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Sports graduate goes extra mile to coach football

21/07/2016

A former University of Wolverhampton sports student is using his degree to build foundations for the future of sport – and he’s going that extra mile to coach children in India.

Jonathan Ward, 24, from Wednesbury studied for a degree in Physical Education at the University’s Walsall Campus and is now Football Development & Sponsorship Officer at the West Bromwich Albion Foundation.

He is a member of the team helping University sports students who are working on the joint sporting initiative between West Bromwich Albion Football Club, the Delhi Dynamos and the University of Wolverhampton, Pass it Forward – providing football coaching skills for young people in India.

Always interested in becoming a footballer and having trials with local football clubs, Jonathan suffered an early injury and became a coach after studying for his degree when he travelled to America where he worked for three years on the West Coast.

He said:  “I’ve always had a passion for football and worked for Wolverhampton Wanderers for a while in a coaching capacity.  I thought about teaching and doing a degree in Physical Education seemed like a path to take to achieve my goal.

“Whilst studying I realised that I needed to be around the game and decided that coaching would be an ideal career for me.  I really enjoyed my time at University and can’t thank staff enough for inspiring me to achieve my ambitions.

“I’m now doing a job I really love and it’s a real bonus to be working with students from the University on the Pass it Forward initiative which is helping to shape skills and raise awareness of sport in India.”

The enterprise partnership, which is co-funded by the University, has been set up in partnership with the Delhi Government, local football team, Delhi Dynamos, Youth Football International, the local delivery partner in Delhi, and the West Bromwich Albion Foundation.

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The initial programme will see Sports Coaching Practice Degree students from the University’s Institute of Sport travelling to Delhi with WBA Foundation coaches to provide school based football coaching for around 35,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14.

ENDS

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Date Issued: 21st July 2016

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