Franchise in the spotlight: A-Star Sports

It’s safe to say that things have never looked brighter for British sport. The last year”has brought us success on a seemingly unprecedented level, from Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France triumph – occurring just before the prosperous London Olympics – through to Andy Murray’s historic Wimbledon victory last month. Something to tell the grandchildren about, you might say. More than this though, one would hope that the events”of the past 12 months have served to inspire young sports enthusiasts the country over, as well as those for whom sport had previously been a minor interest. Regardless, the existence of A-Star Sports, the fast-growing children’s sports coaching franchise, is as welcome now as it was when launched by three determined couples just over 18 months ago.

Indeed, it comes as no surprise to learn that co-founder and MD Gary Bassett grew up with a passion for sport and an eye for business to boot. “As a youngster I was actually quite a shy kid, but I did loads of sport and that is what brought me out of myself,” Bassett fondly recalls. “I was a director in a Lego company by the time I was 26 and I don’t think that would have ever happened without sport.”

He adds that the time he spent working with Lego”helped inform the A-Star Sports approach, and opened”his eyes to the frustrations evident among the UK’s sport-hungry youth. “Lego is about learning through”play and making learning fun, and a lot of those same principles underpin where we are coming from,” he explains. “While I was doing the career thing, it was actually difficult to try and find the right opportunities to volunteer, get involved and make sport happen. I could also see that a lot kids were getting put off, not getting the opportunity to try loads of different sports, or they were doing one sport and it was just getting too serious.”

For Bassett, A-Star Spots is “about looking for ways to give kids that same view on sport and opportunity that”I had as a youngster”. And it is certainly doing a pretty decent job of it so far, with three more franchises set”to open in September, taking the total number to 15,”a mere year and half after launch. Bassett explains that”the growth rate is largely down to the relatively low start-up costs and the equally efficient franchising route through which he opted to grow the business.”He says, “Franchising is an easier way to grow quickly, particularly in our type of industry, because you can”get people on board who actually want to be a master of their own destiny, but who are also passionate about what we are trying to achieve.”