My Backyard Sports of Austin is a Leander-owned contracting service. Instead of installing an outdoor kitchen, swimming pool, fire pit, or deck, they focus on athletic courts. Primarily, they build for residential “backyards,” but they will also install a simple front yard basketball hoop as well as tackle commercial-sized projects for schools, parks, HOAs, and larger organizations. My Backyard Sports of Austin is a full-service, one-stop-shop offering over 3,000 sports-related products for over 30-plus sports. The design and build process is incredibly customized, and their courts, such as basketball, tennis/pickleball, bocce, putting greens, and shuffleboard, to name a few, are created with the client’s needs and designs in mind. Additionally, court maintenance services, such as patch and repair, are a part of their relationship model.

 

Crystal Falls residents Lee and Cheryl Ruff are no strangers to the ball field. Their daughter, Bella, is an all-star softball athlete at Leander High School, and they have been extremely active in cultivating her athletic interests all throughout her youth. They came to open My Backyard Sports when they recognized the need to keep “one foot in the sports community door after she graduates.” Cheryl was in property management for 30-plus years, and Lee was in corporate sales for 30-plus years. They were both ready for a new journey, and their love of sports and the opportunity to own their own business was too good to pass up. Lee and Cheryl are thankful this opportunity presented itself. “Our love of teaching, training, and coaching, as well as a team approach to completing projects, makes working with My Backyard Sports of Austin a dream come true. We are looking forward to sharing this dream with others,” says Cheryl. 

 

Living in Texas, it’s hard not to notice the influence that sports (in general) and living active lifestyles play in our everyday lives. Over the past four years, we’ve also watched Leander explode residentially. Hence, this is the real reason why the company was formed in 2018.

 

“To get started, we immediately joined the Leander and Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and are an advertising sponsor for both CPYL and Leander Little League. We will also continue to be involved with the Leander High School softball team because we want to maintain a strong relationship with Leander families,” Lee reports. “We have taken on many maintenance and resurfacing jobs on current courts, too.” Lee has always had a love of sports, both playing and watching them on TV. His dream has always been to have a career related to sports, and when they had Bella, youth sports dominated their lives. They coached her and invested countless hours of backyard training. Lee wasn’t complaining; he admitted that those were some of the best memories with his daughter. “My Backyard Sports gives me the opportunity to bring families closer together and allows young aspiring athletes to be their best, even in their own backyard.” Understanding customer needs and finding solutions allowed him to have a successful corporate sales career but never brought him the joy that his new second career has provided. Now, he is able to take those transferable skills and will bring fun and happiness to the Austin Area.

 

Cheryl played recreational softball as a child and could not wait for the day that their daughter showed an interest in the sport. Participating as a coach and big fan of her daughter’s softball team has been one of the greatest joys in her life. Cheryl’s leadership skills included the direct training, supervision, and review of property management staff. Her organizational and interpersonal skills allowed her the ability to manage multiple projects, lead team members to complete tasks in a timely manner, and the opportunity to establish and maintain excellent relationships with industry vendors. 

 

“We are in the happiness business,” says Cheryl. “We provide families with fun outdoor activities that also promote good health and togetherness. We cater to families and businesses and are able to provide a beautifully painted court or a really personalized athletic tile court, for example, that features design elements catered to the customer’s unique personality. If our customers can dream it, we can design and install it.” Their goal is to eventually expand their territory. Their biggest initial challenge was finding qualified labor, although now, they employ a “dream team.” Cheryl thinks she has found not only “the best crew ever” but also sees the potential in a court or site with a professional eye in order to see the project through.  

Favorite Sports Quote: ”Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” – Satchel Paige

Favorite Team: Michigan State Football

Favorite Sports Experience: Daughter starting as a high school varsity player as a freshman

First Sports Experience: Detroit Tiger Game; the grass was so green.

Favorite Sports Quote: ”There’s no crying in baseball.” – Jimmy Dugan, from the movie A League of Their Own

Favorite Team: Dallas Cowboys

Favorite Sports Experience: Watching her sister perform as a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader

First Sports Experience: Watching the 1979 Super Bowl XIII, Dallas Cowboys versus Pittsburgh Steelers