Category: News

It’s hard to find the right sports coach. You hear the stories in the press about the terrible things that have happened to children in the past or you’ve booked classes and they haven’t turned up or perhaps each week a different coach comes along – they don’t know the children, what they are like and how to get the best out of them.

Maybe, the coach is great but the admin side is just painful. Emails are not replied to, things not being done that you’ve asked for. It really doesn’t fill you with confidence- will the safeguarding be up to date?

How do you know the good providers from the bad? It’s not always easy but here are my top tips.

1 – Providers should always respond to you quickly, professionally and do what they say they will and when they say they will do it. This can provide you with some confidence that they won’t let you down and will provide a professional service

2 – Any documents that you request they should be happy to show you and these should be provided quickly. This can be things like DBS checks, first aid qualifications to show the coaches are trained and fully qualified and they are on top of this important part.

3 – Good reviews – is there anything that shows any concerns? Are people happy to talk about the excellent experience they’ve had?

4 – A consistent reliable team. A regular coach who is there every week, who you get to know and knows the children well, what they like and don’t like and how to bring the best out in them and build their skills and confidence.

5 – Membership of a professional body. Such as the Institute of Children’s Activity Providers (ICAP) Showing they take ongoing training and keep their knowledge up to date. Also sharing best practice throughout the industry to help improve all children’s activity providers.

I am happy to say (and you might have guessed) that Leapfrog Sports excels at all of these! We take the safety of children seriously and we don’t want to mess you around – we are here to make your life easier!

To demonstrate who serious we are, as members of ICAP I recently applied for their quality assurance rating. This was no mean feat! They looked into every part of my business – in fact over 67 different questions to answer with evidence to provide!

• The compliance, making sure we have every possible document and policy in place eg, insurance, DBS, properly registered with the authorities, accounts completed, health and safety and many more.
• The programme, checking it was age appropriate, developmental, it is progressive, fun. How it is delivered, how it is reviewed and many more
• The communications, how happy customers are, our customer service, how we get in touch with customers, our website, charity events.

I am so proud that we achieved the highest rating 3 Gold Kites!! You can rest assured that Leapfrog Sports only provides excellent quality programmes from a very well run business.

The ICAP rating team said ‘The application showed excellent attention to detail in compliance, programmes and marketing communications. You’ve clearly set your business and programmes up for success. We’ve received a large number of rating applications. Many of these applications haven’t received our highest rating of three gold kites so hopefully the fact you have, gives you renewed confidence in just how well you run your business.’

Please get in touch if we can help you in any way

Jo

 

Are you are looking for a better life, where you can work fewer hours for more money? Or the freedom and flexibility to work around your family so you can be there for them more?

Maybe Covid has changed your perspective on work, you enjoy working from home or you have sadly lost your job and are looking for a new challenge?

Whatever your reason, I’d love to hear what it is and how I could help you, just get in touch to let me know.

I thought I’d give you my top 5 reasons why you should become a Leapfrog Sports franchisee. You could try to start a business all on your own but here is why I think buying a franchise is a much easier way to do it:

1. It’s a proven business

I have worked hard for the last 6 years to build up Leapfrog Sports to be successful and have shown this consistently over the years. I know what works and doesn’t work. By starting your own business, would it be a success?

2. Training and Support

Franchisees receive full training and all the support that they need to make their business thrive. There is a clear process and actions that you can follow with guidance all the way. We want you to fly! If you started by yourself would you know what you needed to do?

3. Achieve Profits Quicker

By following the process you will know exactly what you need to do to make sales and make money much quicker. You won’t make mistakes and try things that don’t work – usually wasting money along the way.

4. You are Not Alone

Working in your own business can be lonely, with nowhere to turn for guidance and advice but it doesn’t have to be. As a Leapfrog Sports franchisee, you would receive support from the beginning and it’s ongoing!

5. Makes Life Easier!

It can be tough when you first begin a business, finding everything you need – even knowing what you need and what you must do. All the lesson plans, what equipment, a website…I could go on. With a Leapfrog Sports franchise, you don’t need to worry. Everything you need will be given to you to begin without all the stress of finding what you need and getting it!

So, in my opinion, a franchise is definitely a win-win. Do you agree?

If you do and want to have a chat, just get in touch and we’ll arrange a time to speak.

Speak soon!

