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A warm welcome to our Community Coaches

At tonight’s game and again at our home match on Saturday against Matlock, we’llbe welcoming 65 young assistant community coaches who have been working with us this summer.

Working in Moston, Newton Heath, Charlestown and Hulme, these young people have committed their summer to getting involved in the club’s community work.

Aged 16-18, they have had to put a lot of hours in on various training courses, preparing for our summer school holiday play schemes, where they were given part-time paid work.

The whole FC United community team have been involved in delivering this project so the young people have got to know Roy Soule, Karl Marginson, Chuks Akuneto, Carlos Roca and Swampy among others.

As the summer draws to a close they will end up with the following qualifications:

- A Level 2 Community Sports Leaders Award
- A Level 1 PEARL Employability Skills Award
- An Entry Level 3 Award in Personal Development through Sports Coaching
- AN FA Level 1 Coaching Badge

A number of the young coaches have said that they would like to continue to work with the club on a voluntary basis next year in a variety of ways.

Robin Pye, FC United’s community and education manager, said: "This is a very imaginative project which is, as far as we know, unique in football. The idea is to give young people leaving school or college an intensive experience that allows them to develop as people very quickly and go onto to the next stage of their lives more focused and more confident. It is a kind of ’gap year’ squeezed into a summer for young people who are unlikely to be able to afford the kind of ’gap year’ that more privileged young people are able to access. The fact that we offer a small amount of paid work is very important. The amount of time these young people have spent in training is not inconsiderable and to be able to link training with paid work in this way helps young people to understand the value of acquiring new skills and sticking with a course."

We may be able to persuade the young people onto the pitch at half time. For many of them, this will be their first ever FC United game so please give them a warm welcome when you get the chance.



First Posted ~ 13:44 Tue 21 Aug 2012
News ID ~ 4376
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021