Little Kickers - thoughts please??

[ParkHallFC]

Does anybody have any thoughts on Little Kickers....? I have heard very diverse opinions on whether it is any good....have heard stories of bad organisation, bullying for payment, no kit supplied etc. etc...any advice gratefully received.

[Otta]

I think it will very much depend on who owns the local franchise. My mate used to work locally (5 years back), and it was very popular. He then moved up north and bought a franchise up there. The guy who owned the local franchise at that time was not known for his fine organisational skills, and ended up owing money to venues and stuff. No idea if he's still doing it in the ED area.

[DuncanW]

My boy has gone to Little Kickers for about three years now and it's been excellent. Don't recognise any of the negative opinions that you cite.

He goes to the class at Haberdasher Askes in Nunhead, so if you're looking at the West Dulwich classes there may be some difference, but these groups are run by the same franchisee so wouldn't expect too much difference.

[Pickle]

We went in West Dulwich for a couple of years. The kids loved it.

The admin side (at the time, this was a few years ago now) was dire - I got the distinct feeling it was pen and paper driven rather than automated. We went on holiday and put our membership on hold, then, understandably, went on a waiting list to get back into a class. Despite chasing, we never got a place, and our kids then started school and were too old. I never got a refund of our remaining classes.

The classes themselves are quite structured, which suits some, but not all.

[ParkHallFC]

Thank you all for responding - very interesting.

[chriscampbell]

@Pickle - That's interesting that it comes across as that, I know for a fact that it's all automated, the woman that set it up used to be in a big IT firm, and built the system that all the bookings etc are run on! I know what you mean though, it's a bit clunky.

Classes are fairly good - I also go to the Nunhead one at Haberdasher's - it's a bit samey after a while (been doing it for... 6 months?), reasonably structured, but it's tough for the 18m+ class to hold their attention. Met some nice people through it, the boy seems to enjoy the class. We're tossing up whether we're going to renew in March - it's ?100+ for 13 weeks, which is a lot at the moment.

[Ellie78]

we're thinking of signing up....

But what do they do in the rain? We've got waterproofs etc but some days it would just be miserable outside... can't see anything on their website but maybe have missed something...

[Strawbs]

We are on the waiting list for the nunhead class so can't really say but a year ago we did a trial about a year ago when my son was 18m, it was too structured for him then but am hoping now he will be up for it. It was indoors then, I am assuming it is still.

[Pickle]

Ellie78, Little Kickers classes are all indoors :)

[simonethebeaver]

Baby Booters at JAGS is good fun, and you pay ?4.50 a session. I don't know how they compare for content, but might be worth trying out.

[Susan]

Second for Baby Booters - the teacher is great fun and excellent with the kids, I dont know how he keeps that many small children (and Adults) in line!

[Ellie78]

Ha - hilarious!

Completely thought that they were all outside....

[Ellie78]

Bumping this, as we've just been offered a place. Any experience to share with the Nunhead class?

My son is 2.3. I wonder whether the routine of structured weekend activities is a good one for a boy his age....He's at nursery 5 days a week and maybe this is a step too far.

[njc97]

We used to do the Nunhead class - coach Sophie is particularly good with little ones. We started at 2, when they need quite a lot of encouragement/hand holding to join in (now nearly 6 and doing little rugby instead!). I'm not sure they see it as routine, it's just another (fun) thing to do.

[DuncanW]

We do the Nunhead class and think it's great. Our son (approaching six) has been doing it since he was two and his little sister (2 1/2)is also going now. They both really enjoy it.

They run two classes concurrently and the coaches are great on both streams.

ETA Rereading the thread - to clarify an earlier question, LK Nunhead have indoor and outdoor facilities.

[Ellie78]

Thanks for your thoughts. Sounds a nice group.