For high school athletes with dreams of playing their favorite sport in college, keeping tabs on how to academically qualify for collegiate athletics can be an onerous task. But a Chicago sports startup is working with schools to help student athletes reach their full potential.
Honest Game, founded in 2019 by Kim Michelson and Joyce Anderson, creates a tool to help high school athletes navigate the college eligibility process. The startup works with public and private high schools, coaches and counselors, club sports teams and individual athletes to ensure students complete the academic requirements required to play sports in college.
As a public benefit corporation, Honest Game tracks a student’s academic progress in real time so they can meet National Collegiate Athletic Association requirements and access available college athletic scholarships. The startup provides academic eligibility status for each player, and can identify when a student needs summer school or credit recovery courses to become college eligible, for example.
"Our target mission is all about changing the trajectory of students' lives and giving equal access and opportunity," Michelson said.
Anderson, who has a background in law and advising student athletes, and Michelson, who has a background in nonprofit work, launched the company with the mission to help more students use sports as a way to receive a college education and set themselves up for success.
“Both of us really believe in the power of sports and what it can do for young people,” Anderson said. “But if you really love what you’re doing in sports and you want to continue at the next level, you also have to get your academics in order."
The two founders came up with the name for their company at a Starbucks last year and soon after, began onboarding clients. Now, Honest Game works with nearly 40 schools, and the company has applied to work with Chicago Public Schools, the founders said. Last academic year, Honest Game was only working with eight schools.
Though business is growing, Honest Game hasn't been immune to the Covid slump. The founders said the startup didn’t make any revenue in May. However, in June and July, Honest Game brought in $21,000, Anderson said.
Earlier this year, the startup won first place and $50,000 at the first-ever Chicago Bulls Venture Competition. The investment was provided by LOUD Capital, a Columbus-based VC firm that partnered with the Bulls on the competition. Honest Game claimed their prize during halftime of the Bulls’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 10.
“Our kids got to see their moms walk out onto the court during a timeout and get this gigantic novelty check, which was just hilarious,” Anderson said. “It was an incredible experience. We hit a ton of momentum after that, even with Covid.”
Honest Game also graduated last month from 1871’s WISTEM accelerator, a program for women startup founders to develop, launch and build tech businesses.
“Having that support system really got us through some of the hardest times of developing our business,” Anderson said. “Being an entrepreneur can be really lonely and we never felt like that.”
