Blackpool FC Community Trust column: Boosted by FA funding
Blackpool FC Community Trust (BFCCT) are delighted to announce that we have been successful in two FA funding applications.
These will enhance our FA Girls Emerging Talent Centre (ETC) and diversify our coaching workforce.
We are creating the opportunity for 10 female coaches to gain their first coaching qualification in football or futsal, paid for by BFCCT.
Coaches must be aged 16-plus to be considered for the FA football course and 14-plus for the FA futsal course.
The female coaching pathway is open to coaches of all ability and we aim to increase opportunities for female coaches to reach their potential in the coaching landscape.
We will lead a networking group allowing new female coaches to connect, share ideas and resources and help each other through the highs and lows of coaching.
Over the next few weeks, we will launch phase one of our female coaching pathway by opening our expression of interest portal.
That allows us to identify coaches, conduct an initial assessment, measure their experience and provide advice.
Suitable candidates will be invited into our coaching environment to observe, shadow and support our experienced ETC and Academy coaches.
In phase two, we will select 10 coaches – who have already completed the EE Playmaker course – and pay for their Introduction to Coaching Football or National Futsal Course.
To conclude the final phase, we have outlined 25 hours of paid delivery that we will designate to members of the female coaching pathway.
Successful candidates will become employed to coach across multiple formats to help enhance their knowledge and, during this time, there will also be voluntary opportunities for further development.
Our second successful funding application is for new futsal sessions, which will allow us to create a more varied games programme that our ETC players and associated groups can utilise.
We are aware of how complementing futsal can be to the development of our female players and, after securing access to a new local indoor facility, we are able to create a training and games programme for our elite female players.
This funding will also allow us to reduce the financial/time burden of travel for our local ETC players as we expand our home fixture programme.
Working with our partners at Blackpool Council, we can increase our games programme across three v three, five v five, seven v seven, nine v nine and 11 v 11 formats.
Home fixtures also increase the opportunity for us to engage more local grassroots teams and scout local talent.
BFCCT female football manager Andy Aspinall said: “This funding is fantastic for our ETC programme and promising female coaches.
“We are looking forward to working with enthusiastic coaches, who would like to develop and gain experience alongside our qualified coaches.
“Introducing futsal to the ETC groups will add another dimension to our ETC games programme and help develop numerous transferable characteristics which will only improve the players involved.”
For more information on our female coaching pathway and FA Girls Emerging Talent Centre, please contact [email protected]