A helping hand

Twenty-six young coaches were invited to Soho Square on 19 March for the launch of the inaugural FA Coaching Scholarship.

The aim of this year-long scholarship is to maximise the potential demonstrated by the coaches during The FA Leadership & Volunteering programme, from which they were selected.

In order to achieve this each coach is to be provided with a local mentor, either a full-time FA Tesco Skills Coach or a member of The FA National Faculty, who will be on-hand to offer advice and guidance.

Each scholar will receive a minimum of three personal mentoring sessions and will also receive a £250 bursary to support them with any further qualifications.

As this programme is in its maiden year, feedback from the 26 coaches was welcomed and during the launch they were given an opportunity to shape the scholarship towards their collective need. They met with their mentor to explain what they wanted to achieve in the next 12 months and how they wanted to be supported once the scheme comes to an end.

They were also treated to a Q&A session with the England U17 Head Coach and The FA’s Head of Coaching, John Peacock, who is excited by the potential of this scholarship.

"This is a fantastic scheme," he said. "You do need support as a young coach and this support framework is a major part of our coaching strategy.

"Having an experienced coach to mentor and support these Young Leaders is a great way for us to create better coaches and over time this will ultimately create better players."

Peacock’s sentiments were echoed by Donna McIvor, The FA National Football Development Manager for Education, who hosted the launch at FA Headquarters.

"It was great to have so many Young Leaders in one room," she said. "This is the beginning of an exciting journey for them, and us, and we hope they can make the most of this opportunity."

There are 20 mentors in total, 13 Skills Coaches and 7 National Faculty Managers, and they have been asked to achieve the following:

• inspire their scholar to be the best they want to be
• provide them with new knowledge and the understanding of how to apply it
• help them to learn how to apply these new skills
• give them something new to try
• provide them with an opportunity to reflect
• get them to think about the skills and attributes of an effective learner/coach
• allow them to make mistakes and encourage them not to be worried about doing so.

England Women's Head Coach Hope Powell is an ambassador for the programme and she too is looking forward to this scholarship producing better coaches:

"This programme is something I am very passionate about," she admitted.

"It brings real value to today’s young and gifted coaches, helping them with training and the costs of being dedicated to football, and gives them the opportunity to focus more on achievement and nurturing their talent as a coach."