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Eclipse Sports & Entertainment, LLC is an experiential marketing and multi-media company dedicated to making a positive difference in the world daily through sports and entertainment while helping companies, organizations and individuals achieve maximum performance.
CORE E.C.L.I.P.S.E. VALUES
The letters of ECLIPSE spell out the character and professional traits by which we operate: Expertise and Connections, built on a foundation of Loyalty, Integrity, Passion and Strength, produce Extraordinary results.
COMPANY HISTORY
Eclipse began in 1999 as a full service sports marketing firm with clients in soccer, golf, offshore powerboat racing, fitness and other sports. By 2002, the majority of Eclipse’s business was in the field of creating business development opportunities for companies and charities through celebrity golf outings.
By 2003, Eclipse was the leading golf event production company in the Mid-Atlantic region and one of the more prominent firms of its kind in the U.S. Founder A.J. Ali was named to Baltimore’s “40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders” list.
2004 marked a year of transition for the company. The Eclipse Business Golf Academy was created and the focus of the company switched gears from just producing events to also teaching others how to produce events and setting them up in business as independent Eclipse Golf Consultants. During this time, A.J. Ali developed two workshops for using golf as a business development tool and for producing golf events. Both have quickly become industry standards of excellence and have received praise from business leaders and many PGA and LPGA professionals.
In 2005, Eclipse was named to both the Baltimore Business Journal’s “Fastest Growing Companies in Baltimore” list and “Largest Minority Owned Firms” list. The company opened a west coast office, greatly expanding celebrity, media and entertainment company contacts.
In 2007, Eclipse produced the award-winning Survivor Celebration Tour helping cancer survivors from New York to L.A. with a stop at Innisbrook Resort to join members in helping local survivors -- and Marathon of Miracles (MOM), the nonprofit started by Ali and his wife Jane, was named the beneficiary of the PGA Fall Expo in Las Vegas.
In 2008, Eclipse began an aggressive push to expand its programs helping golf events as well as golf courses, vendors and others that stand to benefit from better marketing and business development efforts in the golf event business. The “On the Tee with A.J. Ali” event package was developed.
In 2009, in anticipation of a dire need for training and education in the area of business golf in a changing economy, Eclipse spent much of 2009 refining its’ Eclipse Business Golf Academy program to position itself for rapid growth in 2010. Eclipse also strengthened its' base of connections in the business development area for the purpose of serving the needs of clients in business development areas outside of golf. Also in 2009, Eclipse formed a division called EclipseVSC (stands for Vision, Strategy and Connections) to make use of the business development strength of more than 4,000 decision-making personal contacts A.J. has cultivated in 28 years of business.
Eclipse Sports & Entertainment offers consulting and training services to golf courses, companies, nonprofits, churches, celebrities and others wishing to take their business to the next level. Whether it is developing a business development or branding strategy, launching a new product or service, creating a national golf event series or something else that needs know-how, creativity and connections, Eclipse is the team you want on your side in 2010 and beyond.
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A.J. ALI, FOUNDER & CEO
A.J. Ali is an award-winning producer, writer, host and visionary brand-builder. He was selected to the Baltimore Business Journal's 2003 40-Under-40 Emerging Leaders list and guided Eclipse to becoming one of the fastest growing companies in Baltimore in 2005. A.J. has raised millions of dollars for charities through the production of celebrity golf and other sports marketing events. Prior to starting Eclipse in 1999, A.J. crafted a long and successful career in sports marketing and public relations. From 1983 to 1987, he served his country honorably in the U.S. Air Force, working public relations, honing his media skills and playing soccer for the Air Force Team. A.J. has more than 28 years of experience in the field of sports and entertainment based business development. He has founded and owned two professional soccer teams and has developed hundreds of sponsorship deals on behalf of clients and his sports business interests. His expertise in cause-event marketing and relationship marketing has made him a sought-after speaker, writer and consultant.
He has written, produced and been featured in numerous print, television and radio programs including various commercials, dozens of PSA’s, the POSITIVE CHOICE mentoring video featuring TV host James "JB" Brown and other programming. As a producer, he is capable of creating compelling creative work to benefit companies, causes or for pure entertainment.
An accomplished writer with an easygoing, conversational writing style, his "On the Tee with A.J. Ali” inspirational lifestyle column is popular in publications and online. He recently finished co-authoring an inspirational book titled ”The True Champion’s 30-Day Challenge,” published in the Fall of 2009 and endorsed by the National Christian College Athletic Association and other groups. His recent work also includes writing and producing the song "Through the Darkness, Into the Light" and producing the compilation music CD "Survivor Celebration" to benefit breast cancer survivors. His 2007 Survivor Celebration campaign helping cancer survivors all over the U.S. won the Hollywood Fame Awards ‘National Community Service Award.’ His inspirational Survivor Celebration television show is currently in development, as is a documentary film to encourage and empower newly-diagnosed cancer patients. Active in the community, A.J. and his wife Jane are co-founders of the Marathon of Miracles nonprofit helping families that are fighting cancer.
Frequently invited to participate in celebrity golf outings as an author/writer, producer and host, he playfully refers to himself as a “J” lister, both to acknowledge his faith in Jesus and his lowly status on the celebrity ranking ladder. He jokes, “Who needs the A-List when being on the J-list means you’re going to Heaven, you get to play golf for free and you don’t have to worry about paparazzi getting all your bad shots on film!”
A.J. is a 1989 graduate of the prestigious Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy. He has been married to his beautiful and loving wife Jane Ali since 1994.
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JANE ALI, V.P. OPERATIONS
Jane is
a multi-talented management wiz with more than 20 years experience in
management and operations. She has managed operations for Eclipse since
its inception in 1999. Her role with Eclipse
includes bookkeeping, HR and
general management of business operations.
As the
Business Manager for Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, MD from
1999 to 2005, she was instrumental in managing rapid growth. During her
six years as business manager, the church membership grew by 800 to
nearly 1,400 people. During that time, staff numbers more than tripled.
She oversaw collection of tithes & offering, prepared budgets,
managed financial records & reports, performed HR functions and
made key recommendations on various management issues. Prior
to joining Bridgeway, she managed more than 20 sales representatives
and a budget of over $2 million for the Columbia Association, one of
the nation’s largest homeowner’s associations.
Jane,
a breast cancer survivor, is the Co-Founder of Marathon of Miracles, the official charity of Eclipse
Sports & Entertainment. MOM creates Swing for Survivors
golf events, Survivor Celebration luncheons and other programs to raise
money and awareness for cancer support programs and for cancer
survivors directly.
When she’s not pampering her cat or riding a horse, she loves to
read, roller-blade, swim, golf and play tennis.
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