Soccajoeys is expanding, not just across Australia, but internationally. The Aussie-born business is building on its considerable success so far, extending its early learning soccer-based concept to new regions.

The numbers are impressive: since launching in 2007 more than one million children have joined Soccajoeys classes, and each term there are more than 26,000 kids participating.

When founder Stacy Alogdellis matched his passion for football with a love of early childhood education, he created a winning concept. When he developed the franchise model, it enabled sports and educational enthusiasts to tap into the brand’s success.

Soccajoeys has 41 franchisees across Australia, and between them they operate in more than 300 locations.

Sold out territories, new opportunities

High demand for Soccajoeys’ particular blend of early education and football means territories are sold out in the brand’s home base of New South Wales, as well as Victoria and South Australia. 

However, keen franchise buyers can snap up opportunities around the country. The Soccajoeys footprint is about to double in Queensland with two more territories set to launch early 2025, leaving just eight more areas available in the Brisbane area.

Soccajoeys is not yet in Tasmania, and only recently introduced to Western Australia. Earlier this year Stacy signed a master franchisee for Perth to develop the brand in the west.

“Our master franchisee is an ex-Melbourne franchisee who owned two high-performing territories there. He and his wife, who is from Perth, made a sea-change, relocating for a beach lifestyle.

“His experience over two years in Victoria makes him a perfect fit to head up operations in Perth,” Stacy says.

Soccajoeys international launch

With WA growth now underway, Stacy’s focus is on extending the brand overseas. New Zealand is the next untapped market.

“Growth into New Zealand is key for us,” Stacy says. “We are in discussions now with potential franchise partners,” he reveals.

Soccajoeys has geotargeted Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to find the right franchisee to launch the business.

And expansion into the Middle East may not be far behind. Since Saudi Arabia boosted its football presence, attracting global superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo to its league, there is a lot of hype around the sport, Stacy says.

The United Arab Emirates is another strategic growth location. A strong expat community makes both of these areas perfect for the Soccajoeys brand.

The model has been proven in another expat city, Singapore, where the solo franchisee has operated successfully for three years.

Scaling the business

For Soccajoeys to step up to launch in international markets requires excellent structures and systems.

“Over the years we’ve streamlined operations and support, we have a robust infrastructure, and have heavily invested in an educational portal with training modules and videos” Stacy explains. 

“That allows us to scale across Australia and internationally; we invested strategically so we can achieve growth into overseas markets.”

Stacy is “very confident” in establishing both New Zealand and a market in the Middle East mid-2025.

“We will have our operations and support team there for the initial training and launch,” he says.

Former football pro and Soccajoeys’ first franchisee, Jose Bello, leads operations and he’s on the frontline, delivering the training for new franchisees.

While the sports and education space has become more competitive, the business model enables franchisees to grow and maximise their profits.

Franchisees sign up to large territories which gives them access to multiple schools and childcare centres. Initially franchisees start with the best-selling programs: the three to five, and six to eight year old classes, and a daycare centre model. 

“The early childhood space is our key point of difference,” Stacy says. “We’re not just about soccer. Our core program is the two-to-five age group.”

From a one man operation 17 years ago, Soccajoeys now has 11 staff in the head office team, which includes admin, marketing and operations.

“We are well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory in Australia and take Soccajoeys overseas,” Stacy says.