James Moore is the authority on youth sport, specialising in market growth, physical literacy, standards, workforce and technology.
James has spent more than twenty years building youth sports businesses in the United Kingdom. He grew up in athletics, sprinting at 100m and 200m under Olympic champions Daley Thompson and Linford Christie, and studied business and finance at university.
He turned that start into a group of companies covering coaching, training, childcare, technology and quality standards. The aim has stayed the same since the beginning: every child should get a good first experience of sport.
The parts of a youth sports system James builds and connects into one standard.
An independent way to observe, rate and improve coaching quality, with a membership body that holds providers to one standard.
Apprenticeships, a trade school and tutor training that take people from school leaver to qualified coach.
Safe recruitment, vetting and ongoing monitoring built into how sessions are run, not a single background check.
Software that records participation, compliance and results. Proven at national scale through Coordinate Sport, used by more than 1,500 organisations.
Specialist PE, active childcare, holiday clubs and school competition, designed around how children develop.
Community work including the Adidas London 2012 adiZone programme, and input into national standards used by Sport England and UK Active.
A group of programmes and businesses built under First Step Sports Group, the company James founded and owns.
Founded a standards-led athletics academy funded by Sport Wales. Won a Community Partnership Award at the National Sports Awards.
Put specialist PE into primary schools at scale, with a team of more than 100 coaches teaching every week.
Worked as a strategic delivery partner to Adidas on its London 2012 legacy programme, based around the adiZone facilities.
Built an in-house system for recruitment, observation and ongoing training that ran under every programme.
Set up an award-winning apprenticeship model that produced qualified coaches from local communities.
Ran government-funded active childcare that extended the standard beyond the school day across the North of England.
Launched a post-16 coaching course with Olympic champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, across Sheffield, Hull and Leeds.
Co-founded a technology platform that monitored national programmes and grew to serve more than 1,500 organisations.
The businesses behind the model, in the UK and the US.
The UK company behind two decades of PE, childcare, training, standards and technology in youth sport.
The trade school, qualifications and tutor pathway that build the coaching workforce.
Sport technology used by more than 1,500 organisations to record participation, compliance and results.
The US company that brings the model together under one national standard.
The delivery brands, including Track Stars, Activators, the LA and USA School Games, Kids Takeover and Active Care.
The membership and accreditation body. Safeguarding, quality assurance, insurance and recognition for providers.
Software for providers and a discovery app for parents. Participation, compliance and progress in one place.
The marketing engine that builds parent demand for accredited, quality providers.
James hosts a podcast for the sport and physical activity industry, talking to founders and leaders about building and running their businesses. It was shortlisted at the Sports Podcast Awards in the Best Sports Business category.
Send a message using the form and it will reach James directly. For everything to do with First Step Sports Group and The Nurture Group.