Launch of Ultimate Player Online Sports Platform

RNS Number : 2263G

Ultimate Sports Group PLC

19 November 2015

 

Ultimate Sports Group plc / Ticker: USG.L / Index: AIM / Sector: Investment

Ultimate Sports Group Plc ('USG' or 'the Company')

UK Launch of the Ultimate Player Online Sports Platform supported by Dame Kelly Holmes

Ultimate Sports Group Plc, the AIM listed investment vehicle, is pleased to announce that its fully owned subsidiary, Ultimate Player Ltd, will be hosting the official UK launch of www.ultimateplayer.me, an interactive sport coaching platform designed to improve the engagement of children aged 4 to 11 in sports including football, rugby, tennis, cricket, boxing and golf.  This marks the nationwide roll-out of the platform as the Company advances its presence in the growing online and mobile market in line with its active growth strategy, underpinned by the Company's recent name change from Westside Investments to Ultimate Sports Group.  

The event will be taking place later today at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.  The launch is being supported by world-class athlete and Olympic Gold medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes, a prominent advocate of the uptake of sports in schools following the 2012 Olympic Legacy pledge to inspire the athletes of the future.

With mobile technologies leading the way in all fields of study, Ultimate Player recognises that sport is no exception.  Using the platform, coaches score each participant against pre-determined skills to generate their performance stats, which feed into a leadership board accessible by the coaches, players and their parents.  Every child that is signed up by a parent has a customisable profile where they can access their scores, engage with their friends and measure their progress.  As their performance improves, players progress through a number of levels until they become the Ultimate Player.  

The soft launch of the platform, which was trialled with 3,500 children in participating school clubs, has already seen a marked improvement in the motivation and achievement of its players.  The Company is focussed on building upon this success through the national launch of the programme; with over 4 million primary school age children in England and over 1 million coaches in the UK there is undoubtedly a significant growth opportunity. 

This includes over 22,500 children currently being coached by over 100 coaches that are part of a Sport in Schools coaching programme, which is a subsidiary of the Ultimate Sports Group. 

Ultimate Sports CEO Geoffrey Simmonds said, "According to Ofcom, 61% of people use their mobile handset to access the internet, spending on average 31 hours online a month.  With mobile and online technology recognised as a prospective area for growth, we have identified a strategic opportunity to combine technology with our established sports offering to create a dynamic platform to promote engagement in sport amongst children.  Our focus is on making children passionate about their participation in sports and engaging them to improve their skills.  We look forward to keeping shareholders updated with our progress as we seek to engage with more coaches and children through sport and ultimately build more value for Ultimate Sports Group shareholders."

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.westsideinvestments.co.uk or contact:

Geoffrey Simmonds	Ultimate Sports Group Plc	Tel: [phone]
Marc Milmo	Cantor Fitzgerald Europe	Tel: [phone]
Catherine Leftley	Cantor Fitzgerald Europe	Tel: [phone]
Elisabeth Cowell	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Charlotte Heap	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

About www.ultimateplayer.me

UltimatePlayer.me encourages children aged 4-11 to be passionate about their participation in sports and focused on improving their skill by providing children with a wide range of applications through which they can engage with sport. 

The Ultimate Player programme provides users with a bespoke sporting skill set challenge, which is supported by a uniquely designed online platform proven to incentivise children in raising their levels of performance across all sports.  Points are awarded to players by qualified coaches ('Ambassadors') and/or parents/guardians (with overall supervision by Ambassadors) for completion of certain skill challenges such as tackling, ball handling and match play.

Users can also create personalised profiles online, through which they can access and track their sporting performance and compare their performance to other users.  Importantly, in line with safeguarding children, online registration will need to be completed/confirmed by a consenting adult (a parent, guardian or Ambassador).  A strict vetting procedure is also implemented to validate the status of Ambassadors. 

Furthermore, parents and guardians can use the Ultimate Player programme to find registered and approved coaches for their child, and are able to utilise the programme to track their child's progress. 

 

END

 

 

MSCGMMMMMRGGKZZ