Written by Kevin Morency '21
- ECGulls.com Intern

BEVERLY, Mass. – Around two years ago, when Marc Lerebours '17 M'18 (Norwalk, Conn.) and Diego Maillo '18 (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) started living together, they didn't know much about each other. They knew of each other, of course. After all, both are Endicott athletics alums. Lerebours, after playing football for his freshman and sophomore years, became a mainstay for the men's rugby team, earning an honorable mention nod for the 2017-18 Men's 7s National Championship National Small College Rugby Organization All-Championship Team, while Maillo played a key role on the men's soccer squad that captured the program's first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference title in 2017.

However, as the two former Gulls got to know each other better as roommates, they found out that they shared a few things. For starters, insanely enough, they learned that they share the exact same birthday (August 25th, 1995), as if foreshadowing their future chemistry. More importantly, though, they connected over a shared passion for sports and business.

It was this commonality that led to In-Form Stats, the sport-meets-tech company that Lerebours and Maillo co-founded together in August of 2019. 

The Spark

It was during one of Lerebours and Maillo's oft-occurring brainstorm sessions a little over a year ago that the two men began to water the seed that would eventually bloom into In-Form Stats. While bouncing ideas off of one another, they realized that most athletes' first introduction to technology in the sporting world comes when they make it to the collegiate level. Yet, they also realized that over 90% of athletes never end up making it to the collegiate level.  

That leaves a large majority of athletes never having access to technology on their respective athletic surfaces or in the film room, and this is mainly because of the high costs that are associated with the equipment. This is where In-Form Stats comes in, as a means to provide youth and high school athletes affordable access to sports technology. As Maillo told ECGulls over a Zoom call, "Our biggest idea is bridging the gap between athletes and technology."

More specifically, Lerebours and Maillo are focused on becoming the solution to a problem that many young athletes across the country face — a lack of access to quality game film, both for learning purposes and recruitment purposes.

This issue, a lack of quality game film for recruitment purposes, is something that Lerebours and Maillo faced themselves as younger athletes. The fact that Lerebours and Maillo even ended up at Endicott is something that Lerebours describes as a blessing.

"Luckily, I was able to go on the Endicott website, fill out the questionnaire, and create my own video [highlight tape] to send to coach Drew Canan who ended up recruiting me," explained Lerebours. "But from Diego's standpoint, he didn't have a lot of access to video or things like that recruiting-wise so, initially, we really thought of [In-Form Stats] from the standpoint of understanding the importance of video when it comes to recruiting."

Grassroots

Where In-Form Stats really begins to stand out is in Lerebours and Maillo's vision to start from the ground up, client-wise, rather than at the top. As Lerebours pointed out during our conversation, a majority of the sports technology being produced right now is marketed towards Division 1 college programs and professional sports organizations. With In-Form Stats, Lerebours and Maillo hope to turn this trend on its head and market the same technology to younger athletes, as well as teams, clubs, and leagues, on a one-off basis at a reasonable and affordable price.

In-Form Stats' current packages center around the strategic partnership they formed with the tech company, VEO, and its VEO camera. The camera, which does not need someone manning the controls, is specifically designed for filming athletic events, automatically detecting the ball's possession and digitally panning and zooming in order to give the appearance of a moving camera that follows the action of the game, even though the camera itself is mounted and non-moving. While this type of technology is standard at the college and pro levels, it hasn't yet made its way to youth and high school athletics due to price and availability — and that's the disconnect that Lerebours and Maillo are hoping to capitalize on.

"There shouldn't be a team in the area that says they can't afford video," said Maillo. "They come to us, we'll be able to provide a solution."

This has already been proven true. In-Form Stats has already done business with numerous clients in the area, ranging from individual athletes to youth clinics to co-ed professional leagues. This list includes Will Arndt, a professional quarterback in the Canadian Football League, TRIBall USA, a professional co-ed emerging sport, the New England Free Jacks, a professional Boston-based rugby club, Boston Street Soccer, Extra Yard College Prep Program, City of Guards Basketball League, Earn Ya Rep basketball showcase, and Bayside FC, a Rhode Island soccer club.

