SportsCool Franchise | Inspire Young Lives with a Leading Sports Education Business

Inspire Young Lives with a Leading Sports Education Business

The SportsCool Franchise is one of the most recognised and respected names in primary school sports education. Founded in 2008 by three passionate sports coaches, the brand has grown from a single territory into a thriving national network, consistently ranked among the top franchises in the country. If you're passionate about children, sport and building a business with real community impact, SportsCool could be the opportunity you've been looking for.

A Franchise Built Around Schools

The SportsCool Franchise operates primarily within primary schools, delivering curriculum PE lessons, before and after school clubs, lunchtime sessions, holiday camps and birthday parties. This multi-revenue model means franchisees are not reliant on a single income stream. Every territory comes with an exclusive area covering a defined number of schools.

A SportsCool session in action - the in-school coaching model that powers franchisee recurring revenue

Two Models, One Proven System

The franchise is structured around two models. Both operate within the same proven system, supported by the same award-winning training and support infrastructure.

SportsCool runs more than 30 sports beyond football - fencing, archery, golf and more - letting franchisees diversify across the school calendar

What SportsCool Franchisees Say

Franchisees across the network speak highly of both the commercial results and the personal satisfaction of the role. One West Essex franchisee noted that while operating the Director model required focus and hard work in the early stages, exceeding first-year revenue targets by more than 50% made it more than worthwhile. Another franchisee from Lancaster highlighted how the franchise helped deliver financial security and a sustainable legacy for his family.

Support, Training and a Community That Cares

When you join the SportsCool Franchise, you benefit from a comprehensive onboarding process including hands-on training at SportsCool HQ and ongoing mentorship from the founding team, who still run their own territories and understand the realities of the business first-hand. This practical, founder-led approach sets the support on offer apart from many other franchises in the sector.

• ✓ A five-year mentorship programme with regular goal-setting and mindset development
• ✓ HR support for team recruitment from day one
• ✓ Sales and marketing guidance to build your client base quickly
• ✓ A bespoke income guarantee to support your early trading period
• ✓ National delivery partner status with the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Fund

The UK Primary School Sport Market

The market SportsCool sits in is large, statutory and growing. According to Sport England's Active Lives Children and Young People survey for the 2024 to 2025 academic year, 49.1 per cent of children and young people in England, around 3.6 million, now meet the Chief Medical Officers' guideline of 60 active minutes a day, the highest figure recorded since the survey began. Yet 28.4 per cent, roughly 2.1 million children, still average less than 30 minutes a day, with stubborn inequalities by ethnicity and household income. Schools sit at the centre of the response. Under the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, every teacher is entitled to at least 10 per cent of their timetabled teaching time as planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time, and primary heads routinely fill that window with external sports providers. SportsCool franchisees are selling into that protected, recurring demand, alongside curriculum PE, breakfast and after-school clubs and lunchtime sessions.

Brand Heritage: From Pilot Territory to National Network

SportsCool was founded in 2008 by Andy Preston, Lee Lysons and Matt Parker, three former sports coaches who had previously run franchises themselves and wanted to design a children's coaching business they would buy. They operated a single pilot territory for six years, refining sessions, school relationships and back-office systems, and only began offering franchises in 2014 once the pilot was a proven seven-figure operation. The brand was named the UK's top sports education franchise in the 2024 Elite Franchise Top 100, ranking 55th overall and finishing above Premier Education and Football Fun Factory. The founders still run their own territory today, which is unusual at this stage of a network and shapes the support model.

Training and the Five-Year Mentorship Programme

New franchisees go through a structured onboarding programme delivered by the founding team. Initial training is a three-day cluster at SportsCool HQ covering session design across the 25-plus sports in the catalogue, school sales conversations, safeguarding, the online assessment platform and the day-to-day operations of clubs, camps, parties and PE delivery. That feeds into an eight-week induction during which the central team works alongside the new operator on the live launch, helping book first schools and onboard early coaches. The headline differentiator is a five-year mentorship programme, with regular goal-setting calls, marketing reviews and access to the founders for the full term of the agreement. Support also includes HR guidance for hiring coaches, a bespoke income guarantee in the early months, ongoing sales coaching and access to centrally negotiated supplier deals on kit and equipment from partner brand Joma.

A Year in the Life of a SportsCool Franchisee

The SportsCool calendar is built around the academic year. From September to mid-December, weekdays revolve around in-school PE blocks, lunchtime sessions and after-school clubs, with the autumn term traditionally focused on signing new school contracts ahead of January. Spring brings the heaviest delivery weeks of the year, with curriculum PE running at full tilt and weekend birthday parties picking up. Easter, the May half-term, summer and October half-term unlock holiday camps, several of which are funded through the Department for Education's Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. HAF is delivered by upper-tier local authorities and funded for the 2026 to 2027 financial year, with eligibility tied to benefits-related free school meals. SportsCool's status as a national delivery partner means franchisees can bid for blocks of guaranteed paid sessions across the four main holiday windows.

Who Suits the SportsCool Franchise

The Coach model suits energetic, hands-on operators who genuinely enjoy being in front of children all day, ideally with a background in coaching, teaching, PE, the armed forces or community sport. The Director model is for people who want to build a small business, recruit a team of coaches and split their week between sales, school relationships and day-to-day management. Both routes need someone comfortable approaching head teachers and selling on outcomes for pupils rather than price.

What Franchisees Say

Interested in exploring more opportunities in this sector? Take a look at other sports franchise opportunities available on Franchise Hunt.