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Brooke’s husband San Jreisat (then-boyfriend) originally conceived and ran with the business concept for Beach City Sports (BCS). They both had moved here from different states, and Sam was very ambitious towards starting a business in California. He wanted to start a recreational company as a way for adults to meet each other that shared his passion for fitness. She saw his dream and she jumped in with 100 percent of what she has to contribute… so within a few months it was clear he had a partner in crime to pull off the idea.
And since they were both new to the area, Brooke and Sam actually met through playing adult social sports. “We jumped at the opportunity to build a company that brings adults together in an organized way for meeting people and making new friends,” Brooke says. “It makes a big difference to have friends and be surrounded by positive people. We’ve provided a new way to meet adults outside of the normal routine of work, school and church.”
BCS has gained popularity since its inception in Huntington Beach in 2011. Two years later it expanded to Newport Beach and last year expanded to Long Beach. There are now roughly 1,500 adults registered to play coed beach sports every season.
Beach Flag Football seems to be the crowd favorite at BCS, followed by Beach Volleyball, Beach Soccer, Bowling and Turf Flag Football. In fact, Brooke is part of the Football group and absolutely loves it. “All leagues are coed. Sometimes guys originally think they don’t want to play with girls, but it provides a whole new perspective afterwards,” Brooke says.
While most who are part of BCS love to be active, there are more ways that playing a sport to be involved. “Beach City Social” and “Beach City Networking” are two expansions of the BCS brand that provide social events and monthly networking events.
With so many ways to meet others, you think there would be a membership fee associated with the league. Wrong! “We know that we could make more money by having a membership-based business model,” Brooke says. “When I first moved to California, I felt like Orange County was very exclusive, so we specifically built our company to be a non-exclusive environment. You can just register for whichever individual event you want to go to, no membership required. Even though we don’t have members, the players have coined the phrase #BCSFamily because teams and groups within the league quickly become a family of friends.”
Everyone who plays in the league gets a Beach City VIP card; it’s a part of their business model that connects players with local businesses. Cruisers is one of their sponsored bars in Newport, within waling distance of the football and volleyball fields. All players get 25 percent off their food and drinks any day of the week there. “It has a big open-air patio with beer pong tables, corn hole, Jenga, and other games,” Brooke says. “It’s a really fun place to hang out after our sports events on Sundays, but is also open to us 7 days a week. I like to align myself with other business owners who have entrepreneurial outlooks in life. I always say I view the world from a perspective of collaboration rather than competition…”
Long Beach is the league’s first expansion into the LA market. “We have high aspirations for BCS, but we are taking it one step at a time,” Brooke says. “Our company’s 5 year anniversary is coming up this August. And we will continue expanding through collaborating with other cities & business owners in beach cities on our Coast.”