This is the third article of the series where Trust Board Member Matt Davis looks at the work of the Football In The Community (FITC) via a question and answer session with Craig White who manages the scheme, today we concentrate on a more in depth details of services provided.
How (typically) do you link up with educational establishments? There are many and varied ways we interact with educational establishments, examples include:
Curriculum Time Coaching:
All throughout the school year we offer football coaching courses for ages 5 plus during school time, often during PE lessons. These sessions provide excellent fun learning opportunities for the children and also provide teachers with plenty of ideas for the future. We visit schools across all of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and in one year try to see 25 schools per week, which is around 25,000 children per year.
Lunchtime Coaching:
Also available to schools is the lunchtime session option. We can come along during lunchtimes throughout the week as we realise how hectic after school clubs are and often schools would prefer this choice. Although are sessions are shorter there’s still plenty of time for our experienced coaches to provide fun skills and games for the children.
After Schools Coaching:
A favourite among schools is the after schools coaching sessions. We offer up to an hour and a quarter worth of coaching straight after the school day has finished. We can come to the school for a six week block during which time the children will learn lots of skills, techniques and take part in mini tournaments. At the end of the block we also have competition sessions with the chance of winning prizes in our penalty competition or the king of the ring or even in a skill competition!!….
Indoor Football Coaching
During the colder months we offer football coaching at indoor venues across Leicester and Leicestershire at selected venues. The sessions are an hour long and can last up to 8 weeks. Each venue provides the opportunity to learn some football skills and participate in matches every week. The sessions are lots of fun and are open to 8-13 year olds.
Is it just lads or is it girls as well?
Girls Football
Girls’ football is ever growing in Leicestershire and much is being done to help more girls get into the game. Leicester City have a female development officer who has the role of working with schools and clubs across Leicestershire and also with the Girls’ centre of excellence.
There are now even more opportunities for after school clubs, curriculum time sessions and lunchtime sessions for girls only coaching in schools, where they can learn all different aspects of the game whatever their ability. There is also an opportunity for existing clubs to receive some coaching or for new clubs starting up to receive some help with coaching or even just advice.
If there are any girls out there wanting to play more football but unsure where any clubs are near them please ask them to contact us and we will gladly provide advice.
We now run girls only courses in every school holiday across the county which are incredibly popular so please ask supporters to look out for one their your area. If it has ever put a girl off playing football because they only have opportunity to play with and against the boys then this would be ideal for such girls.
Girls’ Centre of Excellence
Leicester City was awarded the licence to run the girls centre of excellence in 1999 and improvements have been made year on year ever since. It is common knowledge that women and girls football is the fastest growing sport in the world and Leicestershire has its fair share of the sport.
We hold trials in August each year for the centre of excellence where girls must be nominated by either their football club or school to be able to attend. The centre has a similar structure to the boys’ academy and is fortunate to be the only girls’ team to represent Leicester City Football Club. The centre of excellence is just one step away from the England Squads for which 5 of the girls last season were chosen to represent.
What do you do in the school holiday periods?
The school holidays are without doubt our busiest period. For example, this summer we have 19 coaching courses running. Let me explain more of what we do.
Holiday Periods:
Football in the Community has been awarded a Charter Standard Award for Holiday Courses. This means we ensure safety and best practice and that all our coaches are fully qualified, CRB checked and able first aiders. We were very proud to be one of the first professional football clubs to receive this award for our holiday soccer courses. During every school holiday we run football courses throughout Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, for boys and girls ages 5-13 years.
On average football in the community run around 40 holiday courses per year and see around 4,000 children from all over the county. Our fully qualified expert coaches ensure that the course is jam packed with activities where learning skills and techniques are easy and fun! We also now offer girls only holiday courses and specialised goalkeeping courses at different venues throughout the year. All children go home with something and there are many prizes and competitions to be won!
Football in the Community courses are available to any ability and offer opportunities for all to attend.
In the next article we look at the FITC’s work with Special Needs and Ethnic Minority football clubs and other services offered.