23-Year-Old’s ‘Viral’ Sports Business Will Make $7 Million This Year

Zechariah Thomas, 23, grew up playing hockey in the Ontario, Canada city of Oshawa, where the sport reigns supreme. As a result, the former minor-league pro had firsthand experience with a common problem on the ice. Players tend to break their hockey sticks 12 to 15 times a season, Thomas says — and replacements typically cost $400 to $500 each. 

“ Those costs [are] absolutely absurd,” Thomas tells Entrepreneur. “Then, going even deeper, hockey team fees average around $10,000 to $20,000 per year. That’s without traveling. So hockey’s dealing with this big problem, where it’s almost a sport that’s dying in a sense, just based on the cost of the goods.”

Thomas set out to solve that problem. In 2022, at 19 years old, he founded Swift Hockey, selling pro-level, carbon-fiber hockey sticks at a more affordable price point — about $200. 

Starting a business to solve a problem in sports

The young entrepreneur bootstrapped Swift Hockey. During the pandemic, with his schedule cleared of hockey commitments, Thomas experimented with dropshipping and started several online businesses. Selling one of the ecommerce startups gave him the capital to get his next venture off the ground. 

Additionally, Swift Hockey appeared on the Canadian reality show Dragon’s Den in 2023, just six months after the business’s launch, and received three offers. Although Thomas accepted one, the deal ultimately fell through, and the business remains self-funded. 

Thomas applied what he’d learned from his previous ecommerce businesses to Swift Hockey. Instead of focusing on distribution in brick-and-mortar sporting goods retailers like most companies selling hockey sticks, he took an online-first approach. 

The move isn’t without its challenges, Thomas admits, as hockey players who break a stick can’t practice until they have another — which means speedy acquisition is key. 

Swift Hockey’s DTC approach gives it a competitive edge

However, Swift Hockey’s online strategy is what allows the business to hold margin while offering a lower price point and continue its steady growth. “We’ve been able to grow very organically for the first two years,” Thomas says. “We didn’t pay $1 in advertising for the first two years, and that was able to get us to the point where we’ve gotten some traction.”

Thomas plans to continue leaning into direct-to-consumer advantages. Swift Hockey is on track for $7 million in annual revenue in 2026. The company currently has about 20 employees on its staff.

The founder plans to build on the business’s online sales with an intentional, slow expansion into brick-and-mortar suppliers. Swift Hockey recently closed two major partnerships with Play It Again Sports and Source for Sports. 

Expanding the business’s offerings beyond hockey sticks

What’s more, the business is expanding its product offerings beyond hockey sticks. The idea came to Thomas a while back, when he made a LinkedIn post about his business’s goal — and “it went super viral.” The comments encouraged Thomas to increase accessibility across all sports, from baseball to pickleball and beyond. 

“After doing a bunch of research, I found the problem [spans] across almost all sports,” Thomas says. “Everyone’s being priced out.” 

Nearly three out of five parents whose children are currently playing sports (58%) say paying for the required equipment has become a financial stress, and almost 60% of parents fear they won’t be able to enroll their kids in sports next year due to rising costs, according to a recent survey from Good Sports, a nonprofit organization driving equitable access in youth sports. 

“Growing [Swift Hockey] into other sports is really mission-aligned,” Thomas says. “Sports were something for me as a kid that kept my mental health good, kept me out of a lot of trouble as well, and I want everyone to have that same opportunity.”  

To that end, Swift Hockey offers scholarships and financial aid programs created to support youth hockey players in underserved communities, covering costs for gear, training and participation fees to reduce the financial burden. 

The advantages and challenges of being a young entrepreneur

Being a young entrepreneur has been a “big blessing,” allowing Thomas to understand a lot of organic marketing aspects intuitively, the founder notes. 

Of course, growing a business as a young founder also comes with some hurdles, including access to institutional funding, which Thomas could see coming in handy down the road. 

“ Obviously, I would love to bootstrap us all the way,” he says. “But more funding could definitely help us get to our goal of making hockey more affordable. We’re trying to be the biggest, strongest brand that charges a reasonable price.” 

Running a business can be harder than anyone expects, but Thomas says it’s that passion that allows him to navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. The founder encourages other young people who aspire to start businesses of their own to find the idea that fuels them — then act on it. 

This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.

Zechariah Thomas, 23, grew up playing hockey in the Ontario, Canada city of Oshawa, where the sport reigns supreme. As a result, the former minor-league pro had firsthand experience with a common problem on the ice. Players tend to break their hockey sticks 12 to 15 times a season, Thomas says — and replacements typically cost $400 to $500 each. 

“ Those costs [are] absolutely absurd,” Thomas tells Entrepreneur. “Then, going even deeper, hockey team fees average around $10,000 to $20,000 per year. That’s without traveling. So hockey’s dealing with this big problem, where it’s almost a sport that’s dying in a sense, just based on the cost of the goods.”

Thomas set out to solve that problem. In 2022, at 19 years old, he founded Swift Hockey, selling pro-level, carbon-fiber hockey sticks at a more affordable price point — about $200.