#Young Coach Callum Pettigrew Gets Key Of The Door With A-Star Sports Franchise


Ambitious young Scot, Callum Pettigrew, has really been given the key of the door this month - not only has he just turned 21, the go-ahead coach has also taken over at a thriving franchise of award-winning company A-Star Sports.

The budding entrepreneur, from Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, has fulfilled a long-term dream of bringing top quality, multi-sports coaching for children as young as two and up to 10 years old in East and West Dunbartonshire, a franchise which formerly was run by A-Star Sports co-founder Kevin Key.

His territory covers the affluent suburbs of Bearsden and Milngavie, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie and Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire and spreads all the way to Helensburgh on the Clyde estuary in the west. He is already running five classes, with one employee.

Pettigrew went to Bishopbriggs High School before gaining an HND in Health, Fitness and Exercise at City of Glasgow College as a qualified level 3 personal trainer. He has had a lifelong interest in sport, excelling at golf, badminton and table tennis, and always wanted to become a coach.

He said: I have been working as a personal trainer at a gym as well as working with Kevin in his local classes. In fact, I have been working with Kevin since I was about 14, when my aunt volunteered me for duty as an assistant.

I had actually taken charge of the Bishopbriggs classes and when the opportunity came up to take on the rest of the classes, I just jumped at it. It is a massive area and I`m going to devote the next part of my life to really developing it.

Key added: “This is a huge success story for us, showing how involvement in coaching from a young age can really develop into a career. It’s so rewarding to have coaches like Callum, who know the A-Star Sports business and have delivered the programme, see its full potential and are willing to join and benefit from the rewards of a hard-working team.”

Pettigrew will initially concentrate on achieving full occupancy at classes in East Dunbartonshire, before expanding westwards, at which point, he said, I will need to take on lots more employees.

The A-Star Sports programme offers children 10 different core sports – basketball, cricket, dodgeball, football, handball, hockey, rounders, rugby, tennis and volleyball. It is designed to make sport fun and accessible for children, and its peer-reviewed programme includes weekly classes, parties and holiday club places, as well as regular sessions in nurseries, playgroups and schools, which are attracting thousands of attendees per week.

A-Star Sports franchisees are offered a full training package to get them started and ongoing coaching- and business-orientated support, including help with finance, marketing, general management, health and safety, HR and the benefit of a regularly reviewed coaching programme.

The company recently signed up GB hockey star and Olympic bronze medallist Helen Richardson and UK dodgeball’s Alex Harrison as ambassadors who are positive role models to inspire the children who come to the firm`s classes and holiday clubs.