Jo

This week is children’s mental health week which aims to highlight the importance of mental health among children and young people. The theme of this year (2023) is ‘Let’s Connect’ to encourage people to connect with others in healthy, rewarding, and meaningful ways.

Following the pandemic when children were unable to attend school, clubs or see friends to play with, children’s mental health suffered. I have 2 sons, and from a personal perspective, I can see how much of an impact this had on their mental health and also on my own. I now value so much more that I am able to connect with others and I know my sons are much happier for it!

You might not be aware of the positive benefits being active has on mental health.

Being active is not just good for children physically, it has such a beneficial impact on mental health too. Experts agree that the younger we start exercising the better off we’ll be later on in life, and it’s never too late to start. They also urge parents to take part in their children’s physical activity – something we definitely encourage at Leapfrog Sports!

So, how does exercising help children’s mental health?

Physical activity keeps the body strong and healthy and can improve mental health by decreasing symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain and loneliness.

Without going into too much detail, feel-good chemicals called endorphins, are released by the brain during physical activity which helps to improve mood, energy levels and even sleep – kids who are active every day are also better sleepers!

Being physically active can also help anxious children as it can direct the brain away from worrying for example, and allow them to focus on the demands of the physical activity, develop new skills and achieve a sense of accomplishment.

If a child is feeling lonely, sharing physical activities can give them a sense of belonging and friendship. Children with social anxiety​ might find it difficult to be in a group environment, but having a sport as a focus may take away some of the social pressure. Over time this can help children to develop confidence and build friendships.

Children who participate in regular physical activity have improved relationships and a more positive body image. Seeing and appreciating what their body can do, rather than just how it looks, is a great way for a child to build a positive body image and self-esteem.

So, how can you encourage children to be physically active?

Start small any changes will have a positive impact. Just try to introduce one form of activity every day. This could be a walk, playing a game of tig at home, batting a balloon backwards and forwards and trying not to let it touch the floor, or just dancing around to music.

Use exercise as a reward. Try not to see it as a chore but something fun to do so children look forward to it – have fun!

Of course, you could join a club like Leapfrog Sports, where children get active, build confidence, make friends and have fun by playing lots of games to get them moving and you can then play some of their favourites at home too.

What is your favourite way to get active and exercise? I’d love to know!

Jo

Sport is amazing. There is nothing else quite like it as brings whole nations together, lifts people up in times of crisis and improves physical and mental wellbeing.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has only highlighted the importance of being active as the country only left their houses for daily exercise – this was the highlight of the day. It also made us realise just how much we miss and took for granted the activities that our children would take part in, especially as a way for them to burn off all that endless energy! I run Leapfrog Sports, which specialises in multi-sports classes for children aged 2-7 years old where children are given the opportunity to have fun, develop a love of sport and be active through playing a different sport each week. The classes gave children time to run, jump, laugh and play with other children all while building confidence and learning new skills until they came to a sudden stop. Online classes were great and offer another option BUT the interaction with the coaches, friends in the class and in particular to sport, the teamwork element is not the same online and many children did not want to interact through a screen.

Covid, as for many other illnesses, also gave us a wake-up call with regards to being a much higher risk if you are overweight. The government has just released a new strategy to tackle the obesity crisis in the UK to get the nation fit and healthy, protect themselves against Covid-19 and protect the NHS. Key to combating obesity is being active and starting this from a young age with fun sports classes that children want to attend, sets children on a lifelong journey towards being healthy as there is overwhelming evidence that a child’s experiences and habits formed during their early years lays down a foundation for the rest of their life and impacts on health as adults.

The Chief Medical Officers’ guidance for children under 5 who can walk on their own is that they should be physically active every day for at least 180 minutes (three hours) spread throughout the day. Nurseries and in particular schools are often unable to give children enough opportunity to be active and sadly, it is something that is frequently seen as secondary to other subjects but due to the importance of physical activity on children’s wellbeing, this should be treated as a core subject as it can compliment and improve children’s academic results and just like in our classes can be combined for example with counting.

So, where does this leave the future of children’s sports activities and specifically multi-sports? It may feel like it is never going to return to how it was before but I believe it is only going to get better! Parents now can truly see the value and when they weren’t able to attend, how much their children loved and missed sports classes and due to the focus on being fit and healthy the importance these classes will have on their children’s lives and development. After lockdown parents want their children to get out and be with other children, have the opportunity to run around, learn new skills that aren’t being taught by their parents and try different things. Especially as they may not achieve and build the skills they need just from going to school and nursery and so need specialists to help teach their children.

