What Scottish Athletics does

Scottish Athletics is the national governing body for athletics in Scotland, formed in 1992 through the merger of four predecessor organizations and headquartered in Glasgow. It operates as a non-profit membership organization with 34 staff (27 full-time, 7 part-time), governed by a Board elected annually at the AGM by affiliated clubs. The organization serves athletes (recreational to elite/Olympic), coaches, officials, athletics clubs, and recreational runners, delivering the full sport governance stack: competition licensing, championship organization, coach and official education and qualification pathways, athlete development from grassroots through to Commonwealth/World/Olympic selection, and welfare/safeguarding oversight.

Its core technology is the JustGo CRM platform, introduced in May 2025 to replace the legacy membership system and handle member registration, event entries, licence applications, and direct debit payments via GoCardless integration. Supplementary digital infrastructure includes the Actify e-learning platform for mental health awareness training. Product breadth spans event series (Lindsays Cross Country Season, Road Race Grand Prix, Cross Country Grand Prix, Junior Hill League, 4J Awards, Lindsays Trophy), development programs (Performance Development, Para Athletics, Athletics@Home, Run Jump Throw, LET'S GO club development, ATS Young People's Forum), and jogscotland — the recreational running sub-brand operating across 75 groups in 26 local authorities.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Scottish Athletics is funded primarily through sportscotland (the Scottish government agency for sport) with diversified secondary revenue from annual membership subscriptions, event entry and licensing fees, kit licensing/royalty via the 10+ year Joma partnership, and commercial sponsorship (Lindsays for the cross country season). Strategic partnerships with British Athletics (UK NGB), Commonwealth Games Scotland, Team Scotland, and SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health, since 2017) anchor its ecosystem positioning. The customer base is broadly distributed across individual members, affiliated clubs, jogscotland groups, and educational institutions (e.g., Aberdeen University Medical Students), with no material concentration risk at the member or club level.

Name

Scottish Athletics

Legal name

Scottish Athletics

Website

https://scottishathletics.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Scottish Athletics is the national governing body for athletics in Scotland, operating as a non-profit membership organization that serves athletes, coaches, officials, and clubs through competition licensing, coach education, event management, and development pathways from grassroots to elite, with jogscotland as its recreational running arm.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Governance and Athletics Federation

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620), Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Amateur Sport Governing Bodies & Federations (National/Regional) (MPAKACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disability & Adaptive Sport Governing Bodies (Paralympic & Sport-Specific) (MPAKAFAL), Road Running Events (Marathons, Half Marathons, 10K/5K) (MPAKAIAA), Amateur & Grassroots Sport Associations (Community/Youth Governing Orgs) (MPAKAFAF)

Keywords

• National athletics governing body
• Membership services
• Event licensing
• Coach education
• Recreational running programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Annual membership fees for athletes, coaches, officials, and recreational runners. Members receive benefits including eligibility to compete in championships, public liability insurance (£20 million cover), £2 discount on entry fees for licensed races, and access to JustGo portal.
2. Event entry fees: Revenue from entries to track and field events, cross country, road races, and other licensed athletics competitions organized by scottishathletics.
3. Kit partnership: Joma kit partnership extended beyond 10 years, providing official athletics kit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Scottish Athletics is the national governing body for athletics in Scotland, overseeing track and field, cross country, road running, and hill running. It manages annual memberships for athletes, coaches, officials, and recreational runners, licenses and organizes competitive events, and delivers coach and official education pathways. Its recreational arm jogscotland supports grassroots running through local groups in partnership with SAMH for mental health.

