Cairo
The hugely successful Premier Skills initiative, run by the Premier League and the British Council, launched today its third phase in Egypt by holding intensive training from 10-15 September for 17 grassroots football coaches / referees selected from across the country.
Jointly organised by the British Council, Premier League and the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports, the course will be led by head coach Paul Hughs. He will be supported by Steven Howey and Laura Milburn, respectively.
Throughout the week, grassroots trainees from Cairo, Giza, Assiut, Minya and Alexandria governorates will receive expert training from qualified Premier Skills coaches, giving them the skills and support to develop their own community football projects and certify some of the as coach educators.
'English and Football are some of the best tools we have to connect people, develop their skills and provide them with opportunities,' said Mark Stephens, Director British Council Egypt. 'With the launch of the programme’s third phase in Egypt, we aim to empower Egypt’s Premier Skills coaches to play their role as educators and to start cascading their best practices and experiences to other community coaches to ensure the sustainability of the programme.'
Premier Skills uses football to develop a brighter future for young people around the world, drawing upon the global appeal of the Premier League and its expertise in delivering community programmes in the UK, alongside the British Council’s global network and track record of delivery.
Through Premier Skills, young people, often including the most vulnerable in society, are given opportunities to become better integrated into their local communities, to develop their skills for employability and to raise their self-esteem.
As of 2013, Premier Skills has trained 2,300 coaches and referees in 21 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas, who in turn have reached a further 500,000 young people. By 2016 it aims to train a further 3,000 coaches and referees and through them reach more than 300,000 young people.
Fayza Heydar from Tayran football club said: “For the first time in Egypt, Premier Skills gave recognition to us as female coaches by providing us the latest approaches in football coaching and using the passion of football with young girls and boys to change their lives to the better”
In addition to coaching, a range of free materials, including a dedicated website, have been created under Premier Skills for teachers and learners of English that utilise exciting Premier League content and the British Council’s world-class expertise in English.