Press Release 30th January 2012

A hugely successful international coach development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council launches a new phase in Addis Ababa this week. “Premier Skills Phase 2” will involve intensive training for 36 Ethiopian grassroots football coaches selected from Ethiopia and will take place from Monday, 30th January to the Saturday, 4th February 2012. The project will be led by head coach Fraser Foster, a senior coach, previously a community Director for West Bromwich Albion Football Club. He will be backed up by Owen Prosser and Steve Mack, development officer for Oxfordshire FA and community coach from Newcastle United.

The course in Addis Ababa is being jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and Addis Ababa Sport Commission, who will launch the Premier Skills Phase 2 programme on Monday, 30th January 2012, at the Abebe Bikila Stadium. In Ethiopia, the project is also delivered in partnership with the Addis Ababa Sport Commission and Football Federation, Ethiopian Federal Police and other partner organisations.

Premier Skills has already successfully run in 23 different centres in 16 countries worldwide. In Africa, training courses have already taken place in Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Uganda.

Premier Skills has 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 Addis Ababa 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 Ethiopian 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 Ethiopia.

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 250,000 young people.
Phase 2 of the project, which launches in Ethiopia 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 Ethiopia”

“This second phase will build upon the excellent work already done in Ethiopia giving the coaches further skills to use in their communities to develop community action projects."

-ENDS-