Interview with James Wilson, Founder of Soccer Shooters
Soccer Shooters Founder James Wilson is a Football fanatic with a lifelong passion for sport. James believes sport can play a huge part in a person’s life, and he is absolutely passionate about getting as many people as possible gaining as much pleasure from it. In the early noughties, James embarked on his first FA coaching course, he then did some volunteering in local schools including helping out with a session in Clifton, Bristol. James then set up Clifton United Football Club which has introduced hundreds of children to football. Off the back of this, and combining his extensive experience in the corporate world, Soccer Shooters was born. They’ve already helped thousands of children develop their football and life skills, but the Soccer Shooters journey is only just beginning.
Tell us a bit about yourself
Before starting this venture, I worked in IT, systems testing, and business development for large banks. This background has equipped me with a strong understanding of systems, user experience, and project management, which has been invaluable in running and expanding Soccer Shooters. My journey from creating Clifton United Football Club to founding Soccer Shooters reflects my commitment to fostering physical activity and community engagement through expert coaching.
Can you tell us about Soccer Shooters franchise
Soccer Shooters has grown organically over time. While there is no specific founding date, the journey began when James started coaching professionally around 20 years ago. However, things really became serious in 2015, when Soccer Shooters was officially formed. Since then, we have been committed to offering high-quality coaching for children of all abilities, focusing on fun, confidence-building, and social development in a safe environment. We believe that our service not only enhances children's lives but also gives parents peace of mind.
Our decision to pursue the franchise model stems from our desire to reach as many children as possible and have the greatest positive impact. By franchising, we can expand our offering to more communities, ensuring more children experience the benefits of sport.
We currently operate our main head office in Bristol, with two independent offshoot areas in South Gloucestershire. Additionally, we have successfully run a franchise pilot in Hemel Hempstead and piloted classes and sessions in Devon. We have run a Holiday club programme for an entire summer in Bath. Across these areas, we work with over 600 children weekly, ensuring they benefit from our unique coaching approach. This combination of locations demonstrates the scalability of our business and the strength of our coaching model, ensuring consistent delivery across multiple regions.
Soccer Shooters offers a wide range of services, including:
- Holiday clubs
- After-school clubs
- Futsal classes
- Boys and girls sessions
- Girls-specific football programmes
- Tots sessions
- School wraparound services
In addition to these, we work closely with grassroots community clubs, supporting volunteers to provide the best possible experiences for children. Our mission is to use football as a tool to enhance the lives of children across various communities.
Who is your target market?
Our target market consists of parents who prioritise high-quality provision over cost. We cater to a diverse range of customers, but our key clientele includes professional parents who require easily accessible extracurricular activities both during and outside of term time.
There is strong demand for our services due to our focus on providing fun, inclusive coaching that promotes not only physical activity but also confidence, social skills, and overall well-being in a safe environment. Parents appreciate the peace of mind knowing their children are receiving high-quality coaching while having fun and developing essential life skills.
Our services are designed to fit the needs of busy families who value a premium offering and trust us to deliver the best possible experience for their children.
Why is Soccer Shooters a great investment for potential franchisees?
We have absolute clarity on our mission, vision, and values, and everyone associated with Soccer Shooters shares this commitment. With over 15 years of experience and a proven track record, we have developed a business model that not only ensures financial viability but also positively impacts the lives of children. Our coach education programme equips franchisees with the tools to build a successful franchise, both financially and in using football as a force for good. Additionally, Soccer Shooters offers a state-of-the-art bespoke booking system, ensuring the best possible customer experience and franchisees will be set up with a marketing lead generation campaign from day one.
What differentiates Soccer Shooters from the competition?
Soccer Shooters is unique in its approach, especially in how we engage with and support the local community. We don’t work in opposition to local grassroots clubs; instead, we collaborate with them, providing professional coaching to enhance their volunteer efforts. At Soccer Shooters, we combine top-quality coaching with a relaxed and inclusive environment, enabling children from all backgrounds and abilities to sharpen their football skills while also learning essential life skills that will serve them well in any future endeavour.
What is the role of one of your franchisees?
The role of a Soccer Shooters franchisee is flexible and largely depends on their strengths and interests. While an interest in football is helpful, a strong focus on business development is more crucial. Franchisees may not need to conduct the coaching themselves, especially in a thriving franchise with multiple sessions running simultaneously. Delegating coaching responsibilities to qualified coaches will be key. Our coach education programme supports franchisees, ensuring that all coaches deliver sessions in line with "The Soccer Shooters Way."
