#THE GOAL: Understanding the value of long-term development in youth football management
Project Context
Year
Scope
More Info
- Country of the applicant: Malta
- Countries of the partner organisations: Scotland
Project Context
Year
Scope
More Info
- Country of the applicant: Malta
- Countries of the partner organisations: Scotland
Lead Organisation Information
Name of the lead organisation
Type of the lead organisation
Funding
- Type (public, private, etc): Public
- Name of the funding programme: Erasmus+ Sport, KA1 Learning Mobility for Individuals, Youth Mobility
- Amount: 27.450 EUR
Type of activity
Sector
Sport and Physical Activities
Description of the initiative
- The project intention is to give our football administrators a better insight in order to develop new ideas to run our nurseries in a more professional and efficient manner.
- The participants attended various lectures in different themes including child protection, ethics and positive coaching and an insight of the Community Trust. They also had the opportunity to witness at first hand the operation of the Kilmarnock academy, along with visits to grassroots clubs in the area, and also having placements within the various departments of Kilmarnock FC. The YFA group was also hosted at Hampden Park, where they had the opportunity to meet up with the Scottish YFA Chief Executive Officer and other officials to discuss in detail the similarities, and the future of the grassroots game.
Beneficiaries Information
Profile
- Administrator
- Volunteer
- The main target group of this project is the youth football administrators from different member football nurseries and some representatives of the YFA Council both of which are involved in the management and administration of youth football. Also, a very good percentage of the participants are engaged as volunteers with their nurseries.
- The aim of this mobility activity is to improve the ability of a youth football administrator or manager to contribute to the good management and development of their football nursery and to a good club atmosphere.
- The selection process was based on different phases. A call for applications was issued and circulated across all nurseries. Interested applicants were to submit their interest together with the requested documentation by a stipulated deadline. Upon deadline, the received applications were cross-checked with the set of eligibility criteria and the eligible applicants were shortlisted and invited to attend an interview. An interviewing board was composed, chaired by the YFA Chairman and another two persons involved in both training of adults, and organisation of international events. The interviewing board interviewed the applicants against a set of selection criteria. Upon selection the applicants were informed of their success and asked to confirm their participation. From then onwards, to ensure that the participants on the group get to know more each other, and understand more the scope and the activities of the programme a series of preparatory meetings were scheduled.
About The Mobility Experience
Country visited & duration
- Country(ies) visited: Scotland
- Duration: 5 days
Factors of success
- Quality of the partnership
- Clear learning outcomes
- Practical and easy-to-use support to the learner
- Willingness from both sending and host organisations to share expertise
- From a project management aspect, we made sure to work on a timeframe against set targets. Moreover, we confirm that communication with the host was ongoing and that was one of the contributors to project success. Moreover the objectives regarding the activities were clear and so that helped a lot to meet the desired result.
Barriers identified
- Financial constraints
- Overcome during the initiative: Yes
Testimonial from the organiser
“Erasmus+ project was a first for the YFA, however since the person responsible had previous experience in similar projects, it helped in the overall management and execution of the project. The overall experience is considered very positive and beneficial since it exposed both the participants coming from individual nurseries and the YFA through its participating members to best practices employed in Scotland. In fact, we are at a stage whereby the association will be implementing a particular measure across the board over the coming weeks. The mobility helped in stimulating the association to work on this particular measure. Notwithstanding loads of bureaucratic procedures and paperwork involved in the management of such projects, it is highly recommended to others as it certainly instills new ideas and extends networks.”
Stephanie Rocco, Project leader
Testimonial from a participant
“It was an interesting week where we had the opportunity to exchange ideas not only between us participants but also with a professional Scottish football club of Kilmarnock, which were our hosts. I urge the YFA to embark on more training programmes of this type and further encourage colleagues engaged with other nurseries to accept and participate in similar training opportunities that might come up in the future.”
Young participant from Malta
Testimonial from sending or host organisation
“A very eventful week for the group and congratulate all of them because it is rather time-consuming and its spread over the whole day. Probably the highlight of the week for me was the Maltese theme night at the hotel, which was well attended – it was well-received and fantastic feedback received. A major successful trip and wish the group every success going forward and hope to see them again in the future.”
Project coordinator from Scotland
Contact
- Name of the contact person: Stephanie Rocco
- Email: stephanie_rocco@hotmail.com
- Phone number: +356 79734558
- Website: www.theyouthfa.org
Other important information and feedback about the good practice
- The project has been selected by MEUSAC as a best practice project. More info on the project is available here: http://theyouthfa.org.mt/?s=erasmus%2B