Multi-sports are particularly good as by practicing a variety of sports from tennis, volleyball, football, athletics to rugby children develop a huge range of skills and don’t become bored! By playing different sports children build fundamental movement skills which are the building blocks of being active; they underpin every movement that we’ll make throughout our lives. Children need to be taught these skills and given opportunities to practise them with the optimal period for introducing fundamental movement skills in the early years.

If children are encouraged to focus on one specific sport, the opportunity to learn all these essential skills is gone – how will they learn different throwing techniques just by playing football? By jumping ahead to sports specific skills and missing out this essential area of development, children will be disadvantaged and it is difficult to develop these skills in later life. Meaning they may not want to take part altogether with a dislike towards exercise for the rest of their lives. 

Multi-sports also helps to show what sport children really enjoy – it doesn’t have to be football or dance! There are such a range that every child can be successful at one sport.

This understanding of the benefits of multi-sports rather than just one sport for young children, along with supportive coaches who build children’s confidence and self-esteem in a non-pressured environment through safe, professional companies with the highest of standards, like those we pride ourselves on at Leapfrog Sports, mean parents can trust and feel confident that they are doing the best for their children by attending activity classes and so demand for these classes at these type of companies will only increase.

As we are starting to reopen, enquiries are coming in and this shows to me that the future of the sector is bright – and active!

You may have heard me mention Fundamental Movement Skills several times before, but do you know what they are and why they are so important that EVERY game and activity in our sessions are based on these skills?

Did you guess? We both wear a yellow kit of course! But why is wearing a team kit so important and something we want to encourage when you come to our classes?

There are the more obvious reasons –
Identity, the most fundamental feature so you can distinguish between competing teams and players during a game.
Unity – to feel part of a group, to create solidarity between players and fans and keeps players motivated to succeed.
Equality – to show no individual is more important than any other and the importance of teamwork.

These are all important things that we want to encourage in your children when they come to Leapfrog classes – belonging and teamwork.

However, there is even bigger psychology at work behind the kit, so keep reading to find out more including which colour is the best for a goalkeeper to wear…

In a survey, the fourth response to what would make a team feel confident about their game was wearing a professional kit, behind feeling refreshed, good playing conditions and praise from the coach – so fairly high behind some very obvious answers. Looking professional in a kit gave the teams confidence to perform better and physically able to play without restriction.

Does the colour of the kit make any difference? There have been numerous studies to determine if there is a link between the shirt colour and success in football teams and unsurprisingly the findings show that sportspeople competing in red win more than any other colour. The study established that since 1947, teams wearing red in English football have been champions more often than could be statistically expected based on the proportion of teams that play in red. Why could this be?

– Red is synonymous for increasing confidence, giving players/teams a psychological boost.
– Red can be perceived as being more aggressive or dominant, hence unnerving opponents.
– On a practical level, red shirts are easier to see, possibly increasing the accuracy of passes.

What about the other colours? Blue is seen as dependable, authoritative and trustworthy. White is pure and clean with black dramatic, powerful and elegant. While grey is considered a negative colour suggesting evasion, non-commitment and lack of involvement.

Yet red does not dominate abroad, with Spain’s most successful kit being white and of course Brazil wearing yellow who have won the World Cup 5 times – more than any other nation and before they wore the yellow shirt, they had failed to win a World Cup.

With yellow standing for freshness, happiness, positivity, energy and hope it is clear to see why it has become such an important kit for Brazil and a key colour for Leapfrog Sports t-shirts too!
Although this has been interesting, there is a reason why I have been researching into sports kits. Here at Leapfrog, we want to encourage ALL of our children to wear a Leapfrog t-shirt when they come along to the sessions for all of the reasons above. The t-shirts are made from a special sports material to keep your child cool, dry and quick and easy to wash! Anyone that joins Leapfrog from this month now receives a t-shirt as part of their welcome pack (charges apply) and we would love to see all children wearing these tops as part of the Leapfrog team! If you want to get your hands on one, just contact us and they cost a fab £10.95 and come in sizes 3-4 / 5-6 / 7-8 years old!