What qualities do you look for in a Soccer Shooters franchisee?
- Growth mindset
- Professionalism
- Strong communication skills at all levels
- Understanding that customer experience is essential, alongside providing high-quality customer service
- Belief in the power of sport to improve lives
- Familiarity with basic IT tools, including spreadsheets
- Comfortable working with numbers
- Ability to think quickly and adapt on the spot
- Positive, "can-do" attitude
- Views life and work as an adventure, not a constant challenge
- Understands that for a business to succeed, it must have strong processes in place and follow them consistently
- Values people from all backgrounds and abilities, with an inclusive approach to employment
- Loves Football
What challenges have you had to overcome and adapt to over the years in your franchise and the industry in general?
This is a new franchise, but we've successfully run a mini-pilot in Hemel Hempstead. At the moment, we don’t have any franchises fully operational.
In terms of the industry, children's sports and extracurricular activities are highly competitive. Competition typically comes from large companies, professional football clubs, or smaller one-person operations. This can make it challenging for mid-sized providers like us to find and capitalise on opportunities.
However, by focusing on delivering the best possible experience for our customers and being clear about our inclusive provision for all abilities, we've built a strong and loyal customer base. Our customers place a high value on quality over cost, which gives us the confidence to offer our services at a premium price, knowing that we are providing a high-quality product. This ensures that children have a fantastic time in a safe and engaging environment.
By prioritizing customer experience and maintaining consistent quality, we've been able to differentiate ourselves in the market, despite the intense competition.
What have been Soccer Shooters biggest achievements to date?
One of our proudest achievements has been growing from just 6 children attending a Saturday morning session to now engaging over 600 children per week at our Central head office in Bristol. We also run the largest football-specific holiday club programme in Bristol.
Through our programmes, we’ve had the privilege of engaging thousands of children in physical activity, using football as a vehicle to positively impact their lives. We’re incredibly proud of the way we've been able to inspire and encourage children to stay active and develop through the power of sport.
What does the future hold for Soccer Shooters?
As well as continuing to develop our products and services at our head office in Bristol, our 5-year plan includes tripling the size of our Bristol operation. We are focused on expanding both the range and reach of our offerings to meet increasing demand.
In terms of our franchise growth, we aim to become the go-to provider for children’s football activities across the UK. We want to build a reputation where people across the country are recommending Soccer Shooters, saying, "Have you tried Soccer Shooters?"
Our mission is to use football as a tool to enhance people’s lives, and this includes potential franchisees. We want them to build successful careers and develop a lifestyle that suits them perfectly, while making a positive impact on children’s lives. Our vision is for franchisees to feel empowered, passionate, and part of a network that is helping shape the future of children’s sports and development.
What expansion plans have you got nationally and internationally?
Beyond the UK, we are eager to expand to international markets, with India being a key region where we aim to establish franchises. We believe India has immense potential for growing the game of football, and we are confident that Soccer Shooters can make a positive impact on the lives of children, parents, and franchisees in the country.
Our goal is to introduce high-quality, inclusive football coaching to communities in India, offering children the opportunity to develop their confidence, social skills, and physical abilities through sport. At the same time, we aim to create meaningful career opportunities for franchisees who share our passion for enhancing lives through football.
What advice would you give to someone considering franchising their business?
Whether you're thinking about franchising now or in the future, it’s essential to define every single process in your business from the very beginning. This ensures consistency and makes onboarding new staff much easier. Well-documented processes are the backbone of a scalable operation.
In addition to defining processes, ensure you have a mechanism in place to control and monitor these processes, with clear ownership and accountability. This will help maintain quality and efficiency across the business.
If the time comes to franchise, having these systems in place means you'll be well-prepared to expand and grow your business, offering new franchisees a solid foundation to build on.
If you had to do it all again, what would you do differently?
I wouldn’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. I would focus on testing markets more quickly and launching Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) sooner to gather feedback and make adjustments earlier in the process. Once the idea of franchising came to mind, I would have moved faster to get an offering out there and start expanding.
Taking action sooner and refining as you go can be more beneficial than waiting for everything to be perfect.
Interested and want to know more about Soccer Shooters?
The Soccer Shooters profile outlines all aspects of their franchise opportunity and allows you to contact them for further information or to ask a question.
