Gladiator Lacrosse
Rachel Zietz was only 13 when she started Gladiator Lacrosse. Rachel was born in Boca Raton, Florida and was playing lacrosse since she was very young. She noticed there was a lack of affordable, but high-quality lacrosse equipment on the market. In 2013, she attended the Young Entrepreneurs Academy where she came up with the concept and started from there.
Rachel initially started with nets and rebounders and tested everything herself. She spent weekends at tournaments, promoting her brand and connecting with other players. After she gained recognition, she expanded the product line to include balls and protective equipment. She later went on Shark Tank, and despite leaving without a deal, her brand became more popular. Gladiator now has deals with professional and college teams.
Rachel’s success is very impressive. She was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 and has an estimated net worth of over five million dollars. She has been interviewed in many publications and has spoken at several conferences.
Gladiator Lacrosse is such a success because Rachel identified a need, took initiative, and solved the problem. Although I personally don’t play lacrosse, I can relate to the need for cheaper sports equipment. Gladiator should look to move to other sports, in addition to lacrosse, because the market could use more quality competition.
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Its cool to see innovation in the sports industry. Cheaper equipment is scarce and to see entrepreneurs focus on this problem is encouraging.
It’s great to see young athletes stepping up to form new ideas or take older ones and making them better and cheaper. There’s a big problem with sports, especially youth sports where equipment is way to expensive.
It is super cool to see, as a lacrosse player myself, that there is still innovation within the sport, especially from an athlete my age. Lacrosse is a very expensive sport to play, so it is awesome that she focuses on more affordable equipment to grow the game.
I think it’s really impressive that Rachel started her business at only 13 years old. I like how she noticed a problem with the cost and quality of lacrosse equipment and turned it into a business opportunity. Her story shows that you don’t have to be an adult to have a good idea and take the initiative to make it happen.
I really appreciate the way that she didn’t settle for annoyance and chose to pursue a potential solution to a problem that was seemingly impossible. I think in a area as simple as sports that most of us are around everyday, it is easy to assume that there are no better solutions but she showed her innovative brain by choosing to work against this common mindset.
Starting a business as a teenager is crazy. Especially when Rachel had to juggle academics, sports, and family life all at the same time. I think that’s a testament to her work ethic and time management which are both very important entrepreneurial skills.