Last week the first-ever FA Coaching Scholarship was launched at Soho Square. This scholarship has asked 20 local mentors to help selected Young Leaders become a better, or more qualified coach.

One of these 26 young coaches who hopes to benefit from this maiden programme is 18-year-old Stuart Brown from Loughborough.

Stuart is a Level 2-qualified coach and hopes to one day coach in the professional game. Although he knows he has a long way to go he is hoping this FA initiative will help him realise his dream.

"It’s quite a prestigious scheme to be a part of," he said, "and I'm hoping to take as much from it as I can.

"I want to take my coaching to the next level - at semi-professional level at least. I realise the Level 3 Coaching badge will be a lot more difficult than the Level 2, but everything I learn from my mentor will be geared towards that goal."

Each scholar is entitled to three personal mentoring sessions and a £250 bursary to help fund further qualifications. All mentors are either a full-time FA Skills Coach or a member of The FA's National Faculty, a team of educators who support the development of coaches.

Stuart’s mentor is John Heathcote, a member of the National Faculty, but more interestingly, John is also a PE teacher at Burleigh Community College where Stuart is a student.

"It’s great to have John as my mentor, because I’ve already got quite a good relationship with him," continued Stuart, who is currently coaching at Loughborough Dynamo. "John has a lot of knowledge about football and sport in general, so it’ll be really good to learn from him."

As this Scholarship is in its infancy, these 26 young people are the first set of coaches to experience this unique opportunity. Consequently, The FA have asked them to help shape the course and will continually seek their feedback. Stuart has his own ideas of what direction he’d like the Scholarship to go in.

"I’d obviously love to coach at the top level and to have the opportunity to shadow someone like Stuart Pearce or John Peacock would be fantastic," he admitted.

"To see what sets them apart from all other coaches in the country would really benefit any coach, let alone young coaches just getting into the game.

"We know that things are being built around us and we are sort of the guinea pigs, but hopefully if Donna [McIvor, The FA's National Football Development Manager for Education] thinks it’s relevant to the course, then there might be an opportunity to do something like that."

The 26 coaches showed promise on The FA Leadership & Volunteering programme and were hand-picked to further their development within this year-long scholarship. If John can assist Stuart in becoming a better coach, regardless of the level of football, it will have certainly been a success.