England Football Learning’s Mentee Development Programme is underway for the 2021/22 season, as 10 aspirational coaches came together at St. George’s Park this week to begin their learning journey.
Supported by The Chelsea Foundation, the Mentee Development Programme provides an opportunity for five female and five male coaches to gain invaluable experience and exposure to The FA’s Technical Department, as well as developmental experience with professional clubs.
The programme officially kicked off this week at St. George’s Park, with mentees taking part in one-to-one mentoring workshops, skills analysis sessions and observing presentations from communications experts.
The mentees were also formally welcomed by Head of FA Education Lucy Pearson. Speaking on the positive impact of the initiative, she commented: "It is a pleasure to welcome colleagues to the Mentee Development Programme here at St. George’s Park. The Programme presents each one of the 10 coaches with a fantastic opportunity to develop their insight and understanding of coaching excellence, to observe professional and national coaches in action and to access parts of the game for the first time over a season-long period.”
Coach Inclusion & Diversity Manager and programme-lead Butch Fazal was also present on the day to provide an introduction to the programme. He said: “I am delighted to welcome this aspirational group of coaches to St. George’s Park to begin this season’s Mentee Development Programme. Across the season they will be exposed to a number of support and development opportunities throughout the game, and I am confident they will grab every learning opportunity and gain invaluable experience to accelerate their aim of securing a role in the professional game. I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of Chelsea Foundation in supporting the project.”
