In three years, uSports has seen an incredible amount of success driven from a passion to help as many young people as possible to have a positive experience with sport. I have massive goals for uSports over the next few years and I am always so excited to expand our network to more schools, nurseries, parents and of course children.
Starting uSports
uSports hasn't always been the 40 staff member strong unit that you see today, in fact it all started back in 2011 where I really found my passion for sports coaching. 10 years ago I rocked up to my old primary school to assist a coach for some work experience. I fell in love with the smiles and energy in that school hall where I once used to play and from then on, I was hooked! I partnered my passion for sports coaching and my entrepreneurial spark (there were a fair few side hustles!) back in November 2017 following a rough ending with my previous employer. uSports was born!
I knew when I started uSports that the name needed to be more than just "Charlie Hiscox Coaching", the name had to be something that could go worldwide. I had big dreams!
For most of the first year, I was on my own. Running left, right and centre to make every session possible. Spending every minute I wasn't coaching trying to expand the business, I don't think there was a school within 30 minutes from me that hadn't received countless emails, calls and flyers from me as I tried to grow the business.
Maintaining our reputation
As the schools started to come in so did the hours of managing a team of people! Anyone that has grown a business will know exactly what I mean... payroll, coaching kit, equipment, registers, meetings and inductions all start to takeover and begin to take away time from growing the business. Having to step back as the head coach for some of our biggest contracts was difficult, stepping into the management role was a positive step for the business but I miss that close connection you have working with the same children every week.
Over the years we have been fortunate enough to bring in strong members of staff that have been able to take hold of those roles I used to deal with on a daily basis to bring new ideas and new expertise into the business.
Having a strong team around me has allowed me to step back from the "Delivery and Organisation" side of the business allowing me time to manage those around me, as well as allowing me time to focus on developing and growing our business.
Expanding our business
As we move forwards for the next 3 years we have so many goals to reach for. We have invested heavily into our marketing strategies so that more people know who we are, what we do and why we do it. Our website is a massive lead generating tool for us and we are constantly making little tweaks to improve the user experience when a new person interacts with our page.
Anyone in the industry knows that schools and parents talk! That's why we have introduced a mentoring and development bonus programme for all of our coaches to ensure that our delivery maintains its high quality. Coupling this with the occasional cheeky ask to attend a headteacher cluster meeting and the yearly chocolate drop off at Xmas for all of our schools these little touches help us to grow our business.
A few more secret ingredients and there you have it, a business that maintains and improves quality, has an honest and passionate reason for existing and has measurable goals to drive the business forwards.
Interested in joining us on our journey? Get in touch!
Charlie Hiscox
uSports Director