A couple of weeks ago T.J. Hurd and his siblings launched a coaching program called Hometown Athletics. The goal of the program is to connect local student-athletes with families who want personalized coaching for their kids. Right now, the program has more than 20 coaches and 80 young athletes working together.

Hurd and his siblings have grown up participating in Pelham’s sports leagues, and this spawned the idea for the Hometown Athletics program “to connect passionate, talented, and dedicated student-athletes to local families and to grow the positive impact that these student-athletes can have on the local community,” Hurd said. Because Hurd’s younger siblings Anna and Ben both have experience training kids in hockey, all three are now involved in the venture. T.J. and Ben created the website, Jordan runs the social media accounts, and Anna was one of the first coaches on the platform.

So far the program has Pelham Memorial High School students, college athletes and alums coaching in hockey, baseball, lacrosse, basketball, football, cross country, soccer and softball. All of the coaches are “high-caliber student-athletes from Pelham and Rye who are role models in the community and also have a passion for passing down their experience, knowledge, hard work and skills,” Hurd said.

According to Hurd, student-athletes are phenomenal teachers since they are much better at motivating and connecting with younger athletes. Many of the student-athletes have experienced similar coaches or programs that an athlete might and understand how to achieve the goals and dreams the young athletes might have. They also love to work with the younger kids and pass on their knowledge of the sport

Parents are able to get in touch with coaches through the Hometown Athletics website. After, coaches then devise a plan to fit the specific player’s development, along with the time, place to meet and rate. Most coaches charge between $30 to $60 depending on the age and the number of young athletes.

Due to Covid-19, Hometown Athletics follows strict guidelines to insure the health of its coaches and young athletes. All sessions must take place outdoors, whether at the coach’s or player’s yard. In addition, most of the sessions are one on one, further decreasing the risk.

Hometown Athletics has received a lot of interest with student-athletes looking to become coaches on the platform, with people coming from all over Westchester and even Connecticut. The program has only launched in Pelham and Rye, but Hurd and his siblings are looking forward to expanding into more towns and including all sports.