Key Takeaways
- ETS Performance opened 16 new studios in the first half of 2026, pushing its national footprint past 80 locations and more than 50,000 athletes served.
- The company entered Kansas, Colorado, Kentucky and Missouri for the first time, with two Austin studios marking its first move into Texas this fall.
- ETS acquired Denver-based Kula Sports Performance, bringing coach Brian Kula’s three decades of speed and performance training into the system.
- A new nutrition partnership with an NSF Certified for Sport brand rolls out nationwide this fall as part of the ETS training experience.
Sixteen Studios Across a Dozen States
Woodbury, Minnesota-based ETS Performance closed the first half of 2026 with 16 new studio openings spread across the country. The additions brought the youth athlete training company into four new states, Kansas, Colorado, Kentucky and Missouri, while deepening its presence in established markets including Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Idaho, South Dakota and Utah.
The growth pushes ETS past 80 locations nationwide and more than 50,000 athletes served. The pace is set to continue through year end, with additional openings planned in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
Founded in 2010 by Ryan and Heidi Englebert, ETS builds its programming around long-term athlete development, focusing on speed, strength, agility and movement mechanics. The company ranked No. 2,088 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list after placing No. 88 on the 2024 Inc. Midwest Regional List.
First Move Into Texas and the South
The most notable expansion is still ahead. This fall ETS will open two studios in Austin, its first locations in Texas and its first entry into the South. Texas represents one of the largest and most competitive youth sports markets in the country, and the Austin openings give ETS a foothold in a region it has not previously operated in.
The move extends a footprint that has been concentrated across the Midwest and Mountain West into a new part of the map, a signal of where the company sees room to add density next.
The Kula Sports Performance Acquisition
Earlier this year, ETS acquired Denver-based Kula Sports Performance, the athlete development organization founded by speed and performance coach Brian Kula. The deal folds Kula’s three decades of coaching into the ETS system.
Kula has worked with a roster of elite athletes including NFL running back Christian McCaffrey, NHL defenseman Josh Morrissey and reigning heptathlon World Champion Anna Hall. Integrating that expertise gives ETS added credibility at the high-performance end of its athlete pipeline while it scales at the youth level.
“Demand for quality youth athlete training has never been higher, but our focus has remained right where it’s always been, on long-term athlete development,” said Jed Schmidt, CEO of ETS Performance. He noted that the company welcomed the Kula team to ETS during the same stretch of new openings.
Adding Nutrition to the Development Platform
ETS also finalized a partnership with a performance and wellness nutrition brand whose products are NSF Certified for Sport. The program rolls out nationwide this fall and gives athletes and families access to nutrition support built into the training experience.
The company frames the addition as a way to address more layers of athlete development beyond physical training. For operators, it reflects a broader pattern in the youth training category, where facility brands are bundling services like nutrition, recovery and assessment to raise per-athlete value and deepen family relationships.
Turning a Regional Chain Into a National Development Platform
Taken together, the studio openings, the Kula acquisition and the nutrition partnership move ETS from a fast-growing regional training brand toward a national platform with a wider service set. The Austin entry tests whether a model built in the Midwest travels into a larger, more crowded market, and the second-half pipeline in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Texas will show whether the current pace holds. For a category still made up largely of independent local operators, ETS is one of the clearer examples of what consolidation and scale can look like in youth athlete training.
Source: ETS Performance press release, July 9, 2026
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