So what is the best colour for a goalkeeper wear? Traditionally, teams went under the belief that goalies should be as inconspicuous as possible to make them harder to spot in the goal and therefore harder to aim past. This is one of the reasons why green is a popular colour for goalkeepers shirts, as green can be difficult to spot against the grass. However, research revealed that significantly fewer goals were scored against a goalkeeper wearing a red shirt, as opposed to a green, yellow or blue shirt. Although one would assume that it would be easier to aim away from such a distinctive colour, the red subconsciously attracts the eye of the striker, who unwittingly aims the ball towards the colour –  did you guess correctly?

We’ll look forward to seeing your son and daughter proudly showing off their team kit in classes soon!

Jo

Recently, I received a message via Facebook and one sentence jumped out to me: I can’t see much information on your page.

This got me thinking and so I had a look at my facebook page and I think we could do much better. There are posts about sport, things happening in classes, awards we have been nominated for or won, funny pictures or videos but do you actually know what we do without going to our website?

So this month is all about ‘Getting to know us better!’ Where we will be focusing on all things Leapfrog!

So make sure you like our facebook page and check it out daily where I will be updating you with information and facts but for now here are the top 10 things you should know about Leapfrog!

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1. We began because of my son
He has endless energy and so I was looking for a class for him to burn this off the only sport I could find was football. I knew that at 2 years of age he was too young to focus on just one sport and he and I would get bored of doing the same thing each week.
I couldn’t believe that there weren’t more sports classes around – there are so many fantastic sports other than football and a bit of rugby – and thought that if I wanted it, surely other parents did too. I was so convinced in this idea that I just couldn’t forget it and so while I was off on maternity leave with my second son (yep, full of energy too!) the business was born and the reason we are here today.

2. We cover a different sport each week
Each time you come to class there will be a different sport. We cover 11 core sports eg football, rugby, tennis, athletics and more and we also often add in special guest sports eg American football, Badminton etc. There is masses of variety and over the course of a year you will tend to cover the same sport around 3 times, each time building on the skills. It is also not advised to specialise in one sport at a young age.

3. We are award winning
Don’t just take our word for it, we have won 2 awards – Hoop 2018 Best for Getting Active and runner up in Best for Toddlers. The LTG Lifestyle Awards 2019 – Best in Children’s Sport Classes.
We are also nominated again this year in the Hoop 2019 awards for Best for Getting Active – don’t forget to vote! (https://hoop.co.uk/2019-hoop-awards/birmingham/)

4. We have a fantastic team
Our coaches, both the Lead and Assistant coaches, are excellent! They strive to make the classes fun, enjoyable and educational for both children and the parents. They are all qualified, hold safeguarding, coaching and first aid qualifications, Enhanced DBS checked and are great with children and love their work!

5. You can try out our classes before signing up
With our new 4-week trial classes for only £12! This is to ensure you get a chance to really see how fantastic our classes are before we ask you to commit to regular payments. Sign up here

6. We also have schools and nurseries programmes!
During the week, we aren’t sitting around with our feet up! We are running sessions in schools (KS1 up to Year 2) with our after or before school clubs or in nurseries. This means we get to take lots of different sport to hundreds of children each week and show them the fun of being active while developing fundamental skills. Please do get in touch if you think your school or nursery could benefit from our programmes.

7. Our classes aren’t just about sport
In the sessions, every game or activity we do, although to the children are just fun, will also be developing their fundamental skills of balance, agility and coordination which is vital for physical literacy and to go on to develop sports specific skills. Not only do we help with physical development but we also work on personal and social development too and can really build up confidence in a child.

8. We do birthday parties!
We run a fantastic birthday party – check out our reviews on our facebook page
You can choose up to 2 different sports, so you can tailor your party to your child’s interests and make it fun and different for their guests – ever been to a basketball party before?
Find out more about our parties here.

9. Our classes are on weekends
A children’s class at the weekend! Most are during the week and so can be restrictive to parents who work – but not us! So we have classes with dads, mums, grandparents, aunts, uncles – you name it, they attend, so you won’t feel left out as the only one there.

10. Our venues
Our classes are held at Alderbrook School, Lode Heath School and Kings Heath Boys School. They are lovely big spaces, easy to get to and have plenty of free parking.

