in Niagara with over 1,100 players. NSP built a facility for Beach Volleyball with 10 courts and we endeavour to expand this to 12. With the addition of lighting it will give us the capacity for three time slots. This facility we are now calling the NSP BeachBox® so as to distinguish us from other companies and facilities. My idea is to create a bit of a beach in a box where the social atmosphere will be one of a kind.

So if it’s not called a BeachBox®, it’s not NSP Sports.

Expanding the BeachBox ® will allow us to offer other sports that I have been talking about for years, such as Beach Soccer, Beach Dodgeball and even Beach Tennis, making the NSP BeachBox® a multi-sport facility. We will be expanding this concept to other cities in the future and I will keep you posted.

New Initiatives

Kids Camps - In 2011, we had a number of kids groups come out to the NSP BeachBox® for a day of sport, learning and fun. This was so popular that I have decided to start BeachKidz camps. It is my vision for this program to be accessible to children of all financial and social backgrounds to provide an opportunity for all.

NSP Varsity - Another new initiative we plan to implement is NSP Varsity. University and College students have been increasingly enjoying more of our programs. We will be advertising and co-branding events and working closer with student associations for gaining awareness of the NSP brands so we can expand with these players who are really the future of NSP.

Corporate Sports- Join us with your fellow employees on an action packed ski and snowboard trip, the NSP Beach Tour, or any other NSP events. Alternatively let us bring the fun to you and your company for a customized sport day or event. We have the equipment, staff, and experience to design a unique sports-social event for your company.

Charities- NSP will continue to support local charities wherever we play, and for 2012 some of these include; Variety Village, CANFund, Grand Bend Optimist Club, Rankin Cancer Run, Humane Society and The RAFT(Resource Association for Teens). Take a look at NSP in the Community section at NotSoPro.com to see how you can impact others in your community or through charities with Not So Pro® across Ontario.

Some other sports and initiatives that we are adding to the NSP brand are Digz Gear®, Grass Volleyball, Multi-sport Challenges, Boot Camps, Rowing, Zumba and Yoga, as well as all of the beach sports previously mentioned.

In closing, I am confident that with Suzanne at the helm as Corporate Operations Manager, Daniela as Niagara Operations Manager, Cameron as Toronto League Manager, Lauren as Events and Registrations Manager, as well as our 15 coordinators and 20 ski and snowboard instructors, your experience with Not So Pro® in 2012 will be a great one. I would like to thank all of my staff for their very hard work and dedication which has resulted in the success of Not So Pro up until 2012 and beyond.

If you would like to be involved with any part of our future expansion of the NSP Brands, or just want to know more, please do not hesitate to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

So look for the NSP BeachBox®, NSP BeachKidz, NSP Varsity, NSP Beach Tour, NSP Ski and Snowboard Club, NSP Corporate Sports, NSP Social Scene and Digz Gear® all at NotSoPro.com and I look forward to seeing you at NSP Sports and Socials soon.

“Now get off that couch and live to play!”

Sincerely,
John Morrison
Not So Pro®
President
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it