MY STORY

THE EARLY YEARS

As the youngest of four boys, sport has always been a big part of Peter Nikolakopoulos’ life. The brothers played cricket, tennis, football and AFL. They would spend hours at the park, playing until they were called home for dinner. 

In 1978, Peter’s dad took him along to join the South Melbourne Hellas Football Club. Peter was 7-years-old and this sparked a lifelong passion for the sport.

“At that stage they didn’t have a team for my age group so I had to play in the under 11s. I’d always played with my older brothers and that, combined with my experience of playing in the under 11s team, made me a better player.

“I have great memories of my dad taking me to training and playing on a Sunday. I was also a ball boy for the senior team. You couldn’t ask for a better way to fall in love with the game. As a young boy on that field, it was my dream to one day play with the Hellas jersey for the senior team.”

In 1991, he achieved that dream. 

DISCOVERING MY PASSION

A year later, Peter found himself on the other side of the world studying at Coastal Carolina University in the USA on a full athletic scholarship. Alongside playing football, he discovered another passion through his studies – business.

“When I came back to Melbourne I started to play in the Victorian Premier League again. But I knew that football wouldn’t be able to provide me with a livelihood.”

So, Peter made his first foray into the world of business, turning his hobby of DJing into a side hustle along with a marketing events business, Big Man Promotions. This all led to him venturing into the world of hospitality.

“When I was 25-years-old I bought a really old rundown pub. Every cent I made, I invested in the pub. I was working 80-90 hours a week doing everything from changing kegs to painting walls, DJing and managing rowdy patrons.

“I renovated the pub and it became very successful. So much so that Lion Nathan eventually purchased the pub from me. By that stage I also owned other bars, cafes and restaurants. I spent 10 years growing successful venues and then selling them.”

Through his hospitality years, Peter also entered into a joint venture with Sanity Music. He ran the popular Sain Bar as well as the events division – Sanity Entertainment – managing all-age events right across Australia. 

BECOMING A WORLD CHAMPION

Football was still a part of Peter’s life, but it was secondary to owning a business. Eventually he stopped playing and instead started coaching. But life has a funny way of working, and in 2002, Peter found himself representing Australia in the Hyundai Football five-a-side World Championship in Korea. His team won in a penalty shoot-out in the finals – Peter was now a World Champion. The experience sparked a new fire within Peter as he realised that his passion and calling in life is coaching and development.

“When I returned to Australia, I started coaching one kid. The demand quickly grew from all over Melbourne. The reality is, I was burnt out and wanted to step away from hospitality, so I started to grow my coaching business”

It was four years later, in 2006 that the game changed for Peter. He flew to Germany for the FIFA World Cup and while he was there he found clarity on his vision for coaching.

“I took a leap of faith, sold out of hospitality and focused on growing my new business idea. Everyone questioned what I was doing but I knew this was the right path for me to follow. I went through a two year process to build my brand, vision, systems and processes. The reason my brand has grown so much today is because I made that early investment in laying solid foundations.”

All the hard work paid off and in 2011, Peter sold his first Football Star Academy franchise. 

“From the outset, I was clear that I wanted to build a business that I could work full-time in but also build a brand that others could be part of. I chose the franchise model because it’s systematic. Every franchise partner has use of the brand and has systems and processes to follow for consistency.

I quickly built momentum. Once coaches could see the benefit, they wanted to be part of what we were building.”

The next challenge Peter faced was taking Football Star Academy national. So, Peter did what he does best. He drew on his wealth of business and events experience. Within 10 years, there was a Football Star Academy in every state in Australia. 

LOOKING FORWARDS

“Now, under the umbrella of the Sport Star Academy, I have expanded from football to have programs for basketball, AFL footy, tennis, netball, volleyball, athletics, rugby, golf, cricket and Soccer Time Kids. We are partnering with Shane Warne on the cricket program and have big goals to reach 100 franchise partners within 12 months. I’m also in talks with other sports stars to come on board as ambassadors.

”I know that we can go bigger and do more than sport. I’m now also investing in growing The Allstars Academy. Across the overarching brand we are focused on a number of areas. These are sports, wellbeing, arts, gaming & esports, education and STEM. 

“I’m not only interested in what is happening today but also in looking at tomorrow and the future. I’m continually thinking about options to evolve the brand and provide more opportunities for the kids as well as our franchise partners.”

FAMILY

Peter is so much more than a football coach or a business leader. He believes that the work he is doing is his purpose. And that is to create a movement of change for tomorrow’s grassroots leaders. 

“I work on three key pillars – learn, lead and grow. Learn is about teaching kids life skills and resilience. They also need skills and discipline to succeed. Lead is about our franchise and business partners, coaches and mentors. They are our community heroes. Finally, grow is about helping kids grow and develop into good human beings.

Today’s kids are completely different to past generations. Parents are more time poor and society has changed to a point where we aren’t comfortable sending our kids to the park by themselves for the whole day. But being active is really important for their development.”

Peter is married with two kids. He works alongside his wife Kelly and loves to encourage his children, Mia aged 7 and Nikolas aged 6, to try their hand at lots of different sports. As a family they live and breathe the values that Peter has created over many years of building the Football Star Academy, Sport Star Academy and now The AllStars Academy. 

His plans for the future are bold, but Peter has shown determination and grit to get him where he is today. That is the same attitude he is taking into the future as he continues to grow his brand and fulfill his purpose.