Two of the countries top Youth Coaching Instructors, Steve Rutter and Dave Puckett, accompanied by International Development Manager Ben Seeley travelled to Malawi for the week long course.

Over 30 regional youth coaches from across Malawi participated on the course, which covered topics including player development and ensuring suitable learning environments.

FA course coach Steve Rutter said "The attitude of the candidates on our course was one of the best I’ve ever worked with and the delegates competence improved significantly over the course of the week.

"We had to adapt our course from what we would normally run in England to match local needs and the resources the coaches would have at their disposal in their own villages."

The course was run as part of the UEFA-CAF Meridian project which, since 1997, has partnered UEFA member countries with African National associations. The FA works with Botswana, Malawi and Lesotho and details of our work there can be found through the links at the bottom of the page.

The course was run simultaneously with two other workshops. Representatives from the BBC World Service ran a course on broadcast techniques for local radio partners and the charity organisation Kicking AIDS Out (http://www.kickingaidsout.net/) which uses sport and physical activities to build awareness about HIV/AIDS through educational games and activities.

The three separate courses culminated in a mini-football festival on the last day. The coaches employed what they had learnt on the FA course by organising over 60 children into teams, with each child receiving a shirt and goody bag.

The tournament was split into two age groups, and teams that were in between games were interviewed by the BBC course delegates or participated in the ‘Kicking AIDS Out’ activities.

For more information on the FA’s work abroad please see the link below or contact Ben Seeley, International Development Manager at ben.seeley@thefa.com

See Dave Puckett’s Saints Academy report by clicking here.