TWO sporting enthusiasts have turned their love of sport into a business by launching a new website that aims to link up coaches in Wiltshire with potential clients.

Matt Jarosy from Box and Charlie Scott from Bradford on Avon, both 23 first came up with the concept of Ludius only a few short months ago but since then have dedicated their time to creating the online platform – something which they believe is one of the first in the country to cut across all sports on one site and for free.

The pair, who have known each other since they were five, both studied sports at university which inspired the networking website.

Mr Scott said: “The idea for Ludius first came about through frustration because we realised how difficult it was to find coaches in the area. We have been really focussed in creating the website in Wiltshire because we have our roots here and so we wanted to let the website grow organically from where we call home.”

The friends said they hope Ludius will increase participation and enjoyment of sports allowing anyone involved in any type of sport from football to tennis, rugby to swimming to profile themselves in their local area.

After almost a year of market research with coaches, clients and sporting fans across the country, Ludius went live earlier this month.

As part of the new website is a feature called Ludiuslive which they pair believes gives them an unique selling point to potential users.

Mr Scott said: “Having spoken to players of all abilities and backgrounds, there seemed to be a reoccurring problem of finding a like-minded sportsperson to play with at a certain time. Ludiuslive allows users to post a tailored sport request into the Ludius community.

“The request includes what sport you want to play, when, where and at what ability. This means you can always find someone to play sport with, whether it is high standard football on a Sunday morning or recreational level tennis on a weekday afternoon.”

The innovative approach has even landed the pair winning the Goldsmiths Enterprise Award by Goldsmiths University of London.

As an added bonus for coaches looking to promote themselves further, for a small fee, they can create a coach profile which allows them to upload their qualifications, list their previous coaching experience, and with one click users can book, enquire and review feedback on every coach.

For more information, visit: www.ludius.co.uk