Offseason isn’t just a term that is used to describe the period between when a sports season ends and begins, but for transition and connection. Efe Ovie, a former Bethel University rugby player, and his friends have put together a new app for connecting athletes with collegiate coaches, known as OFFSZN.
Ovie, software designer, Kendall McCaskill, and current Lincoln University of PA linebacker, Devon Cathcart, came together to form OFFSZN after discussing together about their recruiting processes and how others had progressed in sports.
“When I was younger, I was under the impression that all athletes had the resources to get to the next level, and all coaches wanted to push their athletes to get to the next level. But, it’s not like that”, says Ovie.
Ovie and his friends realized that most athletes typically do not have the resources or support system behind them, to help propel them to the next level. So, the creation of OFFZN began from there. The mission was to create a social media platform that would be free of the frivolous personal content that plagues platforms like, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and just provide a clutter free, athletic presentation and education driven location where the athletes and coaches can directly interact and see who they are. “We want to make the LinkedIn for athletes”.
On this platform, Ovie believes that coaches will have a better time being able to curating players with great characters, high achievement, and athletic potential for their programs. For the athletes, this is a chance for them to speak for themselves. To present to potential coaches about who they are, and what they can do, and see how they best fit with a program.
Athletes will have the ability to post video highlights, personal measurements and achievements, and aspirational goals in education and in athletics for coaches to see. The coaches will be able to create recruiting board rankings and have direct mailing access to the players, so that there is clear communication with athletes they would like to recruit.
Ovie sees this platform as not only a transformational way of giving more opportunity for athletes, but he believes universities, namely historically black colleges and universities, can use this as an opportunity to bring in higher ranked recruits. In doing so, Ovie believes that it can change the way that HBCU’s get viewed and provide more value to them.
“Seeing what Deion Sanders is doing at Jackson State, I hope that they run through everyone, so that more athletes can look to joining more HBCU programs”
Ovie and his partners expect to launch the OFFSZN app, by the end of March. It will be made available to Apple and Android users that are based in the United States. The future is looking bright for the future of athletics, and OFFSZN is hoping to be part of that process.