Meet the Foundation staff: Kicks coach Sadie
Sadie, Premier League Kicks coach
HOW DID YOU GET HERE?
I first found out about the Foundation by taking part in free Premier League Kicks sessions when I was young. I wasn’t really playing any kind of football at the time, but then I was invited along to a Kicks session. I was one of the only girls, but I loved playing there and it really helped me develop. Eventually, the Foundation supported me with getting my Level 1 and Level 2 coaching badges, and I went from playing at Kicks to coaching it myself as a Community Coach!
BEST PART OF THE JOB?
Seeing the progress and development of the young people we work with. It’s amazing getting to help and support them, not only with their football but also with other social skills. We help teach them other soft skills and give them tools to develop. Seeing that growth within our young people is fantastic.
WHY IS PREMIER LEAGUE KICKS IMPORTANT?
Kicks gives young people the opportunity to get involved in football as well as other leadership programmes that we run. Kicks is important for young people because it gives them a safe space and an opportunity to play football. It’s free, which is really important. It means that people with more child than one child won’t ever have to choose between them, if cost was an issue, and because it has such a wide age range we can easily cater for brothers and sisters of different ages all at the same session.
WHAT DOES A NORMAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR SADIE?
Every day I come into the office at the Amex and work on whatever needs to be worked on. That could be sorting out registers, organising coaches to cover sessions, or working on developing the sessions that we’ll run for the kids. I could be working on where our next social action project will be, or organising a tournament. During the evenings I’ll usually be out at a Kicks session, either running it or just going along to check on how everyone’s doing; the kids, the coaches, and the parents.
FAVOURITE FOUNDATION MEMORY?
Quite a few years ago now we took a group of kids to France to take part in a football tournament with kids from around the world. It was a mixed tournament, so there was this amazing cross-section of girls and boys, mainstream teams and disability footballers from around the world, all