June 9, 2021
South Tyneside College have been successful with a program to provide an amazing opportunity for learners to gain the skills, knowledge and experience to lead in football coaching in the area.
Working in partnership with the English Colleges FA (ECFA) four students have been selected as part of a new coaching academy to lead the growth of the game in South Tyneside through their Development Fund.
Dan Greenwood, National Football Development Officer at ECFA, said:
We launched the ECFA Development Fund this academic year to encourage colleges to deliver innovative projects in collaboration with local partners that develop football in further education and their local community. The funding for these projects is provided on behalf of The Football Association and aligns to the strategic objectives of the new ‘Time for Change’ strategy. South Tyneside College have been successful in applying to deliver a project that demonstrates a new approach to developing young leaders and football across communities that face socio-economic barriers to accessing football. We are excited to see how the project progresses and are looking forward to supporting the college to developing these young leaders and the communities that they engage with.
James Leggett, Georgia Thompson, Luke Miles and Maddison Laverick will go through a coaching journey that enables them to work with community organisations and develop their experience in several settings. The learners were involved in an application process and showed a desire to push themselves out of any comfort zone and embrace the challenges of growing the game across disability, female and those that would not normally access football provision.
Georgia, 17, said:
I was really looking forward to the opportunities and qualifications you get from this new role. I hope to achieve a career in coaching in the future after completing my college course. By being involved in this project I hope that I have gained a lot of experience and increased my coaching skills.
James Leggett, 18, said:
My ambition is to become either a PE teacher or a sports coach and by taking part in this I want to have finished my FA Level 1 and 2 which will provide me with plenty of coaching practice and a better understanding of the role. Being involved in this program will help me in the future when looking to get involved in the leisure industry
The community aspect of the project will work with the local voluntary sector such as Ocean Road Community Association (ORCA), PRS Services, Bilton Hall and many more. The learners will have a tailored self-development package that includes specific football development, but also the wider health determinants to give them the best opportunity at increasing participation.
Craig Robson, Sport Development Manager, said:
This is a brilliant opportunity to give learners an experience that they potentially would not have been able to access, but also have a huge impact in our community providing opportunities to play football after what has been a stop-start year. I’m grateful to the ECFA for selecting the project and looking forward to seeing how things progress over the next couple of years.
For more information about the project at South Tyneside College please contact chris.reay@tynecoast.ac.uk.
