Weston College announced as football apprenticeship training provider

AoC Sport is delighted to announce that Weston College will be the apprenticeship training provider for the new FA Women’s Football Apprenticeship Programme. Weston College was selected via an open competitive tender process to provide the 22-month national training programme from August this year. The college, led by Principal and Chief Executive, Dr Paul Phillips CBE, has been named Bristol and Bath Apprenticeship Provider of the Year for the last two years and is an Ofsted grade one outstanding college. They will be delivering the Level 3 Community Sport and Health Officer apprenticeship to 20 apprentices in a blended learning approach through a series of national training events and via the award-winning Jisc virtual classroom. AoC Sport’s National Women’s Football Development Officer, Chelsea Mulheir, said: “We are thrilled to appoint Weston College as the first training provider of the new-look apprentice programme. “We have seen the college’s commitment to growing participation in football as an FA College Grassroots Hub, and we were impressed by their high-quality proposal and experience in delivering apprenticeships nationally. “We are excited to work with them to design and deliver a holistic learning experience for the apprentices, which will ultimately provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge to be pioneers of the women’s game.” The programme aligns to the FA’s 2020-2024 women’s strategy to grow the game and develop the future workforce. Currently, each apprentice is trained at the college they are employed by, but from now on Weston College will be the sole national training provider. This will allow for increased consistency and connectivity across the programme and better access for different colleges to get involved. We are currently looking for 20 colleges to be part of the new programme starting in August 2020. If your college could benefit from having a staff member to drive, deliver and coordinate women’s football for your students and community please read more about the application process here. Successful colleges will be in receipt of £16,000 to fund the post. The deadline to apply is Monday 20 April.