I Standard Chartered and Liverpool Football Club held their inaugural ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme in Pretoria this week.
Five coaches from Liverpool FC’s Soccer Schools and the Foundation delivered a bespoke
‘Play On’ curriculum to 34 coaches from Standard Chartered’s Futuremakers initiative from 27 to 29 November, in a combined programme of classroom-based and on-pitch learning.
During the training, Liverpool FC coaches taught a holistic ‘Play On’ curriculum with workshops
covering ‘Person-Centred Approach’, ‘Barriers to Participation’, ‘Mental Health & Wellbeing’,
‘Balancing Life’ & ‘Empowering Women in Leadership’. Following a series of daily tasks, the
Futuremakers coaches were then asked to put into practise what they’d learned during the
three-day programme and create their own session plans incorporating the Play On curriculum, which they’ll then take back and deliver to girls in their local communities.
Standard Chartered and Liverpool Football Club launched ‘Play On’ in May 2023 with the aim to
inspire, empower and educate girls to participate in sport, after learning that twice as many girls
than boys drop out of sport by age 14. Following this successful digital awareness campaign
featuring LFC First Team players and Manager, the ‘Play On: Train the Trainer’ programme was
created as practical training to be delivered in-person, on the ground in markets where Standard Chartered works with Futuremakers coaches and female participants.
Kweku Bedu-Addo, CEO, Standard Chartered South Africa and Southern Africa, said, “Sports
are always a brilliant platform to develop and build important attributes in life such as personal confidence, teamwork, resilience and leadership. Standard Chartered is delighted with the opportunity in partnership with Liverpool Football Club to create this fantastic bespoke training programme aimed at keeping young girls playing on.
Speaking on day three, attendee Nokuthula Mohlomi, a Futuremakers coach from Pretoria, said, “We were so excited to be invited to take part in this important programme by Standard
Chartered and Liverpool Football Club. As a coach of girls myself, I have seen first-hand how
playing sport can increase a young woman’s confidence and give her a safe space to learn,
grow and make friends. Work like this is vital to highlight the benefits of playing sport and
encourage girls not to stop playing when they become teenagers.”
When delivering his session in Pretoria, Steven Gillespie, Senior International Academy
Programme Manager at Liverpool FC, said, “I feel honoured and privileged to deliver this ‘Play
On: Train the Trainer’ programme in South Africa. Utilising LFC’s proven coaching philosophy,which puts the person above the player, adds a unique insight for the participants in this initiative. Through the implementation of this project, we’re working in conjunction with Standard Chartered to encourage girls to stay in sport and strive for success in all aspects of their life.
Leah McAteer Thompson, Female Empowerment and Allyship Co-ordinator at the LFC Foundation, added, “Leveraging the power of football to engage the Futuremakers coaches in Pretoria, we have provided a unique ‘The Liverpool Way’ experience that aims to leave a
sustainable lasting legacy in the surrounding communities of Johannesburg for many years to
come. Utilising a fluid approach to our content delivery, we have been able to support with live,
relatable issues and barriers that persist currently in South Africa, balancing theory-based practice and ensuring a meaningful versatile curriculum is delivered to add the most value and impact in each country that it is delivered.
Futuremakers coaches from Pretoria will have virtual follow up sessions with LFC coaches over
the next 6 months, and the Bank and Liverpool FC will look to deliver another Train the Trainer
session in one of Standard Chartered’s footprint markets before the 2023/24 Premier League
season ends.
To learn more about the Play On campaign, please visit http://www.sc.com/play-on.
