Kids coaching company launched in a bid to inspire the next generation in NW Surrey - 11th Mar 2011
A father-of-three who was made redundant in the wake of 911 has taken on a new challenge – to make sport his business in a bid to inspire today's children with a passion for fitness.
Simon Starkey, who worked as a financial consultant after being made redundant from a seven year career as a flight planner with Virgin, has turned his passion for sport into a career and taken on his own business under the wing of the UK's biggest coaching company, Premier Sport.
Premier Sport is dedicated to developing innovative sports coaching which will help children to live a healthy, fit life, and successfully delivers coaching to more than 125,000 children every week.
The company is backed by big-named sporting ambassadors including rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio, Olympic gold medallist Duncan Goodhew and former rugby league champion Paul Sculthorpe.
Simon, 40, who has been involved in coaching kids football in his spare time, was also a keen footballer himself at local level.
The move to set up his own business with Premier represents a huge career change and he has already undergone intensive coaching training.
"Coaching the Cuckfield Cosmos where my 11-year-old step-son Matthew plays at the weekend had become my absolute passion and talking about it has driven my wife around the bend!" he said.
"I wanted to make that passion a career, and Premier Sport is committed to children and sport. I did a lot of research and their professionalism towards coaching within schools is very much in keeping with my own philosophy."
Simon, from Burgess Hill near Brighton, will be working in North West Surrey across the Guildford, Leatherhead and Epsom areas offering PE coaching both in and out of school hours as well as Chewits holiday camps, breakfast, lunch and after school clubs with his team of coaches in up to 21 different sports under the Premier Sport umbrella.
"I want to bring as much professional sports coaching to as many children as possible and make a success of coaching in this area," he added.