Representatives from the five County FA’s from the West Midlands including Staffordshire, Birmingham, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire supported the running of the programme which received funding from The FA, Tesco and the National Sports Foundation.
The annual awards ceremony held by Sports Coach UK, has been designed to recognise and celebrate the talent, hard work and dedication of coaches and those involved in developing coaches.
“Obviously we were a bit disappointed not to win the main prize,” said BCFA Development Officer, Heather Cowan. ”However we are delighted that the Coach Mentoring programme has been recognised and were proud to represent all those who have given their time to it, or benefited from it.”
The WMFCMP was introduced to offer support and guidance to female coaches aiming to gain their Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football at a time when the need for female coaches is at the highest it has ever been.
The number of girls and women’s teams is on the increase with many looking for female coaches to inspire their players.
The Girls and Women’s Football Development Officers from each County FA identified a number of female FA Level 1 coaches to complete the FA Level 2 with support and guidance from coach mentors. In total, 14 new FA Level 2 coaches are now working with the network of clubs throughout the West Midlands.
The key element of the project is that the Coaches are linked with a Sports Coach UK Qualified Mentor to give them day to day advice on how to prepare to take the next step up the coaching ladder.
Regular progress meetings between FDOs, Clubs, Mentors and Mentees are held throughout the year on a local basis. This support has provided each coach with a more structured approach to completing the FA Level 2, ensuring each coach feels as fully supported as possible along the journey to completing the FA Level 2.
Staffordshire was represented on the programme by two coaches who achieved their FA Level 2. Chloe Jones and Hannah Woodford are now both actively supporting the development of Girls and Women’s football in the County and working on projects around the County.
Staffordshire FA have also recently launched it own Coach Mentoring Programme. To find out more about this or how you can benefit from the WMFCMP, please contact Kevin Staples at the Staffordshire FA:
(T) 01785 279828
(M) 07969 294084
(Email) kevin.staples@staffordshirefa.com