Currently residing in Western Australia, former Premier League footballer Aaron Tighe has recently launched the One2Pro app, providing footballers of all ages with an innovative skills-based program to challenge themselves.
Tighe had stints at Luton Town and Leicester City before his career ended through injury at the young age of 22, before eventually moving into coaching.
After coaching youth players in the UK, he moved to Australia and ultimately set up his own skills academy down under.
Tighe’s academy looked to improve the individual skills of players through a specialised program and after running it for around 20 years, he looked to technology to expand the program to a wider audience.
“About 4 years ago I was listening to an interview with Tony Robbins and he just mentioned if you are doing something really good and it’s offering some good support to people, think about how you can spread it to more people, to give more value,” Tighe told Soccerscene.
“That was when the idea came into my head to put the program, that I have been doing for 20 odd years, into a mobile phone app.”
The app provides users with 92 professional skills and techniques to master through 12 modules, with detailed video instructions provided.
What sets the app apart from others on the market however, is the specialised feedback you receive from professional coaches to help footballers improve their ability.
“The unique difference to the app is that you actually get to work with a physical coach,” Tighe said.
“On a lot of the apps out there, when you look at the reviews, they are very much – download the app, here’s the content, follow the instructions and off you go.
“I thought what would be different and unique would be for the user to watch the videos for the instructions of the skills, but then they upload their own video of them doing those skills and pass them on to an actual coach.
“The coach will then comment back, score your efforts through a medal system (bronze, silver and gold) and guide you through the program.
“It’s a very effective one-on-one coaching program.”
Tighe, as a youngster, imagined developing his own skills with the close assistance from a professional player, and this became a major motivation in creating an app for the next generation.
“One of the reasons why I developed the app was I remember as a kid myself playing on the street with your mates and imagining a professional footballer or coach coming down to the local park or street to teach us some skills,” he said.
“I thought to myself It’s impossible to go physically everywhere, so the app would be the best thing.”
The One2Pro app has only been on the market since earlier this year, however, it has garnered a following from regions all across the world.
“We’ve had a lot of take up in the US, Australia, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Africa and even the Middle East,” Tighe said.
“It’s very exciting to see this thing hit different corners of the world and see players use it from all over the globe.”
Due to its popularity, Tighe has received constant feedback from users who continue to use the app to improve their skillsets.
“They’ve said It’s simple to use, they find the skills challenging and interesting to learn,” he said.
“A big one for me is they have improved their confidence. The players will turn around and say I got the feedback and it’s given me more confidence in my ability to master the skill.”
Although the app is relatively new, Tighe does have plans to expand it in the future and may look to use the established template for other sports.
“Ultimately what I’d love to do first is expand this out to schools and clubs where they can work with their own coaches if they want to,” he said.
“In the future I would also like to investigate whether I could use a similar formula for any sport or discipline, whether tennis or cricket.”
For more information and to download the One2Pro app, visit the company’s website here: https://www.one2pro.com
