Top Tips for Getting Your Academy Off the Ground

How to start your football academy off on the right foot 

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In 2012, Skillz Managing Direction, Ashley Thomas, decided that it was finally time to pursue his dream of starting a football academy and to create something for himself. With £800 in his back pocket, some flyers, good connections and a passion driving him forward, Ashley started Skillz UK. He has grown his business from just 10 kids attending a weekly Saturday morning session, to over 800 kids attending sessions every week.

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Growing your football academy can often feel like trying to do a bicycle kick for the first time. The competition is tough and differentiating yourself can be difficult. It can be easy to feel disheartened or not know where to start. Lucky for you, Ashley from Skillz football academy recently came on the ClassForKids podcast to discuss his most helpful tips for not only surviving, but thriving as a new football academy.

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Differentiate your business with a clear ethos 

So what makes a good football academy? According to Ashley, it’s important, even from the outset, that your business has a clear purpose driving it towards success. Having a clear ethos is an excellent way to differentiate yourself from your competitors, but in order for it to be effective, you must believe in it. 

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But what does this look like in the day to day running of your academy?

1. [.blue__text]Create a place where you and your coaches can teach kids in an exciting and engaging way.[.blue__text] 
2. [.blue__text]Make sure that everyone in the business understands your ethos and shares the same passion about making sure every child has the same amazing experience at each session.[.blue__text]

Inside Scoop: Although skills and sessions are important, Ashley believes that kids will only return if they have had fun and are being taught by passionate coaches that understand how teaching kids differs from teaching adults. This ethos has driven Skillz from the very beginning, allowing them to grow and express a clear purpose to everyone that comes into contact with the business.

The right people and the right system/tools

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A service provided by Sport England, [.blue__text]Club Matters[.blue__text] offers guidance on all areas of running a sports club. The site provides kids club funding options as well as a comprehensive site packed full of resources on preparing for and submitting funding applications. From what you need to apply to how to deal with rejected applications, the support provided is well worth a look. 

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Ashley knew the importance of using his strengths to his advantage when setting up his football academy. He might not have had a lot of experience with starting a brand new business but he knew he could lean on his network and trust them to help - which is exactly what he did! He already knew several experienced coaches that lived and breathed the ethos of Skillz, and knew he could trust them to help. After just three weeks of running Skillz, Ashley decided to step back and let his team shine, which turned out to be a huge success for him, the team, and his business.

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As a new football academy, it is important to consider the key hires you should make. For Ashley, hiring a Customer Experience Manager made a real difference. He mentioned that it allowed the coaches to focus on coaching and allowed someone experienced to deal with parents, processes and admin. In short: consider what key hires will allow you to grow your football academy.

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As the academy continued to grow, the need to optimise the admin processes became more and more evident. Ashley decided to digitise these processes with ClassForKids when he hired the customer experience manager. Having the right people and the right systems in place changed the game for Ashley’s business and allowed him to reach several of his business goals much earlier than expected!

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[.rt__btn]Read Ashley's Story[.rt__btn]