16 October 2018

The hugely successful Premier Skills programme, run by the Premier League and the British Council, is celebrating 10 years of delivery in Malaysia. A Premier Skills Quality Assurance session was recently held in the country to provide tools and resources to young people, women and girls and other marginalised groups, to continue the positive inclusion work that has been ongoing for a decade.

The Quality Assurance session, used to increase the confidence of those taking part, was delivered by Premier League Coach Educator Paul Hughes. Premier Skills Malaysia has so far nurtured five Coach Educators, who are qualified to continue the Premier Skills programme. These Coach Educators are accredited to deliver the ‘Introduction to Community Coaching’ course which will see them pass on their knowledge to local football coaches, enabling them to spread the programme’s positive effects throughout Malaysia. 

One of the five Coach Educators to have come through the Premier Skills Malaysia course is Patrick Loo, who said: “The Premier Skills Quality Assurance programme substantially helps me increase the effectiveness of my delivery of Premier Skills. In the long run, I will be able to maintain and improve my coaching standards and be better equipped to transfer cascade coaching knowledge to more community coaches, especially women and underprivileged groups.”

Since its inception in Malaysia, Premier Skills has been helping young people develop a brighter future, with over 200 community coaches having been trained as part of the programme.

“Premier Skills has launched 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 Malaysia, British Council. 

Kate Hodgkinson, Head of International Relations, Premier League, added: “Premier Skills Malaysia has gone from strength-to-strength. It’s great to see that a decade on from our first community coaching course here, that there’s been a noticeable positive impact on coaches who have taken their learnings and grown sustainable local football networks.”