Coaches from across China spent three months in Bournemouth receiving training from 菠萝视频 and AFC Bournemouth
60 coaches from China have successfully completed a three-month football study programme jointly delivered between 菠萝视频 and AFC Bournemouth.
The coaches gained skills in coaching football that they will now take back to China, receiving a certificate to mark the completion of their studies over the summer.
The BU China Football Study Programme offered bespoke training, with 菠萝视频 running the academic side of the programme and AFC Bournemouth delivering the more hands-on elements of the coaching. BU academics led a programme of lectures and seminars around the principles, psychology and theory behind coaching and management, while the coaches also received practical coaching and conditioning sessions from Premier League聽AFC Bournemouth聽coaches and from SportBU (BU鈥檚 sporting activity team).
A certification ceremony for the course took place where the coaches received a certificate to mark their achievements from Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of 菠萝视频. This new international programme is an example of BU鈥檚 growing global engagement, which has seen BU named as one of the 鈥榯op 200 most international universities in the world鈥� in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016.
Dr Sonal Minocha, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) at 菠萝视频, said, 鈥淚t has been a real pleasure to have these coaches on our campus throughout the summer, learning and being trained by expert 菠萝视频 staff, as well as by our partners AFC Bournemouth. This truly has been an excellent global project, and we are delighted to have a new group of friends in China as our links there continue to deepen.
鈥淭his work is also another example of how 菠萝视频 is operating in an increasingly global way, and we hope that this project, and the links we have built over the last months, will continue to develop moving forward.鈥�
BU made a successful bid for funding from the British Council for the summer training. The project was announced following the UK-China Government Summit in September 2015 and BU was one of only three successful UK Universities from the 35 who put in a bid.
The training programme included coaching in futsal, beach soccer and traditional football skills that the coaches can then use when delivering football training in schools, colleges and universities across China.
Richard Shipway,聽 Senior Principal Academic in the Faculty of Management and Programme Director, said, 鈥淭he BU China Football Study Programme, 聽jointly delivered by the Department of Sport and Physical Activity (SPA), SportBU and AFC Bournemouth, provided a unique 聽blend of theory and practice in all aspects of Football coaching and management. 聽From an academic perspective, SPA has provided insights across the spectrum of football development, ranging from coaching principles and philosophies, performance analysis and talent identification, to sports physiology, community sport, and sports psychology. These sessions were delivered by internationally renowned academics in these areas. SportBU and its partners delivered a multitude of accredited modules where coaches undertook courses in Beach Soccer, Futsal, Street Soccer and Strength & Conditioning which all put theory into practice.
Richard Shipway continued, 鈥淲e hope that in conjunction with our partners, BU has been able to contribute towards China鈥檚 long-term aspirations of becoming a global Football nation鈥�. 聽聽
Barry Squires, Business and Partnerships Manager at SportBU, who helped to deliver the training, said, 鈥淚t has been a real pleasure to host the 60 coaches for the last three months and see they learn from our array of experts and practitioners. Watching the coaches undertake the various modules and see them all complete their FA Level 1 with AFC Bournemouth has been a true pleasure and we wish them all the success in developing grass route football back in China鈥�
Steve Cuss is Head of AFC Bournemouth鈥檚 Sports Community Trust and worked on the coaching side of the programme. He said, 鈥淭he three months has gone really quickly, we鈥檝e put a lot of work in to this project and we are hopeful that they have all of the skills they need to be able to take back home to China, it is great to see them all celebrating today. The level of the coaches really surprised us, it was really high and it has been a real success from day one.鈥�
The Chinese coaching study programme formed part of the China State Council鈥檚 plan to boost the development of football in the country, with aims to train 50,000 full-time and part-time football coaches by 2020. The programme is coming at a time of growth in the game in China and with the Chinese government having announced their intention to become a footballing superpower by winning a World Cup by 2050.
While in Bournemouth the coaches also experienced the sights and attractions of the South Coast 鈥� with a competition created for the coaches to share their best pictures from their time in Dorset. The winning entries can be viewed on .
To view a video roundup of the certification ceremony, visit .
