KUALA LUMPUR -- The hugely successful Premier Skills initiative, run by the Premier League and the British Council, continued on 10 March 2018 with a Premier Skills Legacy event to celebrate almost 10 years of the programme’s existence in Malaysia. The event celebrated the achievements of Premier Skills participants over the past decade and the ways in which the programme will maintain a presence in the country in the future.
Premier Skills uses football to develop a brighter future for young people around the world, drawing upon the global appeal of the Premier League and its expertise in delivering community programmes in the UK, alongside the British Council’s global network and track record of delivery.
Over 200 community coaches have taken part in Premier Skills in Malaysia since its inception in the country in 2009. To further its impact, the Premier Skills Legacy programme was initiated in Malaysia from 2016 onwards, focusing on an overarching theme of inclusivity, concentrating on women and girls, as well as people with disabilities.
“Premier Skills Legacy is a platform for Premier Skills Coaches to network with sector experts, develop their skill set through targeted training, and receive feedback on their project ideas and plans. Premier Skills Legacy aims to launch a strong coaching network that continues to work with diverse stakeholders to take forward the Premier Skills programme sustainably in Malaysia,” said Sarah Deverall, Director British Council Malaysia.
The Coach Educators trained under Premier Skills are central to the sustainability of the programme as they are accredited to deliver the Premier Skills ‘Introduction to Community Coaching’ course to train new coaches. As a result, Premier Skills has nurtured five Coach Educators in Malaysia who are qualified to deliver the course and continue the programme.
Through Premier Skills, young people, often including the most vulnerable in society, are given opportunities to become better integrated into their local communities, to develop their skills for employability and to raise their self-esteem.
Kate Dowler, Head of International Relations, Premier League added: “The delivery of Premier Skills in Malaysia has been a great success seen from the contribution and passion of our locally trained Coach Educators, so we are extremely pleased to be able to run the Premier Skills Legacy event to further develop coaching and training opportunities in the country.”
Since Premier Skills began in 2007, 20,027 coaches and referees have been trained in 29 countries, who in turn have reached over 1.6 million young people.
In addition to coaching, a range of free materials, including a dedicated website, have been created under Premier Skills for teachers and learners of English that utilise exciting Premier League content and the British Council’s world-class expertise in English.
Premier Skills is a partnership between the Premier League and the British Council which uses football as a tool to develop a brighter future for young people around the world.
It draws upon the Premier League’s global appeal and expertise in delivering community programmes in the UK, alongside the British Council’s global network, track record of delivery and world class expertise in English.
Premier Skills is a proven model, influencing institutional approaches to social action through football as well as providing direct training to coaches and referees.
Since Premier Skills began in 2007, 20,027 coaches and referees have been trained in 29 countries, who in turn have reached over 1.6 million young people.
6,000 teachers have received training in the use of the Premier Skills English materials, with 6.5 million views of the materials online.
Through Premier Skills English, teachers and learners of English are given free, compelling learning materials, drawing on football-based content from the most exciting football league in the world.
For more on Premier Skills, visit http://www.britishcouncil.org/society/sport/current-programmes/premier-s...
To find out more about the football-focused English content and to view the materials online, visit https://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/
The Premier League is involved in a wide range of community projects both in the UK and overseas. For more information on these see: http://review.premierleague.com
For media enquiries, please contact Ikram Khasim (Communications Manager, British Council Malaysia) at Ikram.Khasim@britishcouncil.org.my
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. Using the UK’s cultural resources we make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.
We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we directly reach over 65 million people and more than 660 million people via broadcasts and publications.
Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. The majority of our income is raised delivering a range of projects and contracts in English teaching and examinations, education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. Fifteen per cent of our funding is received from the UK government.
www.britishcouncil.org
About Premier League
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