Four stages
Nine to sixteen, then into senior training.
One method
Same approach at every stage. Same coaches.
Built in order
Nothing arrives before an athlete can handle it.
Why we exist
The gap nobody fills
Elite Edge was built around problems we watched go unaddressed, in athletes who’d already got further than most.
Young pros and semi-pros who’d never been taught how their own body works. Who couldn’t fuel a season or recover between games. Who had physios, coaches and medical staff around them and no idea how to use any of it.
They weren’t short of talent or effort. They were short of understanding at a stage when the focus should have been on performance and the sport itself. Build that knowledge and physical foundation earlier, and athletes arrive at the later stages ready to perform.
Develop Early.
Perform Later.
What we believe
Four things we hold to
Most junior training does the opposite of at least two of these. That’s why they’re written down.
01
Develop Broadly, Specialise later
A child who only plays one sport builds that sport’s movements and not much else. Then the game asks for something new at thirteen and there’s nothing underneath to draw on. Keep playing the sport. We’ll build the athlete underneath it.
02
Age before sport
A twelve year old isn’t a small adult. Every block is built for the age it serves, and on what the block before it taught. Control first. Then the movement. Then the load.
03
Measure, don’t assume
Testing before a block and again at the end is available to every athlete. It’s booked separately. It’s also the difference between assuming progress and seeing it.
04
One pathway
Moving up a stage isn’t starting again with new people and a new philosophy. Same coaches, same method, more asked of the athlete because they can give more.
The pathway
Built in order, on purpose
Sporting performance is the end goal. The pathway builds the physical qualities needed to get there. Each stage develops what the athlete needs for the next, from control and movement through to strength, speed, power and ultimately better performance in their sport.
Build the foundations. Develop the athlete. Improve the performance.
Stage 01 · 9 to 12
Foundation
Learning to control their own body. Balance, coordination, landing, changing direction. Broad and varied on purpose. They finish able to move well, in every direction, under control.
Stage 02 · 12 to 14
Development
Learning the movements. Hinge, squat, push, pull, brace. Done properly with body weight and light load, whilst growth changes their coordination month to month. They finish owning every fundamental pattern.
Stage 03 · 14 to 16
Performance Development
Learning the exercises. Deadlift, barbell squat, press. Real lifts, loaded properly, because the patterns underneath them are already there. Most young athletes reach this stage years early, carrying a pattern they never learned. Coming soon.
Stage 04 · 16 and beyond
Where it leads
The pathway opens rather than ends. Performance, competitive or recreational, coached by the same people who got them there.
Being straight with you
We don’t promise professionals
Most children who start with us at nine won’t become professional athletes. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
A sixteen year old leaving our pathway should be ready for a professional environment if that’s where they’re going, and strong enough to play well for decades if it isn’t. Both are a good outcome. Only one of them gets talked about.
Getting started
Find your point on it
Three clear ways to get involved. Choose the route that best reflects your age, sporting level and what you want from your development.