Moving Beyond Video

While the initial focus for In-Form Stats is mainly on providing athletes, teams, leagues, and trainers with quality film, Lerebours and Maillo don't plan to stop there. The two co-founders hope to offer a far more encompassing experience with In-Form Stats through sports analytics and film breakdown. After all, that's where the name, In-Form Stats, comes from.

The "In-Form" part of the company name holds two separate meanings. The phrase, "in form," is a commonly used saying in the world of soccer, simply meaning that a player who's in form is one that is performing well and playing at the top of their game. That's the film aspect of In-Form Stats; simply providing video of athletic competition for playback uses. Then, there's also the singular word, "inform," which refers to the act of providing knowledge or information. This is where the sports analytics aspect of In-Form Stats comes into play. Lerebours and Maillo hope to provide younger athletes who sign up for their services with advanced statistics and breakdowns of their play. This will allow them to gain a better understanding of their personal play style, as well as help them build an understanding of the analytical mindset that is sweeping through sports.

This idea came to Lerebours one day when he was pondering the career arc of Carmelo Anthony, an NBA player who's currently playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. As a brief synopsis of his situation, in the modern analytical landscape of the NBA today, Anthony's style of play was considered inefficient and completely opposite to current league trends. Despite his status as one of basketball's greatest scorers, Anthony was almost completely driven out of the league because of the advanced statistics now being considered by executives. Yet, the real issue lies in the fact that so many players, Anthony included, don't understand how advanced statistics fit into their own sports because they don't come from a mathematics background. 

With In-Form Stats, Lerebours and Maillo hope to use their athletic backgrounds to approach advanced analytics from a player's standpoint. "Players don't truly feel they understand the data, which is data that's made for them to make the right decisions," explained Lerebours. "We're really trying to translate sports analytics from an athlete's perspective first, focusing on why the data is important."

In order to do this, however, Lerebours and Maillo need to continue to build out their staff with experts in various sports. Currently, as a former rugby player for Endicott, Lerebours is In-Form Stats' Head of Rugby Operations. Similarly, Maillo, as a former Endicott soccer player, is the Head of Soccer Operations. Cliff Joseph, a recent addition to the team and a former Endicott men's lacrosse player, is the Head of Lacrosse Operations, and Andrick Bernadel, a former Western Connecticut State football player, is the Head of Football Operations. As the company continues to grow and expand, they will look to add more and more sport-specific staff members to the team.

"With any sport, we're looking to offer [analytical] services in, we're looking to have someone directly from that sport that can talk that language," explained Lerebours. "Sports data won't have the same importance if it's not coming from someone who played that sport and can provide the necessary context."

Internships & Academics

It's clear that Lerebours and Maillo have a bright future ahead of them. Steadily picking up steam, In-Form Stats is establishing itself more and more in the underutilized market of sport technology.

What had a major role in preparing the two young entrepreneurs, by their own admissions, was Endicott's oft-praised internship program. Maillo, a business management major during his time at Endicott, was adamant about the skills and experience his time at Endicott helped him build. 

"I am like a staple product of the internship program at Endicott," said Maillo. "Endicott definitely prepared me, and the internship program was the most hands-on thing you could get [as a student] because a textbook will only teach you so much."

Talking about Maillo as a student, Deirdre Sartorelli, the Assistant Dean of the Entrepreneurship Center, highlighted the immediate impression that Maillo made on her. 

"There are some students who immediately make an impression upon you," said Sartorelli. "[Diego] was one of those students for me when he took my entrepreneurship class. He's no-nonsense, in a positive way. Diego was always prepared and thought analytically about the course material. I guess that's why I'm not surprised that he and Marc have started a business that fills the gap between athletics and access to technology."

Lerebours, much like Maillo, valued the academic experience he received through Endicott too. He spent his first four undergraduate years pursuing a degree in sport management and returned to The Nest in order to earn his MBA through Endicott's fifth-year program.

When asked about Lerebours' success since leaving Endicott, Kate Chroust, who is the Director of Career Education at the College, had nothing but praise for the former Gull.

"Marc is extremely hard-working, smart, authentic and, more than anything, he is likable," explained Chroust. "He has a great positive mindset that is contagious to those around him. You just know Marc will succeed in whatever he does."

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