“What I learnt has improved my coaching skills. The children are enjoying the new methods of coaching and they are acquiring the skills very well. This training camp has helped me a lot and I hope that I will be able to serve society with the skills I have learnt.” said Amit Chand, a participant from Delhi who joined the second phase of training in Kolkata.

Premier Skills - A great opportunity for football coaches in India.
Premier Skills is a partnership between the British Council and the Premier League, and focuses on English language, football coaching and leadership skills for participants. The initiative has already enjoyed a successful phase in India. The programme has an important equality and social inclusion element and caters for men and women with different levels of ability.

The Indian launch of Premier Skills began in Delhi in February 2008 when 40 young football coaches from schools and sports academies in North India came together to take part in the programme, with the support in India of the All India Football Federation, ESPN-Start Sports and Nike.  An equal number of coaches were then trained in Kolkata, the cradle of India football where the game enjoys an immense popularity that rivals, and even overshadows, that of cricket. Two former UK Premier League stars, Warren Barton and Robbie Earle, headed the coaching programme in the North and East.

In January 2009, 88 young football coaches from West and South India will have the opportunity to work with four English Premier League (EPL) coaches on the Premier Skills programme.

The Premier Skills residential programme will be held from 4 to 10 January 2009 in Goa, at Furtado Stadium in Margao, and from 9 to 15 January 2009 in Manachira Grounds in Calicut. The coaching will be guided by Head Coach Warren Barton. Alan Dixon of Manchester City and Daniel Nicholson and Robert Nickolay of Hull City will join him to deliver the training in Goa. In Kerala, Robbie Earle will head the coaching with Gareth Hughes of Manchester City, Johnnie Garside of Everton and Adam Browne of Portsmouth.

What you can expect
A ‘typical day’ for participants will consist of tactics and skills training in the morning followed by a healthy lunch. In the afternoon participants will attend English classes and workshops on life skills addressing such issues as social inclusion, fair play and child protection; then there’ll be one more coaching skills session in the late afternoon.

The participants will develop their own skills so they can continue to run these workshops for the benefit of their communities for years to come. It is a great opportunity for the all young football coaches to learn to coach better and contribute to their communities.

The Premier Skills programme is a partnership between the British Council, the English Premier League, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Goa Football Association in Goa and the Kerala Football Association in Calicut.

What people have said about the Premier Skills programme
“It gives me great satisfaction to see the results that we have achieved with Premier Skills. It is the work that I am proud of,” said former England, Newcastle and Wimbledon defender Warren Barton, on his second visit to Kolkata in a year.
Warren Barton- Premier League Coach.

“Before attending the course I did not realize that football had such immense power: that it could even change the lives of many youths and the community could be developed through this. Really and truly it has been an eye opener for me. In every other course they teach you how to coach but do not make you realise how players live or what they do when not in the game. The course was a great one".
Indranil Chakraborty, a participant from Kolkata.

Premier Skills Programme at a glance