The Scottish
Football Association and McDonald’s today announced a new
grassroots coaching partnership to benefit 70% of Scottish primary
schools.
The four year agreement will increase the standard and
availability of grassroots coaching for youngsters across
Scotland.
The new deal will build upon McDonald’s previous four year
sponsorship with the Scottish FA which helped over 1,270 primary
school teachers qualify as coaches.
To mark the announcement, Walter Smith took a trip down memory
lane by returning to his former school, Carmyle Primary School in
Glasgow, to run an exclusive coaching session for pupils. He was
accompanied by Kenny Dalglish, McDonald’s Head of Scottish
Football.
Under the new deal, McDonald’s will work with the Scottish FA
over the next four years to:
* Create 600 new grassroots coaches – each delivering 20 hours
of football coaching and 20 hours of health and fitness advice
each year to youngsters.
* Provide coaches to 1,600 Scottish primary schools – benefiting
70% of Scotland’s primary schools.
* Create 600 new teams (300 boys, 300 girls) across participating
schools each year (2,400 new teams over the 4 year period).
* Continue the highly successful free festival programme which is
open to thousands of youngsters and culminates in Scotland’s
biggest football festival at Hampden Park.
Walter Smith commented: “The kids in Scotland are the future of
our national team and the fact that McDonald’s is helping to
provide qualified coaching to pupils from an early age can only be
a good thing for our game. In the long run, I’m sure my
successors will reap the benefits!”
Kenny Dalglish, McDonald’s Head of Scottish Football, added:
“McDonald’s is delighted to give so many youngsters the chance
to enjoy and participate in football. I visit schools up and down
the country as part of my role with McDonald’s and have seen
first hand the difference that qualified coaching can make.”
Jim Fleeting, Head of Football Development for the Scottish FA,
said: “It’s fantastic news for grassroots football in Scotland
that we’re continuing to work with McDonald’s on bringing
qualified coaches into primary schools. The fact that over 70% of
primary schools in Scotland will benefit from the programme is
nothing short of remarkable.”
McDonald's has created over 10,000 qualified community football
coaches across the country in partnership with The FA, Scottish
FA, Irish FA and FAW Trust since 2002.
As a result, McDonald’s is now providing millions more coaching
places for youngsters to the benefit of the individuals
participating and the communities of which they are a part.
McDonald's has also donated over £2 million of kit and equipment
to date as part of the programme.
Through the provision of qualified community coaches, the
programme is helping to tackle a specific issue facing the game -
a lack of good quality coaching at a grassroots level. The
programme is also benefits youngsters and local communities by
providing coaching opportunities where none previously existed.
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