Premier Skills is a global partnership between the Premier League and the British Council, which uses football to train and inspire coaches and referees around the world.
Since the programme started in 2007, 20,027 people have been trained in 29 countries, rwho in turn have reached over 1.6 million young people. This includes more than 1,500 coaches and referees training 78,000 young people in India. In South Africa 950 coaches and referees have been trained, benefitting over 14,000 young people. Across Nigeria, 270 coaches and referees have been trained, reaching 23,000 young people.
Nomonde Mashabane is a highly experienced coach educator in Soweto, South Africa, who has supported a number of Premier Skills courses.
"Teaching is what I love doing, I love helping others and working with kids.
"Premier Skills gave me the opportunity to see what is out there and learn the principles and the basics of coaching."
Kuntala is Premier Skills coach educator in India. She grew up in Kolkata and overcame significant challenges to realise her dream of becoming a professional footballer. Through her hard work and determination, Kuntala went on to represent West Bengal and then to captain India in the World Cup. She is particularly passionate about getting more women and girls involved in football.
"We didn't have any proper playing facilities, coaching or girls' teams when I was growing up, so I played with the local boys' team.
"Premier Skills was my chance to do something for my community through football."
Liezl is a Premier Skills coach educator who delivers adapted courses to aspiring coaches in her community in South Africa. In her spare time she coaches local young people, passing on her Premier Skills experience through training other adults.
"I want to use football as a tool to teach kids and to also get parents involved."
Tim Vine, Director of International Relations at the Premier League explains why this programme makes such a difference:
"Premier Skills is something that we are all incredibly proud of at the Premier League. It continues to bring so many people around the world into football, giving them the skills to positively impact on those around them. Its success is not just down to the many brilliant club coaches we send to deliver the training, but also the inspirational men and women who have been trained and have now taken the project on. These people are the real heroes of Premier Skills."
Find out more about Premier Skills.
