Four Young Leaders provided coaching advice in Trinidad & Tobago.
Laurisa Robson, Jay Amin and Victoria Summerfield were picked from The FA’s National Leadership & Volunteering Camp in July 2010, while Stuart Brown was selected for his commitment to the programme having been involved as a mentor since 2008.
The Caribbean trip saw the four coaches working with a variety of local youngsters with coaching sessions at the St. Michael’s Boys Home and Toco Secondary School in Trinidad and Shaw Park Grounds in Tobago.
The English youngsters also mentored young leaders from Trinidad & Tobago and Victoria, from Andover in Hampshire commented: “My goal at the start of this trip was to not rely on others and be confident in myself when coaching. I knew by the end of this trip that I had accomplished this and that I could leave my Trinidad leaders by themselves to coach and they would give a great session.
“I loved this trip, it really showed me what skills I’m good at and which I need to work on,” said the 17-year-old.
For Stuart, it was a dream come true to be coaching on the other side of the world and he added: “It’s safe to say that I was completely surprised when I found out I had been selected for The FA Changing Lives trip to Trinidad.
“The trip gave me the opportunity not only to develop my leadership, coaching and interpersonal skills, but also to help mentor a group of amazing, young and enthusiastic coaches from both islands,” said the 20-year-old Loughborough student.
“My highlight of the week was taking a back seat on the last few sessions and watching the young coaches I had been working with organise and manage the sessions I had shown them previously. More importantly, they had the confidence to step in and coach the young children playing football in their sessions.”
Trinidad proved to be an eye opening experience for 16-year-old Jay: “I thought it would be like the stereotypical magazine cover with white beaches and blues seas but was surprised to find out it was a lot more industrial and urbanised.
“St Michael’s Boys Home was a memorable moment for me, as the lads were very nice, well behaved and a pleasure to coach and play football with. It was a shame that we didn’t get to return to St Michael’s as I felt the boys appreciated the football experience and would have benefited from more coaching and playing football,” said Jay, who attends school in St. Bedes in Sussex and coaches kids at a local primary school on a regular basis.
Making up the quartet of young coaches in Trinidad was 17-year-old Laurisa, who said: “The trip was so fun and I enjoyed every minute of it, but it was also a real learning curve for me too.
“The week has given me so much in terms of new skills and abilities learnt and practiced. I feel although I was quite confident in my sessions, it has made me more confident in working with people my own age and older as well,” said Laurisa, who hails from Chesterfield.
“It has also widened my knowledge more than I thought it ever would, providing me so many new drills and games to use in my coaching back in the UK.
“It has allowed me to develop as a person and a leader so much and I strongly advise anyone who has a chance to go on the camp to do so, as it really is an opportunity that will change your life forever.”
If you’ve been inspired by this year’s four Young Leaders and want to get involved with the programme then contact your local County FA for more information.