Press Release 18th November 2011

A hugely successful international coach development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council launches a new phase in Nairobi this week. “Premier Skills Phase 2” will involve intensive training for 20 Kenyan grassroots football coaches and will take place from 18-23 November 2011 at the Upper Hill Secondary School in Nairobi. The project will be led by head coach Paul Hughes, a senior coach at Reading F.C. He will be backed up by Laura Milburn and Martino Chevannes, community coaches from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers respectively.

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 international FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who will be assisted by Paul Rejer, who was appointed assistant referee to the UEFA Cup Final in 1992.  This component will run from 23-25 November 2011.

The courses in Nairobi are being jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and Kenyan Footbal Federation, who will launch the Premier Skills Phase 2 programme on 23 November at the Upper Hill Secondary School. 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 already taken place in Botswana, Cameroon, and Egypt.

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 Kenya 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 Kenyan 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 Kenya. Equally, the community referees will benefit from the expertise of the Premier League referee coaches and allow 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 . 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 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 Kenya 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 Kenya.

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

“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 Kenya football.”

-ENDS-