Since northerncare began sponsoring the soccer school run by Jamie Milligan and Gavin McCann last summer, over 25 young people coming from our homes from all over the country have benefited from the coaching courses offered during school holidays.

This activity has been very well received by our young people and will be continuing throughout 2009, with the next one being held during the Easter holidays. Just recently, Jamie, Gavin and northerncare’s Terry Green organised a 2-day course for 20 young people and staff to help them gain their FA Level 1 coaching badge. The course took place at Stanley Park Sports Centre in Blackpool on 3rd and 4th March and was made up of 2 half days. Boys and girls from our homes nationwide came along to take part in the course, which was facilitated by Ian Kay and Pete Wild from the FA. The young people also had support on the day from staff from their homes and our Chief Executive, David Rae, and Service Manager, Steven Cardwell.

The first half day ran from 1.30pm until 4pm and this part of the course was classroom based. A PowerPoint presentation was given outlining the elements of the course, with the young people then being divided into mixed groups spending their time carrying out individual and group work about dietary needs, first aid, and learning about the basics of what makes a footballer.

The next day was the chance to put theory into practice. The young people spent the first half hour in the classroom going over the previous day’s activities, and then they performed a warm up on the astro-turf by themselves from what they’d learnt. The FA coaches then split the young people into groups and they all got involved in coaching each other using drills with footballs and space cones, including practicing passing, control, heading and shooting.

A brilliant course was finished off with a match of staff versus young people where the young people won 5-3 - obviously all that practice and coaching had paid off! Post-course discussions were held about how well they’d done and all the young people who took part were grateful for the opportunity and thanked the coaches.

The course was funded by northerncare and Terry Green, Senior Homes Manager, who helped organise the course said, "The benefits of a course like this for young people in care are enormous. The interaction and participation in both group and individual work will increase their self-esteem and give them the skills and confidence that they can use in their everyday lives. The young people have completed the first step now and are all excited about going on to study and train for the next level of this nationally recognised qualification, which we hope to commence within the next six months."

One young person who jumped at the chance to take part was Robert, aged 15, from Piers House, who said before the day, "I’m really looking forward to the course. The staff at Piers House are really good and help us organise a league game every week, so it’s good that we get the chance to get a professional qualification."