HR Hoops aims to slam dunk

7 September 2012 Matt Weston, who has been involved in basketball for around 20 years as a player, coach and administrator, got the idea for HR Hoops when he was involved in basketball in China, where there is a growing demand for global talent.

“There are around 38,000 basketball teams around the world which employ people in a variety of roles, and these people are the buyers of services through HR Hoops,” says Matt.

“Then there are the sellers, and these numbers go into the millions when you think about players, coaches, and support staff in various roles.

“Right now, there is nothing in the market which helps clubs go out and find people.”

HR Hoops has had a soft launch, but is moving to a full roll-out later this year. During that soft launch period the site had over 10,000 visitors from 90 countries, and had its first paying member within 25 minutes of launch, all achieved with no advertising.

Once launched in full, the site will charge members A$49 a year for their listing, which includes the opportunity to post video of performances in games.

The site is also multi-lingual in English, Spanish, Portugese and Chinese, which covers most of the markets where professional basketball is played.

Weston also said HR Hoops was about to secure a deal with a major global basketball association to offer education and accreditation through the site.

HR Hoops is in the capital raising phase, and the company is seeking up to A$1 million for ongoing working capital to see the project through to commercialization.

HR Hoops will be participating at the Wholesale Investor Capital Showcase.