Liverpool FC in Africa!!

NEWS: For their inaugural “Play On: Train the Trainer,” Standard Chartered and LFC are traveling to South Africa.

This week in Pretoria, South Africa, Standard Chartered and Liverpool FC held their first-ever “Play On: Train the Trainer” program.

From November 27 to 29, 34 coaches from Standard Chartered’s Futuremakers initiative received a customized “Play On” curriculum from five coaches from the club’s Soccer Schools and LFC Foundation. This was part of a combined program that included both classroom and on-pitch learning.

“Person-centered approach,” “barriers to participation,” “mental health and wellbeing,” “balancing life,” and “empowering women in leadership” were among the workshops that were taught.

The Futuremakers coaches were given a set of daily tasks to complete before applying what they had learned over the three days of the program to create their own session plans that included the “Play On” curriculum. These plans will be used by the coaches to teach girls in their communities.

“Sports are always a brilliant platform to develop and build important attributes in life such as personal confidence, teamwork, resilience, and leadership,” stated Kweku Bedu-Addo, CEO of Standard Chartered South Africa and Southern Africa.

“Standard Chartered is thrilled to have the chance to collaborate with Liverpool Football Club to develop this amazing in-house training program designed to keep young girls active.”

Attendees of this week’s program, including Futuremakers coach Nokuthula Mohlomi from Pretoria, continued, saying, “We were so excited to be invited to take part in this important program by Standard Chartered and Liverpool Football Club.”

“As a coach, I have personally witnessed how engaging in sports can boost a young woman’s self-esteem and provide a secure environment in which she can develop, learn, and form friendships. Work like this is essential to highlighting the advantages of sports participation and motivating girls to continue playing when they reach adolescence.

Discovering that twice as many girls as boys give up on sports by the time they are 14 years old, Standard Chartered and LFC introduced the “Play On” campaign in May 2023 with the intention of motivating, empowering, and educating girls to engage in sports.

Following a successful digital awareness campaign featuring senior Reds players and Jürgen Klopp, the ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme was created as practical training to be delivered in-person, on the ground in regions where Standard Chartered works with Futuremakers coaches and female participants.

When delivering his session in Pretoria, Steven Gillespie, LFC’s senior International Academy programme manager, said: “I feel honoured and privileged to deliver this ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme in South Africa. Utilising LFC’s proven coaching philosophy, which puts the person above the player, adds a unique insight for the participants in this initiative.

“.Following a successful digital awareness campaign featuring senior Reds players and Jürgen Klopp, the ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme was created as practical training to be delivered in-person, on the ground in regions where Standard Chartered works with Futuremakers coaches and female participants.

When delivering his session in Pretoria, Steven Gillespie, LFC’s senior International Academy programme manager, said: “I feel honoured and privileged to deliver this ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme in South Africa. Utilising LFC’s proven coaching philosophy, which puts the person above the player, adds a unique insight for the participants in this initiative.

By utilizing a flexible approach to the delivery of our content, we have been able to assist with real-world problems and obstacles that still exist in South Africa today, while balancing theory-based practice and making sure that a relevant, adaptable curriculum is provided to maximize its value and impact in each nation to which it is delivered.