Top Tier Lessons: Bognar Turns Dreams into Reality, Pioneers Thriving Sports Tech Business

For senior swimmer Cara Bognar, the University of Illinois experience will not be defined solely by academic or athletic accomplishments. Even after earning top grades as a bioengineering major and serving as the captain of the swim and dive team, Bognar places the utmost pride in her latest entrepreneurial endeavor: Top Tier Lessons. 

Bognar holds something much more valuable to her name than just the title of student-athlete: She's the founder of her very own sports tech company, an advocate for student-athlete opportunities in underrepresented sports, and an instrumental piece in connecting Illinois Athletics to the broader community. 

Shortly after initial NIL legislation was passed in July 2021, Bognar began to suspect the coming changes would primarily work to benefit very few student-athletes in revenue-generating sports. 

With the idea of student-athlete coaching services lingering in the swimmer's mind for months, Bognar knew she had an opportunity to turn her vision into a reality. In response, Bognar's startup seeks to promote Illinois student-athletes in all sports. 

Along with taking advantage of the newfound opportunities in the realm of collegiate sports, it was a chance for Bognar to fulfill the same dreams she had as a child and pay it forward to the community that raised her. 

"We all used to be 7 years old, 10 years old, starting sports for the first time," Bognar said. "For me, at least, there was no one I looked up to more than every college athlete who came back to my club."

Top Tier Lessons works in partnership with several Illinois student-athletes, local sports venues, and the Champaign-Urbana community. Illinois student-athletes from sports such as swim and dive, football, and basketball serve as coaches for children of all ages through private lessons and organized clinics, giving young athletes in the Illini fan base an opportunity to meet and learn from their role models. 

Bognar's company has already hosted a handful of successful events around the state, and she has won multiple entrepreneurial competitions. Despite her early accolades, Bognar says the most gratifying part of Top Tier Lessons is the ability to connect with the community. 

"You see one lesson being taught. You see that relationship being built. You watch that student-athlete want to do something in the realm of coaching, or they see that impact that they're having on their community, and they want to take that next step," Bognar said. "You then see that kid loving them even more. You see them staying in sports longer. You see them building those relationships, then you see them coming to the games, helping support the athletics community in their area." 

Bognar believes one of the biggest benefits of NIL is the ability for student-athletes to capitalize off who they are outside of their sports, creating meaningful, personal relationships with their own fan bases. For Illinois swim and dive, the ripple effect of Top Tier Lessons is already paying major dividends. 

"I've had parents personally reach out asking when our meets are, saying that their kids want to go see their coaches," Bognar said. "Swimming and diving isn't typically a sport that we get really many people out from the community to come watch us. We're not as publicized or in the media as different sports, unless it's an Olympic year. We want to make sure that these non-revenue sports are getting more people in from the community." 

With her sky-high ambitions, a Division-I athletics schedule, the rigors of an academically challenging degree, frequent business trips around the country, relationships to maintain, and a successful company to continue to build upon, how does Bognar balance her time?

Stacking days of self-discipline -- including a 5 a.m. wake-up call for practice every weekday and a thorough schedule with large chunks of time devoted to Top Tier Lessons every weekend -- has been a crucial factor in managing her demands. 

As grueling as the student-athlete lifestyle can be, it is clear that Bognar is excelling in all facets of her life. Still, she acknowledged that everything from Top Tier Lessons' inception to its day-to-day operations would not be possible without her huge support system. 

The Top Tier administrative team initially consisted of master's in computer science students at Illinois, as well as Bognar’s teammates, but it is now in the process of expanding to include student-athletes from schools across the Midwest and eventually the rest of the country. Bognar credits her coworkers' work ethic in the face of adversity that predictably came with building her company from the ground up. 

"Every single day, we've been faced with a new challenge, something different, something new to learn," Bognar said. "That growth process and mindset is the reason why we are so successful. We never stop trying new things, figuring it out, and looking at the creative solution to the problem."

Without the support of Bognar's coaching staff and the University of Illinois more broadly, Top Tier Lessons would not have come to life.

“Cara has definitely kept me involved in what she has been doing every step of the way,” Kempe said. “I hope she knows I am one of her biggest supporters in terms of her committing herself to putting together this amazing program, not only from the student-athlete side of things, but also to better the community and give back to the community, which I think is pretty important overall. This is Cara's thing. I am just here to be that advocate for her whenever she needs it.” 

And, even with a frenetic schedule and a plethora of other obstacles to navigate, Bognar has found comfort in utilizing campus leaders and other administrators to maximize opportunities for the company. 

"Through the University of Illinois and the amazing resources that we have here, we have been able to fund the company, winning several pitch competitions," Bognar said. "We've been able to grow our network." 

At its core, though, Top Tier Lessons is not merely about leveraging NIL or developing a state-of-the-art business model. It is about Bognar's desire to connect with her community as a mentor and a role model. And, despite the uncertainties and hardships that arise when starting a new business, the support system behind all of it continues to serve as Bognar's inspiration. 

"It's all about that perseverance and the drive to keep moving forward," Bognar said. "Just watching that progression, that growth, the ability to take an idea and go ahead and build it from the ground up. To take those first steps, to bring on that first customer, and to see the smile on the first child's face has been incredibly rewarding to watch.”

For more information via the company's website, click here.