A veteran head coach at a competitive youth program running on a 1099 stipend for eight years, a new club opportunity with a real salary and defined benefits, and a payment history that told a different story than either party had written. We rebuilt the exit and the entry so the career step was real.
His hours had been the equivalent of a full-time role for the last five of those years. His actual duties had long since exceeded independent contractor status. A new club had offered a head coach role with a real salary, defined benefits, and a written employment agreement.
The current club had no written termination provision and had never issued him a 1099 that matched the aggregate payments actually made in a given year.
We ran the correct classification analysis on the historical relationship, then structured his exit against it so the current club could close its exposure cleanly. We drafted a mutual release against a defined final payment, coordinated with the club's CPA on a corrected 1099 posture, and wound down the relationship on documented terms.
On the entering side, we negotiated the new employment agreement to reflect the actual role: base salary, defined benefits, a bonus structure tied to competitive results and program growth, a restrictive covenant scoped to the specific market the new club recruited in, and a defined severance provision.
We coordinated the announcement so the current program's families heard from the current program first, and the new program's families heard from the new program. Career step closed clean.
"Eight years of stipends had hidden that this was a real job. Brandon made the paper match."
— Head Coach, Competitive Youth Program
Youth coaching roles frequently start as part-time stipend arrangements and grow into full-time jobs in every respect except the paperwork. Nobody updates the classification because the relationship is working and nobody wants to disturb it. The exposure sits quietly until a departure forces the question, and by then eight years of misclassified payments are on the table.
A clean exit protects the departing coach from a mischaracterized 1099 history and protects the current club from a classification claim after the fact. It also clears the way for the new opportunity to be structured as what it actually is: a real job with a real salary, not another stipend arrangement waiting to repeat the same problem.
We handle classification exits and new employment agreements for youth coaches making a career step, and we coordinate family communications so both communities hear the news the right way.
Most engagements are flat fee, quoted before the work begins — and most matters resolve without litigation. Start with a free consultation.