On the afternoon of Sunday 3rd December, JRF hosted a Community Coaches continued professional development event on Observation, as part of the new ‘Real Talk’ programme, incorporating the Stonebridge Huddle.
Thirty budding football coaches attended the session hosted by the FA Coach Development (Diversity & Inclusion) Team and benefited from first-hand knowledge from former professional footballers Zesh Rehman, Jerome Thomas, and Jamal Campbell Ryce who all hold roles in the game since retiring.
The former players gave valuable insight and top tips on subjects including coaching, recruitment, and progression within the game as well as information on networking and providing pathways for the next generation.
Many of the young people who took part signed up for ongoing mentoring with the FA who are striving to provide more coaching education and courses that are accessible to the local community.
This is the third Community Coaches course hosted by JRF over the last three months as the level of interest and interaction from future coaches continues in their quest for continued professional development in this field.
Peter Augustine, Coach Development Officer at the FA said.
“Today’s event showed the appetite for coaches’ education. The idea of these events is to give coaches access to Official FA CPD at a time and place that suits them. Having ex professionals who understand the coaches and who can share their stories, gives the coaches inspiration and a deeper knowledge of what they need to do to be successful.”
Thanks to funding from Young Brent Foundation’s One Flow One Brent, Wembley National Stadium Trust, the Hyde Foundation, and the FA, young up-and-coming football coaches are being offered some ‘Real Talk’ on what it takes to follow a career into the beautiful game.
