AHLer develops app with the goal of helping young players step on the ice and get the advice they need.

Josh Healey is both a professional hockey player and an entrepreneur who remembers the challenges he faced when he was younger and looking for direction in his playing career. As a teenager, he felt confused and unsure about his options and who he should trust when player agents approached him following his days in junior.

Healey chose to combine his hockey development with an education at Ohio State University in 2013. While pursuing a degree in finance, he wanted to develop an app but was unsure what purpose it should serve. After four years at Ohio State, Healey turned pro, and it was during his first year with the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, that he had a revelation during a visit to a sports store in Edmonton. “The sticks were priced at $320, which was outrageous,” he said. “There had to be a way I could help out kids that want to play but their parents can’t afford it.”

He decided then his app would help raise money to assist kids who want to play the game, while also aiding young players who found themselves in the same position he did after junior. “I saw a need to help players and parents with decisions regarding agents and coaches and tying that into a source of funds to help kids that don’t have the resources to play the game,” he said.

Healey, 24, drew on his experience in hockey and with player agents to create The Sports Aux app. Players are encouraged to register their profiles on the site and answer questions about their past and present coaches and agents. The players provide anonymous reviews of these hockey professionals, based on performance, reliability, communication and administration. The agents and scouts receive a score in the range of 1 to 10, and the players are encouraged to offer comments. “Many reviews about agents and coaches have been positive, which will benefit them in the eyes of players that are looking for advice,” Healey said.

The app, currently available on iOS with plans to expand to Android, has already attracted nearly 450 verified players and 600 to 700 agents, coaches and fans since its inception in January. Healey hopes the app serves as a source of information for players, scouts, coaches, agents and data-hungry fans all on one platform. “We’re focusing on increasing our user base, and then we’ll look at ways to monetize the venture,” Healey said. “We want to build a large library of player views about agents and coaches and to sell access to that information possibly. That may take the form of a monthly or yearly subscription service.”

Once that happens, a portion of the app’s proceeds will go towards The Sports Aux Player Fund, which will assist youth players who can’t financially support their dream of playing hockey.

When asked about the future of the app, Healey, who just completed his second season as a rugged defensive defenseman with the Heat, said: “We’re looking at adding warmup, cool-down and stickhandling videos for both players and goalies. We want to establish partnerships with development leagues so teams can purchase the right to allow their players access to the app to help with their training and development.”

Healey’s value proposition to players and their parents is evident. “I would hope that my app would help young players and parents make more informed decisions about their hockey careers and opportunities,” he said. “We want to be a one-stop shop for players that don’t have access to the information they need or the resources to play the game.”