Marjon offer funding assistance to UEFA B Licence hopefuls
Released: 04.10.18
Plymouth Marjon University is delighted to announce that students on the Football Development & Coaching degree will now have access to funding to study for the UEFA B Licence qualification during their studies.
Students on the course will now be able to study for the qualification with some support from the University should they wish to move their career towards coaching at a professional football club. The UEFA B Licence ensures that students who have completed the course can work at a professional football club’s academy and take that next step in to the football coaching career path.
Phil Brown, a Senior Lecturer on the course, said he was glad the University could further improve the coaching provision they offer to students.
“Until now we’ve supported FA Level One and Level Two coaching qualifications for our students but we wanted to help their development pathway further by helping to fund study for the UEFA B Licence,” said Phil.
“We want to help them on their coaching journey and for some people this licence will help them go where they want to in their career. For example, if you want to work in an academy set-up then you need a UEFA B Licence. Now students who are looking at that specific career path have access to funding that can help them towards getting that licence.”
The UEFA B course will run alongside the students’ studies and will be part-taught by Marjon Senior Lecturer Aaron Cusack. One of the few UEFA A Licence coaches in the country, Aaron acts as a tutor for people studying for their B Licence when he isn’t lecturing at Marjon.
“The Level 3 UEFA B Licence is the highest grassroots qualification Coaches can obtain” said Aaron.
“The detail of the technical and tactical analysis for the UEFA B is really strong and that goes hand-in-hand with their studies here at Marjon. Not only will they be getting theoretical understanding from their degree, but they’ll get the experiences of being critical in their practical delivery via the UEFA B course.
“We already had great connections between their degree studies and practical work but we can build on that even more now. They’ll have more of a seamless connection between what we do on the degree and what we do in practice. What we encourage and expect them to read on the course can have more validity on the training pitch.”
The five students studying the UEFA B from Marjon this year are part of only the second cohort of people to go through the revamped course at Plymstock School. As part of the UEFA B programme, students have to be actively coaching in the local community and will be studying for the qualification during their time at Marjon.
Phil said: “It’s a year-long programme so it’s a long-term commitment for the students and it’s a long term commitment from the University to help their coaching journey. Students don’t enter in to it lightly but it’s ultimately their choice if they want to go for it.”
Aaron added: “What I’m excited about is that if doing the UEFA B makes one coach change their practice, then it doesn’t just affect them, it trickles down to every person they’re coaching and even the other coaches they’re working with.”
This change was brought-about partly down to the feedback of students on the course. Got any more ideas for the University? Chatback on the app.
Find out more about the Football Development & Coaching degree at Marjon.
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