The life changing effects of sports
As a gymnast and Olympic medalist, Dan Purvis knew exactly what he wanted to achieve when he opened the doors to his very own gymnastics club in 2016. With the help of his parents, he was ready to run a gymnastics club that focused on building kid’s confidence and developed skills they’d be able to use outside of the sport.
Dan started out in a completely different sport at first: football. But, with the celebratory cartwheels and flips that Dan was performing on the field, his parents found a family-run, local gymnastics club for him to join at the age of seven. As a shy child, Dan quickly found that learning gymnastics alongside other kids his age really helped him grow more confident, something that he’s been eager to transfer to the kids at his own club too.
“Some kids come in for the first class and they’re shy and unsure, and the following week they come in and run onto the mat because they’re so excited for class - THAT’s what I do it for.”
To Dan, it’s less important if the kids develop their specific gymnastics skills. Instead, Dan really highlights the importance of the kids gaining life-skills they can use outside of the sport, like confidence, decision-making and being able to communicate effectively.
Finding a new passion after a professional career
In the beginning, Dan started out with smaller classes in two different sport centres. But with equipment to transfer between venues, it limited Dan in the number of classes he could run. Now, he’s moved into one location that has enough storage for him to leave everything at the premises, and he’s able to run more classes and is at 100% capacity.
“I was fortunate enough to have the help of my parents when it came to admin tasks, but at one point we were putting on classes for around 400 kids with no automated system! It was just chaotic.”
Spreadsheet stress turned into success
As the club grew, doing everything manually became a greater task than was manageable. Having been a British Gymnastics Gymnast for 20 years, Dan was also keen on running the British Gymnastics Rise Badges programme, which awarded the kids at Dan’s club with medals and certificates for learning gymnastics skills. However, with no automated system, keeping track of which kids were being awarded which badges every week became a big task. Couple with this, Dan had no way of knowing which parents still hadn’t paid for classes or the amount that each parent was paying. That’s when Dan heard recommendations for ClassForKids.
“I heard glowing reviews about ClassForKids’ system, both from other gymnastics club owners but even outside of the sport as well. When I reached out to ClassForKids, they were very supportive and keen to show me the system, and it’s just been really easy ever since then!”
Like many club owners, Dan was passionate about teaching kids gymnastics, but wasn’t so keen on taking on the admin tasks.Thanks to ClassForKids, Dan now has the ability to focus on growth, nurturing talent and exciting future opportunities. Since using ClassForKids, Dan’s seen a 600% increase in revenue generated, showing how a good system like ClassForKids helps you focus on what truly matters: your club's growth.
Spotting new opportunities for growth
Originally, Dan felt nervous about the technical side of using an online system. But with a user-friendly system and award-winning support team, Dan is now able to put his focus on becoming the best coach he can be and sharing his passion with the kids at his club.
“I’m not a very technical sort of person, so if I can use it, I’m sure anyone can!”
With ClassForKids, Dan is able to spot new opportunities backed by reliable data. He can easily keep track of what kids are signed up to which classes, see which classes are at capacity and the most popular classes by age group.
Dan’s Top Tip: Use the ClassForKids waiting lists to discover where there’s already an interest in new classes. You can gauge interest without the financial investment, meaning you’ll run classes in the best locations.
“In the future I would love to expand the club and offer more classes. A dream come true would be having my own space so I could offer toddler sessions or other specialised classes.”
With a true passion for coaching and helping kids develop their skills, Dan Purvis Gymnastics Club is only set to keep growing. With a stellar online system to help, Dan can set his sights on future plans and we can’t wait to see where his amazing club takes him next.
