Welcome back to another TTTONLF meets, this time we are looking and speaking to the owner of a brand new exciting startup from an extremely passionate entrepreneur who is looking to lean into his own experiences and bring a brand new product to the market to help develop as many grassroots players as possible.

Introducing to you all – Volta Sports!

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Q) What was your life in and around football like growing up? 

Football feels like it dominated my whole childhood, everything seemed to revolve around it. My Dad is a massive United fan and was a very good player in his day, so I basically had a ball at my feet from the time I could walk. Every day I’d be glued to teletext checking the football news after school, showing my age there. Then every night I’d be out on the local park or street playing football with my mates, heads and volleys, wembley, it didn’t really matter as long as we had a ball. It felt like I was constantly at the pub watching the match after my Dad had played which I loved and then every other Saturday would be spent at Boundary park watching my local team Oldham play, pukka pie in hand. 

Q) Did you play growing up and what was your experience when you did play? 

I played from a very young age and loved it, it’s been my one true obsession throughout my life. I had trials at City which was painful as a massive United fan but I ended up at Blackburn for a few years into my teens. I later played semi-pro before playing at Uni. Unfortunately the dream never quite materialised, but I’m back chasing the football dream now, just in a different way.

Q) Did you ever feel you was missing out on anything in training? 

Growing up as an only child, if I wasn’t training with my Dad it was harder to have complete solo sessions, I’d find myself constantly passing and volleying a ball off a wall, which is great for touch and control, but having something I could train with everyday on my own or with teammates would have been a game changer I reckon. I think sub-consciously the seed for Volta may have always been there. 

Q) Now you are the founder of Volta Sports a company with a clear mission to produce high quality grassroot training products. What can you tell us about Volta Sports? 

Volta Sports was born out of my true passion for the game. I used to coach as well and I felt the training equipment available on the market was very boring and uninspiring. I had an idea for a complete training aid inspired by street football. I didn’t want to make another rebounder or ramp that players got bored of, I wanted to make something that helped develop all aspects of a players game, but that they also wanted to use everyday. 

I wanted to replicate the feeling of when I was a kid trying to knock a bottle off a wall with a ball and so The Cube was born. It’s a 6-in-1 complete training aid with 3 built in targets for challenges and games, that will also develop a players precision and passing range. 

Q) How long have you been up and running? 

We have been live with our pre-launch for around 3 months but I have been in product development for around 12 months. Our official product launch is December and we are doing a very limited first run of The Cube.

Q) Many people often have great ideas but not all take the leap of faith to action them, why are you different and how has it been so far? 

I hate the thought of ‘what if?’. That type of thing keeps me up at night. I’ve always been entrepreneurial and I knew I wanted to do something in football & I kept coming back to this idea of The Cube and became obsessed with it. I think starting small and not thinking too far ahead helped and after getting great feedback from a number of players and coaches on the initial prototype the leap of faith was inevitable. 

Obviously it has been very very hard, and there’ve been a number of setbacks along the way, but it’s been a steep learning curve and having the passion and truly believing in the vision is what gets me motivated every morning even when things are going wrong. 

Q) How did you make it happen and can you explain your opening product? 

Turning up everyday and pushing the needle towards where I wanted to go was the big one, even if it was only something small, progress is very motivating and turning up daily compounds massively. 

I originally worked with a product development team in the UK to produce a working prototype and bring my idea to life. This was ideal as it gave me the opportunity to get the product out to coaches and in sessions and get really valuable feedback. We are now onto our third prototype with a different development team and it feels like we’ve fully cracked it and The Cube is gearing up for its full launch. 

The Cube is designed to be the most complete training aid on the market. It has 6 functions which are all considered and have a goal in mind. There is a random rebounder for replicating a bad pass, bobble or deflection, a lofted return for touch and volleys, a classic rebounder for passing (or a game of small walley if you fancy) and three targets including a flexi target which seems to be every player’s favourite (bottle on a wall was the inspo). For me unpredictable training and keeping sessions fresh is the key to unlocking a players creativity and full potential. Repetition is important but the best part of a session for me growing up was always the games or competitive element. Incorporating the targets within The Cube allows solo players to keep their training exciting and also allows coaches to develop their own drills.

Q) How do you feel ‘The Cube’ could help clubs with their training? 

It’s such a versatile piece of equipment first and foremost. We’ve had some coaches using the flexi target as a warm up game or while they are setting up they can have a group of players using different sides of The Cube simultaneously. The fact you can use it for shooting drills, passing, touch and control and also games, it’s every coach or players perfect training aid. It’s perfect for content creation and socials as well which a lot of clubs are leaning into. 

It gives coaches a way to stand out, creating sessions that players haven’t seen before and it can give their players that extra 1% which makes the difference on matchday.

Q) How do you feel your product could help individuals looking to train outside of their teams training sessions? 

As I’ve mentioned, individuals can enjoy full sessions and work on all aspects of their game, whilst keeping sessions fresh. They can take drills that they would usually only be able to do in training and do them at home. It’s great if their club or coach uses The Cube as well as the coach can give the players drills to use at home as well as in the sessions. 

I’ve been using The Cube a lot as I’m sure you can imagine and I love being able to practice my passing one minute, then trying to chip a ball into the cube from the other side of the garden the next. To be fair, I’ve spent hours on end just using the lofted return and volleying, there’s no better feeling than a top corner volley. 

Q) How did you come to the price you have set for the product?

The Cube is an all-in-one training product, designed so players and coaches don’t need to buy multiple pieces of equipment. Parents and coaches invest a lot of money in a players development and we wanted to provide the perfect product to get the most out of a player, it’s an investment in their long term development. 

Q) You currently have a pre-order offer in place which sees ‘the cube’ on offer for £350 down from its future £420 price point, that is some saving, why did you feel the need to introduce this discount from the start? 

We’re a new brand but with big visions. We don’t just want customers, we want people along for the journey with us, we wanted to give a reward to our first customers. The discount is for a very limited number of customers and is only available for the pre-orders. Once we go live in December the price will be £420. 

Q) How does it feel to be so close to launch now? 

It’s a mix of emotions as I’m sure you can imagine. The main one is excitement, to see a product I’ve been working so hard on for so long finally out there is great and I can’t wait to see players, coaches and teams all over using it. 

Q) What would your message be to people who are curious about the product? Q) What does the future of Volta sports have in store, do you have additional products in the pipeline already? 

For me there isn’t another training product like ours on the market and for anyone looking to get the most out of a players game, whether that’s a parent, elite coach or grassroots sunday league team then The Cube is the perfect solution. It’s a training aid built by people who understand the game. 

For me it’s about building a brand that lasts, not just selling a product. We want to become the go-to name for players who take their training seriously but also care about football culture and the love of the game. We’ve got big plans for the future with some exciting collaborations in the pipeline with brands not only in football, which is really exciting. 

Looking ahead, we have a number of things we are planning to roll out in the next 12-18 months, which I know people are going to love & we have also released our limited edition Street heritage ball, which is an homage to the old joga bonito street football I played with growing up.

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I think the Cube and the whole concept and back story behind its invention is remarkable and I am a massive fan of the work Connor has done so far and I know he will continue to do. This is a product which will help the future generation improve their football skills and give them more opportunities to practice.

The multitude of ways you can use the product means it will be a popular piece of equipment for clubs and will allow different sessions be run.

Want to find out even more? You can check out the official website right here: https://volta-sports.co.uk

Until next time!

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Parks to Pitches (your dedicated Non-League Football Magazine)

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