Premier League and British Council launch innovative new football coaching and English language project in Korea

Premier Skills is an innovative coaching project that not only helps develop the coaching skills of young coaches, both male and female, but also teaches them to use football as a tool for skills and community development. In the project, which includes support from local partners such as MBC Football Foundation and Korea Football Association for the Disabled (KFAD), 44 community football coaches from all over Korea will participate, with half of them currently coaching and being involved in disabled football teams. Korea is the very first Premier Skills course that has focused on disability coaching.

Premier Skills is the centrepiece of the Premier League’s International Good Causes Programme. Following pilots in Egypt and India, it has rapidly rolled out to a total of 17 projects across 10 countries, from Africa to China, India and South East Asia. More projects will be added between now and 2010 with the overall aim to train 1,000 coaches, who will go to impact upon the lives of a further 100,000 people. The Korea project represents the tenth Asian city to host Premier Skills after previous courses in China (Beijing, Dalian and Shanghai) Hong Kong, India (Delhi, Kolkata, Goa and Kerala) and Vietnam. 

This project is being led by four Premier League coaches who are experienced in community and disability football coaching. The interaction between the coaches and the participants is expected to encourage and empower them as effective football coaches.

In addition to the training component of Premier Skills, the project also provides a suite of multi-media English language materials for teachers and learners of English. These include a dedicated website, www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills, which features an online community space for course participants as well as providing an ongoing resource for developing English language skills.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore said: “At home the Premier League and our Clubs have a long-held commitment and reputation for investing in community and education programmes. Given our popularity and success internationally we felt it only right to take this approach to a wider community.”

“The Premier League is becoming increasingly popular in Asia and we are fortunate to have several Korean football stars play in England. It is important we use our profile and reach to encourage and engage communities – the roll-out of Premier Skills projects will do just that. Our partnership with the British Council will help develop the skills of local youth leaders for the long term benefit of their local communities. It is particularly pleasing that Korea is breaking new ground by being the first Premier Skills course to deliver disability coaching.”

Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council, said: “We are proud of Premier Skills, our partnership with the Premier League and I am delighted that this unique project, which combines English and football – two truly universal languages – has arrived in Korea.”

I know first hand that there is huge demand for English in Korea and that interest in the Premier League is bigger than ever. Next month we will launch the Premier Skills website which will give millions of learners and teachers around the world an opportunity to improve their English and learn more about their favourite Premier League teams and players. Using new approaches to English learning and providing the latest and most dynamic learning, teaching and practice materials is central to our work in Korea.”

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Notes to editors

About the Premier League:

·          The Premier League is involved in a wide range of community projects both at home and overseas. For more information on any of these, read the Premier League Community Report at: http://www.premierleague.com/staticFiles/a2/71/0,,12306~94626,00.pdf

·          If you want to contact the Premier League Press Office, call +44 (0)20 7864 9190

The British Council

·         Celebrating 75 years in 2009, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.

·         We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people.

·         We work in the arts, education, English, science, sport and governance and last year we engaged face to face with 13.2 million people and reached 221 million.

·         We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.

·         Out total turnover in 2008/9 was £645 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £209 million.

·         For more information please contact James Rowe at the British Council Press Office on 020 7389 4939 / james.rowe@britishcouncil.org