The third phase of the hugely successful Premier Skills initiative, run by the Premier League and the British Council will take place from 2 to 7 February 2016 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala at Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education (LNCPE).
Intensive training will be provided by Premier League coaches from the UK for 24 grassroots football coaches selected from across India. This will be led by head coach Jeremy Weeks and Paul Hughes.
Premier Skills uses football to develop a brighter future for young people around the world, drawing upon the global appeal of the Premier League and its expertise in delivering community programmes in the UK, alongside the British Council’s global network and track record of delivery.
Through Premier Skills, young people, often including the most vulnerable in society, are given opportunities to become better integrated into their local communities, to develop their skills for employability and to raise their self-esteem.
The course in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is being jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and Sports Authority of India, All India Football Federation (AIFF), The Indian Football Association (west Bengal), Kerala Football Association (KFA) and Goa Football Association (GFA).
Throughout the week the grassroots trainees will receive expert training from qualified Premier Skills coaches, giving them the skills and support to develop their own community football projects. The Community Coaching education programme kick started in November 2014. After going through two phases of rigorous training and implementing the same in their communities, the final list of participants who are eligible to be potential Coach Educators are now going to undergo through another rigorous training process to be finally deemed as a Coach Educator.
The Phase 3 training will be delivered in 3 stages as below:
Stage 1: A five-day training where the participants will better understand the tutor skills needed to run adult coach training. This is from 2 – 7 February 2016.
Stage 2: The potential Coach Educators/participants will be given minimum 2 months for them to work on their session plans in their respective communities.
Stage 3: A five-day training will be held for potential Coach Educators to run sessions for the new coaches. They will be observed and assessed by Premier League trainers. This is from 3 – 7 May 2016. Based on their performance and assessment they will be awarded.
Since Premier Skills began in 2007, 6,300 coaches and referees have been trained in 29 countries, who in turn have reached nearly one million young people.
In addition to coaching, a range of free materials, including a dedicated website, have been created under Premier Skills for teachers and learners of English that utilise exciting Premier League content and the British Council’s world-class expertise in English.
Premier League Executive Chairman, Richard Scudamore, said: “I am thrilled that Premier Skills will return to India this week for Phase 3 of the project. It is a testament to the hard work of the local coaches that they have reached this level of training. Given the increasing interest in football in India, we are proud to support the country’s growing enthusiasm for the sport through Premier Skills by providing more highly trained coaches and referees to pass on their expertise.”
Mei-kwei Barker, Director, British Council South India said: “We are pleased to start Phase 3 training programme, of our very successful partnership project with the Premier League in South India. We are now at a crucial milestone of the project where 24 grassroots football coaches from across India will go through the final training to be selected as Coach Educators. We look forward to the impact this new generation of football coaches will bring to their communities across the country."