Meet Bryan


Interview with Bryan "Goose" Finnerty


Bryan is the Founding owner of High Velocity Sports Center (HV) in Canton Michigan. The 120,000 square foot facility opened in 2001 as one of the nation’s premier indoor sports facilities. Since opening, HV has consistently exceeded financial projections while simultaneously developing athletes and the regions community. Bryan is also an experienced real estate investor and entrepreneur with a track record for building organizations whose financial successes have been driven by a commitment to serving the customer. As a former member of the top ranked men’s soccer team at San Diego State University, he led the Aztecs to 3 NCAA berths and a Championship Final in his 4 years of attendance. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Marketing he was drafted by the Detroit Rockers in their inaugural season. Since then he has been named the 1990-91 Rookie of the Year, he won an NPSL Championship (where he was also the championship series MVP), and he has been named to four All-Star teams. He has also opened a number of successful businesses and consulted on dozens of leading sports complexes. Within SFA Bryan leads our real estate development, financial projections, and facility management plan areas and partners with the rest of our Executive team to set the direction for our company.

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Meet Dev

Interview with Dev Pathik

Dev is widely regarded as the leading business development advisor for innovative recreation, sport, and leadership development centers. Having grown and sold four of his own corporations and worked with dozens of others, Dev brings a wealth of brand building an entrepreneurial experience to our projects. As a former adventure athlete, Dev has climbed and traveled in some of the most remote locations in the world. In the 1990’s Dev opened the country’s premier sports and adventure based corporate teambuilding center. Pathik then went on to launch dozens of other centers as a consultant to leadership, teambuilding, and sports facilities around the world. Since then, Dev has written and facilitated leadership and team development training for more than 150,000 athletes, students, and corporate professionals. His team and leadership development programs and Dev’s fundraising, brand development, and day time business expertise have led to more than 100 million dollars in fund raising and new business opportunities for The Advisory’s clients. Within SFA, Dev leads our strategic planning and business models areas and partners with the rest of our Executive team to set direction for our company.

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Formally trained in sports facility architecture, Jason studied in Rome and the U.S.  He is a licensed architect and therefore provides SFA clients with important insights into design and cost containment.  Jason has worked with a wide range of well noted multi-disciplined project teams.  These included renovation and new construction for such notable facilities as Oklahoma University’s Football Stadium, Iowa State University’s Indoor Football Practice Facility, Tiffany Springs Sports Complex, and Missouri University’s new Basketball Arena.  Jason then worked as a corporate consultant helping large corporations maximize the efficiency of their real estate assets through technology and enhanced processes.  Some of his clients in this area have included Nokia, USAA Financial Services, and ASC.  Within SFA, Jason is responsible for operational and customer service effectiveness and for the staffing levels, resource distribution, project delivery that allow SFA to offer the single best service experience in the industry.

Core Beliefs:

• Have a mighty sense of purpose
• Act ethically and treat others with respect
• Surround yourself with the right people

Personal Pursuits:

• Relationship with God
• Quality Time with Family and Friends
• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle
• Any outdoor activity in the sun

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Meet Nora

Prior to joining SFA Nora earned dual degrees in Communications and Business Management. She also held positions in management in the restaurant industry, was the Office Manager for Liberty National Life Insurance, and Nora worked in real estate appraisals.

Nora’s knowledge and ability to organize technology and develop systems to support the completion of numerous complex tasks, timelines, and projects allows SFA to maintain our top ratings in customer service. As Director of Operations, Nora is involved in every step of our client services cycle from concept through completion. Nora oversees SFA’s day to day operations and business systems as well as the administrative staff within SFA. She is also the main point of contact for our Executive Team.

Core Beliefs:

• If you love your work it wont feel like work
• Great team players find a way to get things done

Personal Pursuits:

• Beach, sun, water
• Spending time with family

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Meet Eric

With an undergraduate degree in Marketing and an MBA in International Business, combined with 24 years of competitive sports experience, Eric is a team player with the ability to understand the financial and market realities that drive SFA clients to success. Eric was a four-year starting goalkeeper and two-year captain for the men’s soccer team at Niagara University. He led the team to its first MAAC Championship appearance and helped turn this previously unsuccessful program into one of the top Division I programs in western New York. Importantly, Eric has played in and evaluated the quality of hundreds of sports facilities across the U.S. He is also a Certified Arena Operator. Eric has overseen the start to finish production of more than 50 major business documents including feasibility studies, bank lending business plans, and fund raising packages. As an experienced market analyst, Eric has worked with the SFA executive team to develop our proprietary research and projected cash flow model. Within SFA, Eric oversees the research, development, and delivery of major business documents and he is a Project Manager working along side the Account Managers for many of our most important clients.

Core Beliefs:

• The pace of your learning dictates the pace of your progress
• Winning with a team trumps winning alone every-time

Personal Pursuits:

• Fishing
• Kayaking

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Meet Shawn

Shawn's skills in writing, editing, layout/design, researching, documentation, and interviewing serve SFA clients throughout the phases of market research, feasibility, business planning, and operational procedures. An award-winning sports writer, Shawn has covered all levels of sports – professional (MLB, NFL, NHL, MLS, and PGA), collegiate (NCAA and NAIA), and high school – for numerous media outlets across the country. His diligence in the accumulation and sorting of facts, figures, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and percentages strengthen all levels of analysis and documentation for SFA clients. A former collegiate baseball player, Shawn also has five years experience as a high school varsity assistant baseball coach and private hitting/infield instructor. During that time, he also aided in the direction of numerous camps and clinics for all levels from youth to college.

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With more than ten years of indoor and outdoor soccer experience and 15 years of baseball experience, Carl understands the impact that sports have on individuals and communities.  Carl comes to SFA from the University of Tampa. After receiving a B.S. in Sports Management in 2004, he earned an MBA, with a concentration in Management, in May 2007. While at UT, Carl won the CEO Council of Tampa Bay’s Business Plan competition as well as numerous other accolades. Carl remains active in community and sports having volunteered with Little League baseball, area churches, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Athletes For Hope. Within SFA Carl and the research team conduct sports specific market research and produce business plans, feasibility studies, facility operations plans, and other key documents for our indoor and outdoor sports facility clients.

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Hac’s award winning graphic designs have helped to take our clients to an entirely new level of brand sophistication. His passion for music, animation and technology has translated into engaging and powerful interactive rich media content for our clients that are highly effective in form and function. With clients in virtually every industry segment, Hac provides a wealth of invaluable expertise during marketing materials projects. His past clients have included companies such as Dreamworks Interactive SKG, Z Media (where he worked on the world’s first interactive comic strip that was featured on AOL), Chicago Tribune, Accenture and Comdisco to name a few. Hac lives in Chicago where he runs a multi-discipline design firm with SFA’s Multimedia Director, Tony Frenzel. He provides service to his own clients when he is not working on SFA projects.

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