The originator of Sports Bug Tim Le Feuvre tells the story of Sports Bug so far.

How did the name Sports Bug come about?

The whole concept of Sports Bug first started in 1997 when the activity was called 'Hot Shots'. It was necessary to change the name in 2003 when I discovered that a German Company owned the full European Trade Mark Rights for Hot Shots. That's when the name Sports Bug was born. After struggling to think of a new name for weeks I suddenly had the Eureka moment whilst sorting some Bug bean bags one day- simple as that.

I thought the name fitted perfectly with what I was trying to achieve and what I want children to achieve from Sport. Catching a healthy bug like sport seemed perfect in today's society of video games and supposed child obesity.

Where did Sports Bug Start?

Activities took place at a small community centre hall called the Bernie Centre in the parish of St Martin. The first term started in January 1997 with about 50 children and half a dozen sessions and by the second term after the word had spread about a sports coach who had slightly lost his marbles by trying to teach 2 year olds sports, the numbers by the second term in the April had reached over 200.

We haven't looked back since.

At that time activities were only on offer to 2 to 7 year olds in the form of the activity we know today as Skills Bug. Because to my knowledge this type of activity had never been attempted on this scale before I set about trying to develop my own co-ordination system by armed with the knowledge I already gathered though coaching tennis to children over 10 years.

Who was the very first person to come through the door?

The first child to participate at Hot Shot was a boy called Andre Turmel who was 2 years old at the time. I remember it well, he came in with his Mum Faye and the rest of the class were late so he started by himself. I remember Andre was very good and naturally co-ordinated and is now a top Jersey Gymnast and soon off to the Commonwealth Games.

I was understandably nervous because not only was this all new to me but I was taking a huge gamble by giving up a coaching position at the Caesarean tennis club where I had been established for 7 years, to do something that wasn't guaranteed to work out.

How long did it take to develop the Original Skills Bug Activity?

I believe that you can never say that it's ever totally finished because like anything you are always learning and discovering new things that can help it improve. All I can say is we do have a great system which is totally unique to Sports Bug and one of the reasons why we are now seeing success from those who started in the early days. (see success stories)

What is the concept behind the original Sports Bug Activity now called Skills Bug?

It's quite straight forward in that research has shown that to produce world class sports men and women you have to introduce young children to co-ordination skills and activities before the age of about 7 but the earlier the better.

By getting children to repeat certain movement patterns, what you are doing is building their muscle memory for the future so that eventually things become second nature and the child does a skill without thinking about it, a bit like a knee jerk reaction.

It's all about building solid foundations for Sport by developing things like co-ordination, movement and timing through performing certain activities. You could compare it to building a house where you wouldn't dream of building on dodgy foundations would you?

What prompted you to add more activities to Sports Bug?

It was a natural progression really and also through popular demand that we started to offer other activities at Sports Bug. For years I would recommend people to take their children to other organisations once they had reached the age of seven.

People would say to me 'But we don't really want to go there, we want to stay at Sports Bug. Can't you start something?' Also I started to hear stories of children leaving us and going to other places and not being happy with the treatment they received. Sadly some were even put off sport altogether! Shameful!

Tennis Bug was the first activity that we offered for 4 to eleven year olds and it was funny to see some old faces coming back aged 8 to 10 after having left us at the age of 6 or seven.

Soccer Bug was next closely followed by Cricket and Hockey Bug. Problems with venue times and availability of qualified coaches has meant that Hockey Bug is 'on hold' for now but will hopefully resume in the near future.

Table Tennis Bug is also a superb activity run by the Development officer Craig Gascoyne that has been on hold due to Graig's other commitments but hopefully we can resume it shortly.

What other activities are popular at Sports Bug?

As well as increasing the age range I also decreased it to start Baby Bug which is a brilliant way to introduce little ones to activity. The other coaches always used to say that you can tell the children who had done the Skills Bug activity because of their co-ordination skills.

Because Baby Bug has been going for 3 years now there are children coming through from Baby Bug who you can definitely say have an edge about them and I am convinced it is because they have been introduced to the system earlier. Things are becoming second nature at an earlier stage.

What advise would you give to parents wanting to get their children into sport?

Play with your child but don't push or force them into sport. I have seen a lot of parents in my time who get very frustrated with their children who may appear not to be interested in sport or physical activity at first.

Children need time to make up their own minds what they want to do so let them chill out and be kids whilst they can. So if they get side tracked or don't appear to have much concentration for sport, that's OK because it's normal and they will develop things like concentration as they get older.

If your child seems uninterested, stay with it, be cool, don't expect too much from them and encourage them to persevere by giving them the encourage they need.

How do you keep young Children motivated in the sessions?

I'm not going to give all my secrets away here but basically to teach any body anything one has to develop a trust and respect with in this case children you are trying to teach.

Next the activities have to be fun and varied and delivered by someone who is passionate about sport, has boundless energy and enthusiasm, is over encouraging and has a real burning desire to help children improve.

How important has it been to get the right type of coaches?

Choosing the right coaches and helpers is key and the main reason why a lot of Sports Activity Clubs fail. Choosing coaches and helpers can literally mean the difference between success and failure but luckily we continue to find the right people to work at Sports Bug. It hasn't always been easy getting the right people on board and unfortunately without mentioning any names I have made a couple of bad choices in the past which could have dented our reputation.

Is there a knack to choosing good coaches and helpers?

In a way there is and it's down to experience as far as what you are looking for in a person. Call it instinct or what you like but I can tell within about 30 seconds of talking to someone whether they might be right for Sports Bug or not.

If I think they will add something to Sports Bug then after they have passed a police check and healthy person check I invite them to work with an experienced qualified coach who will show them the ropes as far as motivating children is concerned. It is then up to them to prove themselves to me and show their commitment to Sports Bug.

It's really weird but most of my present coaches and helpers are made up of people who used to do Hot Shots when they were about 3 to 5 years old. It's great because they have been through the system and experienced what it's like to be a child doing the activities so the can empathise with them.

Fantastic people like Jonny Hickling, Joshua Renouf, Charlie Payn, Alex Noel and Danny Cutland all did Skills Bug when they were younger and now they work for me. How bizarre is that?

At the end of the day what I want is for the children who attend the sessions to be happy and to continue to come back to us term after term and year after year as many do! That will only happen if the coaches and helpers are caring, encouraging towards the children and enthusiastic and passionate about what they are doing!

Where does Sports Bug Go from here?

As far as I'm concerned Sports Bug still has a lot to offer and will continue to grow and never stand still. Although competition is always a healthy thing I don't think it is a good idea to concentrate too much on what other organisations are doing but rather put our energy into focusing on what we are doing.

Above alI want is for Sports Bug to continue to develop and grow and provide a good service for children everywhere to enjoy. Also although Sports Bug has been going such along time now I never want to become complacent.

I will say that there are a few surprises coming up in the not so distant future, so watch this space!