Four young and ambitious coaches graduated from The FA’s Elite Coach Menteeship Programme on Thursday at a ceremony held at St. George’s Park.
Sarah Lowden, Ryan Semple, Katie Quinlan, and Rajab Noor were awarded their certificates by programme lead Wayne Allison.
On an evening hosted by broadcaster Damian Johnson, each graduate spoke about their respective journeys before sitting down to watch England take on Belgium with fellow guests.
The group spent the last 12 months navigating their way through a bespoke programme of England youth team camps, County FA initiatives, supporting both the youth and national coach developer teams, as well as attending UEFA study visits, learning a foreign language and LMA Masterclass events.
Semple now begins his exciting new role in Manchester City’s academy as their U15s coach while Lowden is set to take up a post at Reading, working with the Royals’ development sides.
They also visited Madrid, swapping The FA’s national football centre for Spain’s equivalent.
Check out their stories in the following links:
Katie's journey
Rajab's journey.
Sarah's journey.
Ryan's journey.
The FA’s Coach Inclusion and Diversity Manager, Dr Allison, said: “When we welcomed Sarah, Ryan, Kate and Rajab onto the programme, our aim was clear – to expose them to experiences that would equip them with new skills and confidence to progress their journeys along whatever route they wished.
“Back in the selection process, they all demonstrated qualities that made us believe would help them make the most of this opportunity.
“They did just that and we believe we have four graduates perfectly suited to take on every opportunity and any challenge presented to them.
“They have been an absolute delight to work with and I am immensely proud of how they have all progressed and grown as people and we wish them every success in the future."
Reflecting on the course, Semple said: “It’s been a fantastic year.
“I’ll continue to stay in touch with my fellow mentees, they’re fantastic people - I’ve learnt a lot from them.
“You learn about yourself, what The FA does and the vast areas of football it covers in this country.
“It’s also great to gain an insight into people already working in and across the game in terms of what they do, how they think and how they act.
“This opportunity came at the right time for me.
This next chapter [at Manchester City] is a new one and this programme has helped me immensely.”
Quinlan added: “We’ve all supported each other throughout.
“Over the course of the year, this programme has opened up my mind to different areas I could go into and helped develop those transferable skills.
“I’ve already said to other female coaches that they should put themselves in this position because of the skills they can gain – it gives you a broad idea of what football is all about.”
