BATLX Training talent for the gridiron
By Michael Lightstone Photography by Ezabriell Fraser
Micah Brown has worn several hats during his years on this earth. Student, professional athlete, mentor, coach and businessman, to name a few. The game of football – a passion of Brown’s since childhood – is firmly connected to all of the above, and continues to figure prominently today. Among other things, the former college and pro quarterback runs his own football-specific training enterprise, which opened in January in Dartmouth, and was recently an assistant football coach with the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men in Antigonish. Brown’s football-training operation, BATLX, evolved from his love of the game and from a business plan devised to fill what he said is a gap in athlete development in Nova Scotia. He said he did his research and saw a market for this here. “In Canada, you practice year-round to play in eight games during the (football) season, and that’s it,” Brown said. “Every other sport has private coaches, or has camps and clinics and other academies that you can use throughout the year, except for football.” So Brown decided, “it was kind of a niche” that should be adapted to suit competitive, goal-oriented athletes seeking to grow more talented on the gridiron. Brown said he works alone in commercial space he’s renting in a warehouse-style building equipped with fitness and weight-room gear. His business provides primarily individual instruction, but he said he could handle more than one client at a time, if the need arises. “I found it was more beneficial to . . . have a discerning attention paid to that individual client,” Brown said in May. Looking ahead, he said a possible expansion of his floor space would see artificial turf installed in an area currently rented as a storage unit to another company. In BATLX’s mission statement, posted on its website, Brown says client motivation and customer service are key. “Creativity in teaching methods and experience will set us apart from our competitors, using both repetition and variation and our process will create sound performance and athleticism without sacrificing health,” it says. An expatriate American, Brown played football at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and later quarterbacked pro squads in Europe. According to a release from St. Francis Xavier University, he was inducted into the Touchdown Europe Hall of Fame for winning eight championships.
Micah Brown, BATLX.
Last year, Brown, who’s now 32 years old, was appointed to the X-Men football coaching staff as coach of the team’s defensive backs. He’s also the founder of the Halifax Harbour Hawks of the Maritime Football League. Brown grew up in Florida and moved to Canada in 2009. He’s earned two undergraduate degrees and has a master’s in North American studies from a German university. (He graduated from Saint Mary’s in 2013.) A married father of two, Brown wants to grow his business so it becomes the go-to centre in the region for football-specific training. He said he’s doing some online marketing; potential customers also hear about BATLX through word-of-mouth. “I am absolutely passionate about doing it,” Brown said of his business, “and helping the sport of football grow over here in Atlantic Canada.” Fees for programs provided by BATLX vary. For example, a private lesson focusing on a set of skills required for a certain position played on a team costs $90. A foursession preseason camp, geared to football players aged 10 to 18, is $380.
BLACK to BUSINESS
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Summer 2018