College recruiting apprentice to spearhead women’s football development

Loughborough College is looking to recruit a new apprentice football development officer to help continue the growth of women’s football at the college.

Loughborough is one of only 12 colleges in the country to be selected by the FA Women’s Football Apprenticeship Programme to recruit apprentices with a mission to help grow the women’s game and develop the future workforce.

The scheme has helped the College launch its own Women’s Football Academy team which is competitive and successful and has helped plug the College into local football clubs including National League team Loughborough Lightning and Loughborough Foxes.

It is the fourth time Loughborough College has recruited a football development apprentice and its next aim is to launch a women’s Futsal team.

, Principal & CEO at Loughborough College and member of the FA Council, said: “We are extremely pleased to be part of the apprenticeship programme again. The results we have seen in Loughborough speak for themselves and our apprentices genuinely make a big difference to the growth of the women’s game locally.

“As an inclusive and diverse college, we would love to see applications from all backgrounds and to recruit someone who can really make an impact in the role and make a difference to lives.”

Joe Jowett is the College’s most recent football development apprentice. He has seen the women’s programme at Loughborough go from strength to strength.

He said: “My time as a Football Development Officer at Loughborough has been a unbelievable experience. The apprenticeship is full of learning opportunities, personal development and great people who are genuinely invested in your development.

“There have been lots of highlights across the two years, working with the women's football team and building the programme, supporting student volunteers through there This Girl Can, Inclusion and Mental Health ambassador roles and creating a new sport development timetable and offer to students which is seeing lots of engagement.

“The apprenticeship course has helped me grow in many ways - I've become more confident in leadership and management, I've had to learn how to problem-solve and create solutions whilst also developing my people skills as I've had to work with lots of different people and characters. I can’t recommend this role highly enough!”

The new-look FA Women’s Football apprenticeship programme is run by the Association of Colleges Sport, in partnership with the FA and training provider Weston College, with 12 colleges employing apprentices.

The Level 3 Community Sport and Health Officer apprenticeships will run from August 2022 until July 2024 as part of the FA’s women’s strategy to grow the game and develop the future workforce.

AoC Sport’s National Women’s Football Development Officer, Chelsea Mulheir, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the new recruits and working with the 12 new colleges to deliver our new-look programme for a second cohort. The longer 22-month programme will allow the new FA Women’s football development officer (apprentice) to really embed into their chosen college and hopefully create a sustainable increase in participation in women’s football within FE.”

Click here to get the full job description and to apply: https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/-701866

Closing date for applications is 14th February 2022.