I am extremely proud of Leapfrog Sports and so would love you to get to know us better and so keep your eye on our facebook page and get in touch if you have any questions!

Jo

If you read January’s newsletter (and if not, why not?!? – see below why you should be subscribed and how to sign up) You will know that I’d been thinking for a while about how well the free trials that we offer work.

Since we began we have offered a free trial for everyone, so they can come along, see what we do and check that their child enjoys the classes before signing up. However, over many months I have been feeling that this just doesn’t work as well as it should. The first session can often be overwhelming for many children, particularly younger children, and they may not want to join in or not until near the end of the session. Also, it is exciting – a big space where they can run around and have loads of equipment to play with, lots of new faces and they just don’t want to follow what is going on. For parents, this can be sometimes concerning, especially when they feel that it is only their child not following the class (it’s really not) and no amount of reassurance helps. Some give it a go, but often they feel their child may be too young or it isn’t the right fit for them.

I have decided on a solution!

I am going to end free trials and introduce the no obligation ‘half price first month’ (although I may need to come up with a catchier name!)

So from 1st March, there will be no more free trials. You can instead sign up to attend 4 weeks of sessions for only £12, so you can get a real taste of what the classes are like and children will be able to really settle in and see if it is right for them.

I really feel like this will work and for anyone that has been unsure about joining us, why not try this?

From 1st March, instead of seeing the option to book a free trial on our website, you will now have the option to book and pay for the 4 weeks for £12. If you’d like to register your interest in the meantime, then please just get in touch and I’ll forward the details closer to the time.

I’ll look forward to seeing you soon!

Jo

Happy New Year to you all – I hope 2019 is a great one for you and your family.

So is it broken yet? What I’m referring to is the new years resolutions that we make every January. The top resolutions are of course to lose weight, exercise more and save money but it is rare if you can keep your resolutions for a whole year and apparently the second Friday in January is now known as ‘Quitter’s day’ when most people are likely to give up on their resolutions.

If you did make a resolution to be more active this year, then why not get involved in our classes with your child – I promise it is MUCH more fun than a gym!! There is also evidence to show that by introducing activity and sport into a child’s life from an early age this forms long term habits and will have a positive impact on health as an adult – so no new years resolutions which will end up being broken will need to be made by them!

It is hard making change and I haven’t made any resolutions this year but instead are focusing on making Leapfrog Sports bigger and better this year and setting myself some targets for that instead! We have some exciting things coming up which I can’t wait to share with you but of course I can’t do it all on my own – I’ll need your help to spread the word about us and here is an easy way…

The fantastic news!! We have won another award!! We have been chosen as the Best in Children’s Sport Classes in the LTG Lifestyle Awards 2019.
We were nominated as a company, products, service or individual who are deserving of recognition and we only went and won it!! I am really pleased to be able to add this to our previous awards and of course huge thanks to the team for making our classes so great!

This week is Parents in Sport week which is a week to focus on the role of a parent in helping their children reach their potential in sport. (When I talk about parents, I am referring to any parent, guardian, aunt, uncle, grandad, nana etc who brings a child to one of our sessions!)

From our perspective, it is a chance to say a big thank you to our fantastic parents who bring their children to classes each week and provide help and encouragement to the children and not just your own! I know at the weekend it might not always be easy to get up and out (on time!) to get to classes after a busy and tiring week, and so we appreciate seeing everyone of you and the support that you give to our coaches too!

I know through running the sessions, how much it means to the children to have you there. They LOVE sharing activities with you and having time to play with you and happily run off to get you involved in whatever skill we are working on that week.

But, why does the parent matter so much??

The importance of the parent cannot be underestimated. Parents are so important because they can:

• encourage their children to take up, enjoy and achieve in sport
• support their children in practical ways – such as by providing transport or buying kit
• help out with activities
• support and motivate their child and/or the team
• reinforce positive aspects of sports participation

They couldn’t do it without you!

The role of the parent is also about ensuring children are kept safe – something that is key to Leapfrog – so by choosing us, you can be assured that staff have Enhanced DBS checks, safeguarding qualifications, coaching qualifications and are first Aid trained.

We love our parents at Leapfrog and are thankful to everyone of you for beginning your child’s journey in the world of sport with us!

If you would like to begin this journey and see all the positives getting involved in sport with your children can bring, then get in touch.