WHO-FILES

Christopher Haas, Teen Inventor and Businessman

Mission: To teach kids how to shoot for their dreams by playing hard and having fun.

Christopher Haas, 15, invented the Hands-On Basketball as a school project when he was nine. Now the Murrieta, California, resident runs his own company, which offers products that help kids learn and have fun. Over the past year, his profits amounted to nearly fifty-thousand dollars. Find out how he became a real player in his industry.

Q:You designed the Hands-On Basketball with color-coded outlines that show where to place your hands to shoot a perfect ball. When and how did you do it?

A: When I was in fourth grade, I had to make an invention that would help people do something better. I thought I could help other kids by painting hands on a basketball to show them the correct hand placement to shoot. I knew how to shoot a basketball correctly, since my dad coached for a long time. My teachers said it was a good idea and encouraged me to get it marketed.

Q:How did you sell your idea?

A: My aunt's business school teacher told us to make a prototype and take pictures of it. I then sent out a cover letter to big sporting goods companies. We wrote to about 13 companies. About ten didn't want to take a chance on it. Two didn't even write back. But Sportime International said they would take a chance on it, and it's doing really well for them. They started out just doing catalog sales. The Hands-On Basketball was the first product they ever had to go directly to stores.

Q:Other balls have hand prints on them. What's different about your product?

A: It's for right- and left-handed players. There are three hands on it: one hand for your dominant hand, which is right or left, then the other hand. Then after the basketball, it seemed like the logical thing to put hands on a football, so we now have the Hands-On Football.

Q:You also have your own publishing company. Tell us about that.

A: Our first book, Shooting for Your Dreams, came out about a year ago. It talks about how kids can set and achieve goals, about finding mentors and treating them with respect. We're writing a second book. Its working title is Slamming Success Stories. We're writing to a bunch of athletes, asking them to write letters of encouragement to kids. We'll put them all in one book.

Q:You're going to be a high school sophomore. What are your long-term career goals?

A: After I graduate, I'd like to keep learning the business. I'd like to go to college. After that, I want to become a pro wrestler.

Q:What message are your products trying to convey?

A: All of my products have to do with kids helping kids. That's our main priority.