Product overview

Scottish Athletics operates as the national governing body for athletics in Scotland, managing a comprehensive platform of products and services. The core offering includes the JustGo online membership and event management system, with the recreational running arm jogscotland. The organization delivers multiple event series including the Lindsays Cross Country Season, Road Race Grand Prix, Cross Country Grand Prix, Junior Hill League, and Cross Country Team Challenge. Supporting infrastructure includes coach education qualifications (Coaching Assistant through Event Group Coach), officials training (Level 1-4 qualifications across track, field, endurance disciplines), club support programs (Club Finder, LET'S GO, ATS Young People's Forum), and athlete development pathways (Performance Development, Commonwealth Games selection). The JustGo CRM system integrates GoCardless for payment processing, while e-learning for mental health initiatives is delivered through Actify platform integration with SAMH.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• jogscotland: The recreational running arm of scottishathletics, encouraging people of all abilities to get active and embrace jogging and running as a central part of lifestyle.

Products and services

• JustGo Membership and Event Management System
• jogscotland
• Lindsays Cross Country Season
• Road Race Grand Prix
• Cross Country Grand Prix
• Coach Education and Qualifications
• Officials Qualifications and Training
• Performance Development Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 1800 jogscotland jog leaders completed mental health awareness training with SAMH
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• JomacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 July 2026Official kit partnership for scottishathletics. Contract extension announced July 2026 takes the partnership beyond 10 years.
• SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership since 2017 to promote mental health benefits of physical activity. jogscotland went into partnership with SAMH to promote mental health benefits of jogging and running. Successes include 1800 jog leaders completing mental health awareness training, I'm here campaign with 140 jog leaders taking the pledge, Community Strides and Jogability projects, and becoming one of the first signatories to Scotland's Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport. Partnership extended into officials workforce in 2025.
• sportscotlandcoreOthersGovernment agency for Scottish sport, affiliate of scottishathletics
• British AthleticscoreOthersUK national governing body for athletics, affiliate of scottishathletics
• Commonwealth Games ScotlandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResponsible for Scotland's participation in Commonwealth Games, affiliated organization
• Team ScotlandmajorOthersScotland's Commonwealth Games team organization, affiliated
• JustGocoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline CRM system provider introduced in May 2025 for membership management, event entries, licence applications, and member communications
• LindsaysmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Lindsays Cross Country Season and Lindsays National XC Championships

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• parkrun: Free, weekly mass-participation 5k events that compete for the same recreational runners that jogscotland seeks to attract. Operates in Scotland with dozens of events, representing both a participation funnel and a structural threat to paid athletics membership.

Broad incumbents

• British Athletics: UK-wide governing body for athletics that sits above Scottish Athletics in the governance hierarchy and coordinates international representation. Comparable in function at a larger geographic scope, with shared pathways to Olympics, Worlds, and Commonwealth Games.
• UK Athletics: National governing body for athletics across the UK and direct umbrella organisation of which Scottish Athletics is an affiliate. Operates the same sport with similar functions (membership, events, performance pathways), but at greater scale and with broader scope across England and Wales.
• Scottish Swimming: Another Scottish national governing body funded by sportscotland with a comparable membership, event-licensing, and athlete-development model. Useful comparator for funding structure, headcount, and revenue scale within the Scottish sport ecosystem.

Others

• sportscotland: Scottish Government national agency for sport and the primary funder of Scottish Athletics. Not a competitor but the core counterparty that determines grant levels, policy priorities, and participation targets.

Regional players

• Athletics Ireland: National governing body for athletics in Ireland, operating the same athletics disciplines with affiliated clubs, coach education, and national championships. Closest cross-border analogue, though serving a separate jurisdiction and membership base.

Direct peers

• England Athletics: National governing body for athletics in England, with near-identical mission, structure, and revenue model (membership, event licensing, coach education, recreational running programmes). Closest functional peer to Scottish Athletics.
• Athletics Wales: National governing body for athletics in Wales, structurally analogous to Scottish Athletics as a sub-national NGB within the UK Athletics umbrella. Operates the same membership, events, coaching, and official pathways at a similar sub-national scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/scotathletics
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/scottishathletics
• Facebookfacebook.com/scottishathletics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scottish-athletics/?originalSubdomain=uk
• Instagraminstagram.com/scottishathletics/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scottish Athletics