Press Release 24 October 2011

A hugely successful international football coach development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council launches a new phase in Vietnam this week. “Premier Skills” Phase 2 will involve intensive training for 30 Vietnamese grassroots football coaches selected from across the country will take place from 24 October 2011 to the 29 October 2011. The project will be led by head coach Johnnie Garside a senior community coach at Everton FC. He will be backed up by community coaches Daniel Edwards from Queens Park Rangers FC (QPR) and Charlotte Bishop from Portsmouth FC.

Running alongside the coach programme will be a new ‘Introduction to Refereeing’ course, which will focus on teaching community organisations the rules of football. The course is being led by former international FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who will be assisted by fellow former professional referee Steve Dunn.  This component will run from 22 October 2011 to the 24 October 2011.

The courses in Vietnam are being jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), who will launch the Premier Skills Phase 2 programme on 24 October 2011 at the Thong Nhat stadium. This will also celebrate the completion of the referee course. The project will be supported by key local partners including Save the Children Vietnam, Blue Dragon Foundation, Hanoi Youth League and two British Council projects Connecting Classroom and ELT.

Premier Skills has already successfully run in 23 different centres in 16 countries worldwide. In Asia training courses have already taken place in South Korea, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

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

Premier Skills Phase 2 in Ho Chi Minh City re-unites sports coaches who have already demonstrated their ability and commitment in Phase 1 of the programme. This new component will enable them to apply what they have learnt by running football coaching programmes in their own local communities.

Led by the expertise of the three Premier League coaches, the Vietnamese coaches will strengthen their knowledge and understanding of inclusive community development through football.

As a result they will become pivotal figures within their organisation and community, responsible for implementing community programmes. In addition they will cascade their community coaching skills to others involved in their programmes, leading to sustainability of the Premier Skills in Vietnam. Equally, the community referees will benefit from the expertise of the Premier League referee coaches and allow them to develop new skills in developing, officiating 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 . This website 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 16 countries, developing 1,000 new coaches all over the world. These coaches have already delivered work that has benefited a further 300,000 young people. Phase 2 of the project, which launches in Vietnam 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 Vietnam.

“Phase two will build on the excellent work already done in Vietnam 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.”

Lead 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 Vietnam.

“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 Vietnam football.”

-ENDS-