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ASCEND by John Leitch · for football academy owners

Run a football academy? I'll help you fill it, automate it and get paid — without more nights on the pitch.

There are two ways to work with me. Pick the one that fits.

ASCEND · you do it, I guide you
£150 / month

The ASCEND app for your socials, leads and money, 2 live group calls a month, the members WhatsApp and the full library of offers and templates.

What's included → The Ecosystem · done for you
£400 / month

I run your ads, your systems chase every enquiry and bill every member, and you get a monthly one-to-one with me. 14-day money-back.

What's included →
9academy owners worked with in the last 2 months
350players a week at the academy I built — then sold
14 daysmoney-back guarantee on the Ecosystem
John Leitch pitch-side
John LeitchBuilt a football academy to 350 players a week, then sold it. Now I help owners do the same.

Real member feedback · one month in

Don't take my word for it.

Thanks so much. Genuinely feel I have more like a plan already

ASCEND member · after one month

Fucking hell. Didn’t even know! That’s elite!

ASCEND member · after one month

Thank you for helping me see clearer my man

ASCEND member · after one month

Unreal man

ASCEND member · after one month

Fuckin hell mate

ASCEND member · after one month

Word for word, from the ASCEND members' messages.

Sound familiar?

You're a great coach. The business is running you.

Chasing parents for payment on WhatsApp every month.
Enquiries sit in your DMs and go cold before you reply.
Plenty of trials, not enough of them join.
You're on the pitch five nights a week and it still all depends on you.
Your prices haven't moved in years and you know they should.
You've tried ads, spent money, and got nothing you could track.

None of that is a coaching problem. It's a systems problem — and systems can be built for you.

Included with ASCEND and the Ecosystem

The ASCEND app

Run your academy from one screen.

See where your members actually come from. Catch every enquiry the moment it lands. Know what one more member is worth. It lives on your phone.

SocialsLast 30 days
Views on your socials
18,420
+23% vs the 30 days before
412link clicks
2.2%click rate
1,964followers

Best post

"Saturday tots: three spaces left for 4 and 5 year olds"
Instagram 3,104 views · 41 clicks

Where clicks came from

InstagramFacebookWhatsAppTikTok
Socials

Know where members come from

Views, link clicks, enquiries and new members, joined up on one screen.

Leads3 open
New enquiry: Sarah Mitchell · LeoFrom your Instagram ad. Reply fast.

Reply speed

24 mintypical reply
86%within an hour
1waiting now
SM
Sarah MitchellLeo, 7 · 4 minutes ago
Instagram ad Waiting 4 min
Call WhatsApp Email
DR
Daniel ReidAva, 9 · yesterday
Facebook Replied in 12 min
Leads

Your phone buzzes. You reply.

Every enquiry in one list, with a notification the moment it lands.

MoneySeptember 2026
Profit, September
£1,600
36% of revenue · +10% on August
£4,400revenue
£2,800costs
118members

One more member is worth

£37 a month
£447 a year. Ten more is about £373 a month.

Month by month

Revenue and costs, April to September
Money

What one more member is worth

Two minutes a month shows your profit, your margin and what each member brings in.

Swipe to see all three →

The Ecosystem · done for you

On the Ecosystem you also get

  • Trial booking in the appYour trial slots and a booking page parents can use, so trials fill without a message thread.
  • Your ads, run for youI run your ads and check them every week.
  • Every enquiry chasedYour systems follow up by text and email until the parent books.
  • A monthly one-to-oneWith me, plus a personal plan for your academy.
  • Answers within 24 hoursWhen you ask me a question in the app.
See both levels →
See the app →Works on iPhone and Android. Set up the same day.

Your next 90 days

Build it. Fill it. Get paid.

Here's what changes in your academy over the next 90 days on the Ecosystem. On ASCEND you follow the same plan yourself, with me and the group behind you.

30Days 1–30

Build

By day 30: your booking page, billing and lead follow-up are live, and your first ad is running.

  • Your booking page live, with your photos and prices
  • Classes packaged properly: age bands, max numbers, a monthly price
  • Monthly rolling places billed automatically, no more reselling blocks
  • Lead follow-up set up: every enquiry captured and chased
  • Your first trial ad live in week two
60Days 31–60

Fill

By day 60: trials are booking every week and turning into paying members.

  • Ads tuned to the offer that books the most trials
  • Every trial followed up with a link straight to a place
  • Camp and 1-2-1 families invited into weekly groups
  • Waitlists on full groups, so demand is never lost
90Days 61–90

Grow

By day 90: fuller groups, the next one opening, and a plan that doesn't depend on you.

  • The next group opened as soon as the waitlist can fill it
  • Pricing reviewed against demand
  • Your numbers at a glance: groups, families, revenue
  • Coaching structure planned so it doesn't all depend on you
  • Your plan for the next 90 days

How it works

What we build together.

Four parts. On ASCEND you get the plan and templates for each and build them yourself. On the Ecosystem I build and run them for you.

Bring them in

Ads that fill trials

Meta ads for trials, camps and holidays, pointed at your booking page and checked every week.

Chase and convert

The Lead Machine

Every enquiry captured and followed up by text and email until the parent books.

Get paid

Booking and billing

Parents book and pay online and members pay on the 1st, with no chasing. Keep your own system if you'd rather.

Grow

You, with me

2 group calls a month with other owners on both options, plus a monthly one-to-one on the Ecosystem.

Inside the members library

Everything I used, ready for your academy.

Every member gets the Academy Owners Library: guides, workbooks, templates and video walkthroughs, organised by where your academy is right now.

