‘This is a truly creative initiative. Football transcends race and language among people everywhere,’ said British Council Chair Lord Neil Kinnock at the launch of Premier Skills’ initiative in Uganda.

A collaboration between the British Council and the British Premier League (one of the biggest football leagues in the world), the Premier Skills initiative uses football as a tool for development. This project is supported by local partners and works with young people to enhance their football coaching skills and develop their English language abilities.

According to the press release marking the launch of the Premier Skills pilot, course participants will be able to build on their English language abilities using the suite of Premier Skills multi-media  materials.

Former Premier League footballers Warren Barton and Robbie Earle and three Premier League coaches recently delivered a week-long face-to-face coaching programme to 40 participants in Uganda. The programme involved practical football coaching sessions as well as classroom-based input on topics such as fitness, nutrition and community sports administration.

Premier Skills was piloted in Egypt. Nineteen of the participants in that pilot have already secured jobs delivering community football coaching classes as a result of the training they received.

In Uganda, Acting Project Delivery Co-ordinator John Kyabaggu says the aim of this initiative is to equip coaches with skills that will help them empower themselves and their communities.

‘The British Council and the Premier League use football as a means to create social synergies that will enhance community engagement.’

Kyabaggu says this project is one of a kind and it came at the right time.

‘Our Dreams + Teams initiative is confined to schools, so this collaboration gives us the opportunity to reach a wider audience,’ he says.

‘After training the young leaders, we then follow up on them to check whether they have implemented the knowledge gained in their respective communities.

‘Some of the people we have trained have formed social clubs, some are reaching out to deaf people and introducing them to sports (so that they don’t feel excluded from the community), some have started up small sports projects in their churches, and others are using soccer to educate the community about climate change or just taking the knowledge back to their teams.’

The project, launched in September, will bring numerous benefits to these young people.

‘We want to awaken the unnoticed talents that we have in this country and also give exposure to those young individuals who do not get it; we know they love soccer and their communities so we want them to do something they love while equipping their communities,’ says Kyabaggu.

Asked what the selection criterion for this initiative is, he says they are looking for a variety of people.

‘We target coaches who are 18 and above. They are selected through the partnership programmes we have with the National Council of Sports in Uganda, the Federation of Uganda Football Associations, the Kampala Kids League, and Edgars Youth Programme. They come through those channels, so we get sports officials, coaches, street children and so forth.’

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore says he is thrilled about the success of this project in Egypt and the rollout in Uganda.

‘The Premier League and our clubs have a long-held commitment to investing in community and education projects and, given our popularity, we feel it is only fair to take this approach to a wider community.’

Sudamore goes on to say that the Premier Skills initiative will help reach out and engage with communities.

‘Our partnership with the British Council using top coaches like Warren Barton and Robbie Earle will help develop the skills of local youth leaders for the long-term benefit of their communities.’

Kabugo Yasin, one of the trainees in Uganda, says the knowledge he gained from participating is priceless.

‘I learnt a lot. I have taken that useful information and implemented it in my community. I have been meeting with community leaders, and young people in the community have now planted trees and are growing food in their gardens as a result of the Premier Skills workshop.

‘I am assisting them with all the problems they have. They have organised football matches and I believe that we are using sport to develop our community.’