A hugely successful international coach and referee development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council launched a new phase in Kampala this last week. “Premier Skills Phase 2” took place from 1st November to the 6th November 2010, with intensive training for 30 Ugandan grass roots football coaches selected from across Uganda. The project was led by head coach Paul Hughes, a senior coach at Reading Football Club Academy and he will be backed up by Steve Obertelli and Adam Lea, community coaches from Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth Football Clubs.
Pictured above is Steve with one of the children who came in to sample the coaching from the Premier Skills Coaches. The youngster was a keen Bolton Wanderers fan and followed BWFC on the local TV Sports Channels and stated his favourite players as Johan Elmander, Fabrice Muamba, and Paul Robinson.
School of Football Manager Steve Obertelli said;
"After completing the delivery of a Phase One course in Hong Kong in August of last year I was extremely keen to deliver a Premier Skills course again on behalf of the Premier League and The Bolton Wanderers Community Trust. When I found out about the opportunity to work in Uganda I was thrilled. It is great to get to travel the globe representing Bolton. It's fantastic to be able to help football develop in other countries and it will also be great to be able to offer advice and guidance towards the Phase Two candidates about running successful projects in their communities. This will also showcase some of the positive charity work Bolton Wanderers Community Trust carries out"
After returning from the Premier Skills Phase 2 Course Steve said:
"I had a great time in Kampala working with some extremely committed people from various communities across Uganda. During the intensive week they put in a lot of effort taking on board what Paul, Adam and I were saying to them. Hopefully our delivery of the course will now enable them to improve their coaching even more from the knowledge gained on the Phase 1 Course and also they will be able to make their projects more sustainable. With discussing ways on accessing funding, and ways in which to deliver presentations to potential sponsors I can't wait to hear from the participants on how their projects have grown."