After Fitness World, one of Canada’s longest-running fitness club chains, joined with the Steve Nash Sports Club brand to become Steve Nash Fitness World, the fitness scene in Canada moved to a whole new level.
For one thing, the focus turned to offering not only a broader range of services and fitness options but to doing it in a sustainable way—a subject dear to Nash’s heart.
Opened in 2009, the Richmond, B.C., Steve Nash Sports Club (SNSC) features stationary “Green Revolution” bikes—a first in Canada—that when pedalled generate energy that is used to power the facility, while the downtown Vancouver club is built to LEED standards.
“This is the first one, the original, and so Steve was very involved in the design of this club,” says Don Harbich, president and CEO of Steve Nash Fitness World & Sports Club.
“All the rubber flooring is recycled. All of the lockers are bamboo. Our lighting is energy efficient. And that’s all Steve—that was Steve saying, ‘I want all the clubs to be eco.’ He’s very passionate about the environment.”
The 38,000-square-foot, three-story higher end facility in downtown Vancouver, opened in 2007, includes amenities such as towel service, a juice bar, and child care facilities. As well as a wide range of workout equipment, there are group exercise classes, cycling classes, yoga, pilates, and all the personal trainers are Steve Nash-trained.
Olympic athletes from 13 countries trained at the club during the 2010 Winter Olympics, says Harbich.
“The difference with us having Steve Nash involved is that in our sports clubs, if you are a hard core athlete, like you want to train for a marathon, you want to train to do a cycling competition, you want to run the Grouse Grind—this club has equipment that nobody else has.”
A third club opened in June 2010 in Morgan Crossing, Surrey/White Rock.
Harbich is the driving force in the evolution of SNSC and plans to expand the brand across Canada. Founding partners are Leonard Schlemm and Mark Mastrov formerly of 24 Hour Fitness, the largest privately held chain of fitness centres in the world which they sold for $1.6 billion in 2005.
Mastrov, who had watched Nash since his college basketball days at Santa Clara University, initially approached the basketball star about creating a branded club. Mastrov and Schlemm brought Harbich over from 24 Hour Fitness—which he was instrumental in growing over his 24 years with the chain—to run SNSC.
Which means life in the high-pressure fitness business hasn’t slowed down for Harbich. “My day is non-stop. I probably do 20 hours of work in a 6-hour day. I sleep with my Blackberry.”
But the work is paying off, with the clubs continuing to sign up new members and grow in popularity.
“The vision that Mark Mastrov and Don have is to make our clubs a lifestyle destination,” says Nash’s PR person Colleen Kirk, CEO of the Kirk Group. “Because whatever your lifestyle is, if you are more into the mind/body health, we have that. If you are athlete training focused, we have that.”
Through Harbich’s connections in the sports world and his knowledge of sports, he has been able to create partnerships with various sports teams, with the result that SNSC is the official fitness facility for the Vancouver Canucks and Whitecaps FC.
“We are the official club of the Vancouver Canucks. We have a relationship with the Vancouver Canucks,” says Harbich, an avid Canucks fan who is planning to become a Canadian citizen and move his family from San Francisco to Vancouver.
In addition to the three Steve Nash Sports Clubs, there are 13 Steve Nash Fitness World clubs in B.C. Fitness World has been around for 50 years, and plans for the future include renovating all the facilities—in an environmentally friendly way, of course—as well as introducing programs such as hip-hop dance classes and anti-gravity yoga that’s done in a hammock.
News that Vancouver hockey icon Trevor Linden plans to open a fitness club in Highgate Village not far from the Steve Nash Fitness World club in Burnaby doesn’t faze Harbich.
“As we roll across Canada, there is no competition because we’re so different. We have a lot of things that nobody else has in Canada.”
For one thing, the focus turned to offering not only a broader range of services and fitness options but to doing it in a sustainable way—a subject dear to Nash’s heart.
Opened in 2009, the Richmond, B.C., Steve Nash Sports Club (SNSC) features stationary “Green Revolution” bikes—a first in Canada—that when pedalled generate energy that is used to power the facility, while the downtown Vancouver club is built to LEED standards.
“This is the first one, the original, and so Steve was very involved in the design of this club,” says Don Harbich, president and CEO of Steve Nash Fitness World & Sports Club.
“All the rubber flooring is recycled. All of the lockers are bamboo. Our lighting is energy efficient. And that’s all Steve—that was Steve saying, ‘I want all the clubs to be eco.’ He’s very passionate about the environment.”
The 38,000-square-foot, three-story higher end facility in downtown Vancouver, opened in 2007, includes amenities such as towel service, a juice bar, and child care facilities. As well as a wide range of workout equipment, there are group exercise classes, cycling classes, yoga, pilates, and all the personal trainers are Steve Nash-trained.
Olympic athletes from 13 countries trained at the club during the 2010 Winter Olympics, says Harbich.
“The difference with us having Steve Nash involved is that in our sports clubs, if you are a hard core athlete, like you want to train for a marathon, you want to train to do a cycling competition, you want to run the Grouse Grind—this club has equipment that nobody else has.”
A third club opened in June 2010 in Morgan Crossing, Surrey/White Rock.
Harbich is the driving force in the evolution of SNSC and plans to expand the brand across Canada. Founding partners are Leonard Schlemm and Mark Mastrov formerly of 24 Hour Fitness, the largest privately held chain of fitness centres in the world which they sold for $1.6 billion in 2005.
Mastrov, who had watched Nash since his college basketball days at Santa Clara University, initially approached the basketball star about creating a branded club. Mastrov and Schlemm brought Harbich over from 24 Hour Fitness—which he was instrumental in growing over his 24 years with the chain—to run SNSC.
Which means life in the high-pressure fitness business hasn’t slowed down for Harbich. “My day is non-stop. I probably do 20 hours of work in a 6-hour day. I sleep with my Blackberry.”
But the work is paying off, with the clubs continuing to sign up new members and grow in popularity.
“The vision that Mark Mastrov and Don have is to make our clubs a lifestyle destination,” says Nash’s PR person Colleen Kirk, CEO of the Kirk Group. “Because whatever your lifestyle is, if you are more into the mind/body health, we have that. If you are athlete training focused, we have that.”
Through Harbich’s connections in the sports world and his knowledge of sports, he has been able to create partnerships with various sports teams, with the result that SNSC is the official fitness facility for the Vancouver Canucks and Whitecaps FC.
“We are the official club of the Vancouver Canucks. We have a relationship with the Vancouver Canucks,” says Harbich, an avid Canucks fan who is planning to become a Canadian citizen and move his family from San Francisco to Vancouver.
In addition to the three Steve Nash Sports Clubs, there are 13 Steve Nash Fitness World clubs in B.C. Fitness World has been around for 50 years, and plans for the future include renovating all the facilities—in an environmentally friendly way, of course—as well as introducing programs such as hip-hop dance classes and anti-gravity yoga that’s done in a hammock.
News that Vancouver hockey icon Trevor Linden plans to open a fitness club in Highgate Village not far from the Steve Nash Fitness World club in Burnaby doesn’t faze Harbich.
“As we roll across Canada, there is no competition because we’re so different. We have a lot of things that nobody else has in Canada.”
