Ours began in 2020, where The Athlete Academy starts with humble beginnings. I had reached out to numerous gyms across Edinburgh proposing to rent space for just 1 hour a week to launch a youth athletic development progam.
Not an enticing prospect for most, but Will at Crossfit Murrayfield answered and was generous enough to allow us to hire a small PT space to coach just 4 athletes for 1 hour per week at. He even gave us the first month as a free trial.
It was all we needed as we started out with our mission: to help young athletes unlock their potential.
As more athletes joined, we grew into our second space in 2021 – their bigger gym space just 15 metres down the road on the same industrial site. During this time we had some fantastic coaches who made valuable contributions to The Athlete Academy.
My first coaching recruit was Callum Stewart, who had been an intern under me during my time leading the Caledonia Regional Academy for Scottish Rugby. When I heard he was moving through to Edinburgh I pounced and convinced him to join me.
Soon I added another former Scottish Rugby coach in Ben Parkes who had been a contractor S&C coach alongside me in the Performance Athletes In Schools (PAIS) program which ran in adjunct with the Borders & East Lothian Academy. (A program which produced none other than current Scotland Rugby Captain Rory Darge!)
Jordan Welsh (Adams Centre for High Performance) then joined the coaching team, as did our very first intern Orestis Andreou who was completing his Undergraduate degree at Edinburgh University at the time. Grant McLeod (International School of Samui) also joined us before heading off to Singapore, Dubai and now Thailand.
At this point in 2022 Allyn Preece returned to Edinburgh after a stint with DMP Sharks in the women’s premiership rugby competition in England and I swooped to bring him under the banner of The Athlete Academy. Allyn (Now with the Scottish Institute of Sport) suggested checking out a possible space at Engage Fitness Edinburgh Napier Uni…
It was a storage space that was the original gym space of the Edinburgh Academy of Scottish Rugby.
When we came to take a look, it was literally a storage space being used as a dumping ground…
Although it was filled with random bits and bobs, the first thing I noticed was the gym flooring tiles. A clear sign that it had been used as a gym space at some point in time. It turned out that this was the original gym of the very first iteration of Scottish Rugby’s first academy branch in Edinburgh.
And who was the Lead S&C Coach for the Academy at that time? None other than Jared Deacon who had a desk in this very room!
It wasn’t pretty to look at and it needed work…
But where others saw a mess – we saw some serious potential!
So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work building our vision for what The Athlete Academy could become…
Over the years we bootstrapped the gym from the ground up. Sourcing kit and equipment from various places…
At this point our coaching team evolved to include Ben Parkes (for his second stint), Gordon Mowat (University of the Highlands & Islands), Tom Foulds (Lauriston Girls School), Mhia Mouat (Stirling University) , Ali Johnston (Edinburgh Leisure) and Anne Hutchison (Scottish Institute of Sport).
Trips to Glasgow, Dundee, Glenrothes and beyond to collect Dumbbells, Racks and Plates from Facebook Marketplace…
Sourcing childfriendly technique bars and benches the appropriate heights from Mirafit…
Scouring Amazon for Hurdles, Gym Rings and Strength Bands…
Researching the best pieces of testing equipment we could and the price point we could purchase…
All the time with the mindset of to continuing improving what we could deliver for youth athletes and their parents!
We had 2 very promising Heriott Watt students reach out to request some work experience. They proved themselves to be invaluable and Reece Hope and Calum Maxwell were added to the coaching team! With Lewis Cowan and Morven Thomson following soon after.
Now in 2025 we’re completing our latest upgrade…
We’re moving into our 4th home in the main gym at Engage.
This latest upgrade means more space, more equipment, and more opportunities for every athlete we we continue to raise the standards of what we deliver to youth athletes.
The Athlete Academy 4.0 isn’t just about a new location.
It’s a milestone in our mission to support young athletes to build movement 🤸🏻, nutrition 🥗 and mindset 🧠 to fulfil their potential 🏆
So from this Monday the 1st September, all sessions at The Athlete Academy will be taking place in the main gym space at Engage Fitness.
But from the bottom of my heart – THANK YOU to every parent and athlete who has stepped foot in one of our locations over the years.
And a huge THANK YOU to all the people who made this journey possible so far:
