Most basketball trainers dream of opening their own facility. The vision is clear: your own space, your own schedule, complete control over your business.
But the reality? That’s where most trainers get stuck.
Tyler Leclerc knows both sides of that story. The Massachusetts-based trainer spent two years training anyone “with legs and arms that could throw a basketball” - often clients he didn’t want to work with, dealing with last-minute cancellations, payment chasing, and the constant grind of renting gym space.
Today, he operates two thriving facilities 20 minutes apart, has built a reputation as one of the most respected trainers in New England, and co-founded Master of Hoops with Coleman of By Any Means Basketball.
In this episode of the CoachIQ Podcast, Tyler breaks down the real journey, the systems that made scaling possible, and the hard lessons every trainer needs to learn.
The Two-Year Grind Nobody Talks About
“I think a lot of people get into training, they start training for a week, they have five clients, so they’re like, ‘Hey, I want to go open a gym,'” Tyler explains. “That’s not it.”
Before Tyler was ready to sign his first lease, he spent two years building the foundation:
- Training 7 days a week - Every available hour was spent on the court
- Taking every client - Even the ones who were disrespectful or constantly canceled
- Saving relentlessly - Every dollar went toward the future facility fund
- Building reputation - Word of mouth in the local basketball community
Tyler needed three things before approaching a landlord:
- Consistent cash flow ($8,000/month in training revenue)
- Startup capital (Eventually $50,000 for first/last/security, court installation, equipment)
- Established clientele (30+ hours of weekly training sessions)
“You’re going to go approach a landlord where the lease is five, six grand a month, and they’re going to laugh at you because you made $500 last month,” he says. “You need to build up a legitimate business, a legitimate clientele to even be in the position to get that gym.”
The Breaking Point That Changed Everything
Tyler’s opportunity came during COVID when gyms shut down and reopened with dramatically higher rental rates - some facilities tripled or quadrupled their court fees.
That’s when the economics shifted.
“I did the calculations. I was like, I can pay for my own gym and spend just as much money every month as I was renting the court,” Tyler recalls. “At that point, it just made sense.”
With 30 hours of weekly training and $3,000-4,000 in monthly court rental fees, Tyler realized he wasn’t just paying for access anymore - he was paying someone else’s lease.
Read the full financial breakdown: The Real Cost of Opening a Basketball Training Facility in 2025
The Admin Work That Almost Broke Him
Here’s what nobody tells you about the training grind: the actual training is the easy part.
Tyler estimates he was spending 10+ hours per month just on:
