Ted Simons,
Senior Contributor

Ted Simons is an avid sports participant and a longtime sports industry veteran. Simons' life experiences go back to when kids "just played” anything and everything like baseball, basketball, football, tennis, waterskiing, and riding bikes to get to practice, games, or to just play pickup games with friends. Toss in years of music lessons and some tap dancing, and by accident, you end up with a well-rounded individual that understands the importance of being exposed to multiple activities when growing up.

Simons spent his early professional days in retail sporting goods. From merchandising to sales to buyer, ski shop technician, and tennis racket stringer, he mastered as many tools of the trade as possible. An opportunity to work on the road in the ski and tennis industry took him away from retail and exposed him to the world of creating ‘win-win’ solutions for customers. A transition to the film and video industry with a specialization in Sports & Resorts provided, accidentally, a path to becoming a script and copywriter, a director, a producer, a videographer, a photographer, a designer, a product consultant, and the founder of his marketing agency, Synergy Group Marketing Communications.

Synergy’s clients included Wilson Sporting Goods, ICON Health & Fitness, American Express, Continental Airlines, US Ski Team, Yonex Golf & Tennis, Deer Valley Resort, FreeMotion Fitness, National Academy of Sports Medicine, Skis Dynastar/Lange, Yamaha Sports, Dartfish USA and more.

Through Synergy Group and its relationships, Simons was brought on board to develop a new curriculum for the global Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf franchise. In addition to growing its footprint and developing new training materials and certifications, Simons co-created the world's first fully-integrated golf coaching studio. Time and time again, Simons was, and remains, an early adopter of new technologies and philosophies that aid qualified professionals shorten the learning curve for their students.

Simons went on to develop programs and facilities for the Mark Spitz Swim Academy, Jim Courier Tennis Academy, Mia Hamm/Brandi Chastain/Julie Foudy Soccer Academy, and the Signature Fitness Academy. Programming included the introduction of different sports to members, especially juniors, and providing cross-training activities to develop balanced and healthy athletes.

Simons has founded Synergy Group Consulting to provide services to developers and owners of golf and sports facilities around the world looking for outside expertise in creating the best experience for their members, guests, and players. From facility design and re-design to developing 'branded' academies, customizing 'golf entertainment centers, creating programming to match the clientele, identifying and hiring instructors, and providing marketing oversight, Simons remains committed to providing the best solution to meet the vision and goals of his clients.

tsimons@synergygroupconsulting.net

www.synergygroupconsulting.net