Press Release 16 March 2011

A hugely successful international coach and referee development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council launches a new phase in Botswana this week. “Premier Skills Phase 2” will take place from 16th March to 23rd March 2011, with intensive training for 30 grassroots football coaches selected from across Botswana. The project will be led by head coach Paul Hughes, a senior coach at Reading Football Club and he will be backed up by Adam Lea and Laura Milburn, community coaches from Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Football Clubs respectively..

Running alongside the coach programme will be a new ‘Introduction to Refereeing’ course, which will focus on introducing community organisations to the rules of the game. The course is taking place from 16th March to the 18th March and is being led by Keith Hackett, a former international FIFA referee and previous head of the body responsible for all professional referees in England - the Professional Game Match Officials Board. He will be joined by Steve Dunn, also a former professional referee.

The courses in Gaborone are being jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and the Botswana Football Association. The launch of the Premier Skills Phase 2 programme will take place on 18th March 2011 at the Botswana Football Association Ground. This will also celebrate the completion of the referee course.

Premier Skills has already successfully run in 22 different centres in 15 countries worldwide. In Africa, training courses have taken place in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Senegal, Malawi, Kenya, Botswana and Uganda.

Premier Skills has already achieved huge impact under the first stage of the programme, with 1,000 coaches trained, nearly 300,000 young people reached, and over one million football-focused English language materials distributed globally.

Premier Skills Phase 2 in Botswana re-unites the Phase 1 sports coaches who have already demonstrated their ability and commitment to apply what they have learnt by running football coaching programmes in their own local communities. This course in will build upon the skills and experience that the coaches have already developed during the first phase of the programme.

Led by the expertise of the three Premier League coaches, who have all coached on previous Premier Skills courses, the Botswana coaches will strengthen their knowledge and understanding of inclusive community development through football and as a result will become pivotal figures within their organisation and community, responsible for instigating, designing, developing and implementing community programmes. In addition they will cascade their community coaching skills to others involved in their programmes, leading to sustainability of the programme in Botswana. Equally, the community referees will benefit from the expertise of the Premier League referee coaches, allowing them to develop new skills in developing and managing community football projects

Harnessing the huge global interest in the Premier League, the British Council has created a range of football-based materials that include a dedicated Premier Skills website www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills which features downloadable resources for teachers and learners, and the first components of a Premier Skills self-access schools pack, providing materials for teachers and learners of English. These will enable people around the world to develop and build upon their English language skills. The resources also use the motivational power of football to develop classroom materials that allow teachers and learners to explore key social issues such as health and social inclusion.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said:

“At home the Premier League and our Clubs have a long-held commitment and reputation for delivering high quality community and education programmes. Given our popularity and success internationally we felt it only right to take this approach to a wider community.

“Premier Skills has already taken place in 15 countries, developing 1,000 new coaches all over the world. These coaches have already delivered work that has benefited a further 250,000 young people. Phase 2 of the project, which launches in Botswana this week, will build on these achievements, further developing the skills of some of the most promising coaches that we have worked with.”

British Council Chief Executive Martin Davidson said:

“Our purpose is to connect people in the UK to people in other countries and football is a great way to do that. We are therefore proud of Premier Skills, our partnership with the Premier League, and I am delighted that the second phase of this unique project, which combines English and football – two truly universal languages – is being launched in Botswana.

“Phase two will build on the excellent work already done in Botswna and around the world, giving the coaches further skills to use in their communities in developing community action projects, as well as providing an entirely new referee coaching element that will provide young referees with quality community-focused referee training.”

Head Referee Keith Hackett said:

“I am really looking forward to getting involved in Premier Skills. It has clearly had a huge impact on football coaching all over the world, developing over 1,000 new coaches in 15 different countries. It is exciting to now be heading up this new referee element to the project, starting in Botswana.

“Referees are a key part of football at any level it is played. Through Premier Skills we plan to encourage a new generation of referees to get into the game, making a lasting contribution to Botswana football.”