00 Start Here01 Foundation02 Traction03 Scaling04 Offers Library05 Work With MeAll things SocialsSession content
The Offers Bank
The Offers BankProven offers for trials, camps and holidays, with the numbers behind them.
Inside the Offers Bank
Inside the Offers BankEach offer broken down: what it is, the example, the benefits.
The Ads Engine Workbook
The Ads Engine Workbook41 pages: build, run and fix Meta ads for an academy.
Inside the Ads Engine
Inside the Ads EngineStep-by-step pages you work through with your own academy.
The CEO Table
The CEO TableStop being the bottleneck: the roles every academy needs.
Inside the CEO Table
Inside the CEO TableWhat sitting in the middle of everything actually costs you.
The Lead Machine
The Lead MachineThe kit for capturing and chasing every enquiry.

Also inside

The Swipe File: real offers, real numbersThe Academy Email Engine: five sequencesBuild Your Offer: one-page offer builderYour 90-Day Plan: goals and processesThe ASCEND DiagnosticThe 3-Stage RoadmapSocial Media Starter PackMarketing Plan: the mini magnetOffers Bank video walkthroughsUpsells videoCanva poster walkthroughsSession content: tots, groups, 1-2-1s
John talking to a room of academy owners

Why this works

You were trained to coach. Nobody trained you to run the business.

I learned the business side the hard way — growing my own academy to 350 players a week and selling it. Then I built the software to do the boring parts for me. The Ecosystem gives you both halves at once, done for you.

The ownerPricing, staff, timetable, offers — from someone who's done it.
The systemsAds, chasing, booking and billing — built for you, running daily.

The software behind it

Player Portal: the booking and billing I built for academies.

It's what the Ecosystem runs on, and it's included. Parents book and pay online, members pay on the 1st, and nobody chases anyone.

£37k+processed for academies
177memberships billing automatically
£9,211collected in one day
See Player Portal →
An academy booking page on Player Portal
The booking page on a phone

Is it for you?

Built for owners ready to step off the pitch.

This is for you if

  • You run a football academy with regular weekly sessions
  • You're chasing payments, enquiries or both every week
  • You want to grow without adding more of your own hours
  • You'll show up to the calls and act on the plan

Give it a miss if

  • You're still deciding whether to start an academy
  • You only want booking software. That's Player Portal on its own.

Choose your level

Two ways to grow with ASCEND.

Start with the community and the playbook, or hand the whole machine over and get your evenings back.

ASCEND
£150 / month

For owners who want to learn it and do it themselves, with a room of people doing the same.

  • Start with a plan. The ASCEND Diagnostic finds the stage your academy is at, and you get a plan for that stage every month.
  • The ASCEND app. Your socials, every enquiry, your money and what to do when something goes wrong, on your phone, with a buzz the moment an enquiry lands. See the app →
  • Live calls twice a month. 2 group calls a month with other academy owners: what's working, what's next.
  • Help between calls. The members WhatsApp group, for quick questions and wins.
  • Steal what already works. The members library and Offers Bank: tested offers for trials, camps and holidays.
Join ASCEND
Everything done for you
The Ecosystem
£400 / month

For owners doing well who want more families, paid automatically, without adding more hours.

  • A full diary of enquiries. I run your Meta ads, so new parents find you every week.
  • No more lost leads. Every enquiry is chased by text and email until they book, while you're coaching.
  • Paid on the 1st, no chasing. Monthly billing on autopilot, failed cards retried, leavers won back.
  • Your time back. We set everything up and move your families across for you. You keep your own system if you'd rather.
  • Me on your academy. A monthly one-to-one on your pricing, staff and next steps.
  • Everything in ASCEND too. The app, both monthly group calls, the WhatsApp group and the full library.
  • In the room for less. 50% off every in-person meetup.
  • 14 days to be sure. Full refund of your first month if it isn't right.

Ad spend is paid by you, straight to Meta. Your booking and billing system (Player Portal) is included.

Message me “ECOSYSTEM” →

The guarantee

14 days to be sure.

Join the Ecosystem. If after 14 days you don't feel it's right for your academy, tell me and I'll refund your first month in full. No awkward conversation.

So there are two ways this goes. Either the systems go in, your groups start filling and we both win. Or it isn't for you, and you get your money back. Either way, you're covered.

FAQ

Questions before you start.

Which one should I pick?

If you're happy doing the work and want a plan, templates and people to ask, pick ASCEND. If you'd rather hand it over and get your evenings back, pick the Ecosystem. Not sure? Message me and I'll tell you straight which one fits your academy.

I use ClassForKids or Gymcatch. Do I have to switch?

No. Keep it, and the Lead Machine tracks and automates everything from enquiry to new member alongside it. If you want to switch, Player Portal is included and we move your parents and members across for you — and you get auto-billing, so nobody chases payments.

Do I pay for the ads?

The ad spend, yes — it goes on your own card, straight to Meta, so you always see exactly what's spent. Building, running and adjusting the ads is included.

If I switch, will my parents be charged twice?

No. Members who've already paid you for the month come across with their first charge on the next billing date, and anyone holding prepaid credit keeps it.

How much of my time does it take?

About 15 minutes to connect payments if you switch, a short call to hand over your timetable and prices, then your monthly one-to-one and the group calls. Everything else — ads, automations, set-up, moving members across — is done for you.

I'm already an ASCEND member.

Message me and I'll move you across. Your library access and group calls carry straight on.

Get started

Ready when you are.

Message me with ASCEND or ECOSYSTEM, your academy name and roughly how many players you coach each week. I'll reply personally and book a 20-minute call.

@johnleitchbusinessmentorMessage me on Instagram
john@theplayerportal.net