New ECFA Activators get online support

The first ECFA Activator event of the academic year has taken place entitled ‘Leading the Leaders.’ The webinar was set up to provide online support to our cohort of 150 ECFA Activators who are based in colleges across the country. Each college is required to recruit two student Activators to support the development of football at the college and in the community as part of the ECFA Accredited College programme. In return, ECFA, the football development arm of AoC Sport, provides training and networking opportunities to support the development of these young leaders. Activators were given the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of previous ECFA Activators Oli Moore and Teni Charles. The presenters shared their experiences and how the role supported them to develop skills which are essential for progressing in football development. Oli is now Digital Education Officer at Chelsea FC and shared the ways in which he has engaged with young people online both previously and in his current role. Teni, who is involved with the FA Regional Youth Network, talked about the little female football provision in her college and how she went about changing that. Teni said: “I took it upon myself to go and build my own [women’s team]. We started off week by week training normally, having a bit of fun, passing the ball around and having a bit of a gossip. Then it progressed and we managed to get to tournaments and competitions. It was amazing because they were learning as much from me as I was from them.” Activators were also treated to a workshop from Alice Kempski, National Football Development Manager titled ‘Looking After You’ focusing on the importance of taking care of yourself as a leader and providing some tips on self-care. In addition to further online events which will be run by ECFA, the Activators have the opportunity to become Lead FA Playmakers and access other CPD courses via the Active IQ partnership, enabling them to focus on their self-development.