Goalies, Your Time is Now

Pickering, Canada, November 12, 2009 --(PR.com)-- It takes a special breed of person to stop hockey pucks for fun. What makes goalies unique also makes them a precious commodity. The market has noticed. Rent-a-goalies are no joke, with some earning sizeable side-incomes to add an extra boost, especially during these recessionary times.

Dozens of goalie rental agencies have exploded onto the recreational hockey scene to fill this growing demand. In the hockey hotbed of Toronto, you can expect to shell out $40 to $60 per hour for a goalie — and as much as half of that fee will be pocketed by the agency. Some goalies privately advertise themselves to avoid the agency’s big cut, but they can only place an ad and hope the phone rings.

This is where Goalie Gigs (www.goaliegigs.com) comes in. Launched in October, 2009, Goalie Gigs is the first online marketplace that lets goalies and the teams that want to hire them set a fair price without paying expensive overhead charges.

How Goalie Gigs works

Teams post their game on the Goalie Gigs website and the service notifies goalies who have signed up in the area. Goalies who are interested in the “gig” respond with their fee. While some goalies play purely for the love of the game, others charge a fee to help pay for travel costs and upkeep of equipment. Many goalies also use the opportunity to earn some extra spending cash.

Once goalies respond to a game posting, teams can hire a goalie based on their skill level, fee and feedback rating, or a team can save time and let the service choose a goalie for them at no extra charge. Post-game, goalies and players can leave feedback ratings about each other, providing valuable information to future users of Goalie Gigs.

Goalie Gigs works on a “credit” system. One credit costs $4.99, with the best deal at $29.99 for 10 credits. When a goalie is hired, the goalie and the team are each charged one credit. At less than $10 plus the negotiable goalie’s fee, that’s considerably cheaper than what goalie rental agencies charge for a similar service. The service can be accessed from anywhere using a web browser, even the one on your iPhone or Blackberry while you are at the arena.

“Our goal was to create a fair and transparent system that provides choice and opportunity,” says Goalie Gigs founder Steve Sanyal. Steve traces his passion for hockey to playing street hockey during his childhood in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto. “My dream was always to play the game on ice, but as new immigrants, my family couldn’t afford the cost of hockey equipment,” says Steve. Steve’s own dream came true when he saved up for goalie equipment while he was earning his bachelors degree at the University of Toronto. He has continued playing in recreational ice hockey leagues around Toronto to this day.

Early success for Goalie Gigs

Goalie Gigs has already drawn the attention of hockey enthusiasts. Most Goalie Gigs users are from the Toronto area, but goalies from Alberta, Quebec and New York have also signed on. Goalie Gigs recently served its first client in the Ottawa area and found a match in just 20 minutes. “Our goal is to get everyone in the hockey community using Goalie Gigs when they need a goalie,” says Steve. “It’s the best sport in the world, I just love it.”

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