Arsenal, WorldRemit celebrate youth coaches

English Premier League club Arsenal FC have partnered with online money transfer service WorldRemit for the second edition of the Future Stars programme, an initiative celebrating the positive impact the grass-roots youth football coaches have on their communities, helping the children they train develop life skills both on and off the pitch.

The competition is open to youth team (under 16s) coaches from across the Americas or Africa, giving one male, and one female coach from either region the opportunity to fly to London in December for a personalised coaching programme with Arsenal Football Development coaches in London, sponsored by WorldRemit.

Through the programme, 20 shortlisted coaches will be rewarded with Arsenal shirts for their youth squad. From those 20, the judging panel will select eight coaches as finalists – four male and four female based on the following three criteria: The commitment of the coach to improving the lives of their community, the impact the coach has had on young people within their community and the strength of the coach’s proposal to pass on their training on their return home.

Public vote

Those finalists stories will be shared on www.futurestars.worldremit.com, with the winners chosen based on a public vote on the website.

WorldRemit’s managing director in North America, Dan Canning, said the programme offers a big opportunity for coaches to not only improve their own coaching techniques, but celebrate their commitment to community building and leaving a lasting impact.

“Our customers work hard every day to send money home to support their families and communities,” he said. “We developed the Future Stars programme with Arsenal to shine a spotlight on youth community coaches who use their passion for football to build a better future for others.”

Entries are open on www.futurestars.worldremit.com or via a chatbot on the WorldRemit Facebook page until September 4. To enter, coaches need to complete a short application form detailing why they deserve to be granted this unique training opportunity and how they would use it to build a lasting legacy of positive change through football.

Simon McManus, Head Coach at Arsenal Football Development is pleased in being able to share valuable coaching knowledge with the lucky winners.

“The Future Stars programme is all about recognising youth coaches across Africa and the Americas who bring communities together and are changing lives through football. We are looking forward to celebrating them and welcoming the two winning coaches to train with us at Emirates,” he said.