Oxford United in the Community Deliver Youth Leadership Course
Taking place at The Hill in Banbury, Oxford United in the Community coaches Mark Thomas and Alex Blane led the three-day course which aimed to equip the teenage participants with leadership and employment skills that they can take into football coaching or other career pathways.
The project was made possible through the Banbury Youth Partnership, with all participants receiving the funding to complete their Introduction to Coaching course going forwards.
Mark Thomas said:“We’ve been working on different areas of leadership and coaching, trying to inspire the next generation to be good leaders, whether that’s in coaching or not.
“We’ve worked with a lot of the participants for a number of years and they’ve come on leaps and bounds. I’m proud of every one of them and it’s been great to see their development.”
“They’ve been here on time, ready to go and wanting to learn and you can ask no more than that.
The participants have been challenged through leading their own coaching drills and presenting Dragon’s Den-style pitches in front of the group. Sean Woodcock, who serves as the Member of Parliament for Banbury, joined the judging panel for the pitches on the final day.
Mark said: “The local MP, Sean Woodcock, very kindly got involved in the Dragons Den challenge. We gave the participants a challenge to pitch to us why they should be given the funding to do the Intro to Coaching course.
“It was a nice activity to get them to sell themselves and develop their confidence in presenting, and they all excelled massively.”
Lorraine Squire, of The Hill, Banbury, said: “We’ve been really privileged to host you for the duration of this project.
“Doing this course has given the boys the confidence and the qualifications they need, and a couple of them have been in contact to find out if they can help and volunteer by running their own football sessions which is really great.”
The next steps are for the participants will be to complete their Intro to Coaching course, funded by the Banbury Youth Partnership, before seeking work experience in the industry.
“We’ll keep in contact with them and ensure that we can help them access opportunities either with our grassroots partners in Banbury or local organisations like The Hill where they can really add to their community.”
To find out more about the Banbury Youth Partnership, please click HERE.