Bursary boys lining up to graduate

After heading to Stourbridge in September to reward Steve Fellows and Stamford to present Ian Evley with their formal qualifications, Ogley will be at Mickleover Sport on Tuesday night to congratulate sports physio and coach Dave Hoole on the pitch before his club kick off against Grantham Town in the EVO-STIK NPL’s top flight.

All three confirmed they'd made the grade before the end of last season after the league funded 50 per cent of the costs of their courses which ranged from £700 to £800.

After making his final presentation, Ogley is preparing for a new crop of coaches to apply for bursary awards with the FA and county associations now releasing details for their upcoming courses in 2016.

Ogley said: “Now is the time for coaches to think about applying with the new courses announced in October and November for January and into next year.

“As a league, if we can improve our coaches, we can improve our players of all ages and everybody connected with the competition from the fans to coaches benefit. In the case of the coaches we're also seeing it make a big difference to careers, something we're very proud of."

Fellows, a former Kidderminster Harriers coach, was the first coach to receive his bursary funding when Ogley visited the Glassboys back in September to hand over his funding cheque. He is pictured 'graduating' with Ogley before the 1-1 draw with Grantham at the end of September.

Evley, the chairman of the Stamford AFC Football Development Centre, holds the distinction of being the first graduate to have taken his UEFA B course at the new St Georges Park National Football Centre. He is pictured with Ogley on the pitch before the Daniels hosted Sutton Coldfield Town in a 3-3 draw at the Zeeco Stadium on the last Tuesday in September.

Fellows is now considering earning his UEFA A badge and Glassboys secretary Clive Eades hailed the league's scheme.

He said: “On behalf of Steve and everyone at Stourbridge FC, we would like to thank Mark for his support and also the league for providing the support for our coaches to improve themselves and help our youth team and junior team players be as successful as they possibly can be in the game we all love.”

In total, six coaches benefited from the EVO-STIK NPL's Coaching Development Fund last season. Apart from Evley and Fellowes, Scarborough Athletic's Steve Roberts, Warrington Town's assistant manager Lee Smith, Stafford Rangers manager Neil Kitching and Leek Town's Darren Baker were all supported.

Part-funded by the FA to support the EVO-STIK NPL’s on-going drive to raise standards, 50 per cent of the costs of gaining UEFA B coaching badges are picked up for students who have up to three years to complete the courses at a variety of venues. As well as St George’s, they included Curzon Ashton’s Tameside Stadium and York College last season.

More information on FA Level 2 courses, many of which are free, can be accessed through local County FAs with information also on available on the FA Learning website.

For further information about the EVO-STIK NPL's scheme, coaches should ask their club secretaries to contact Mark Ogley via email at: ogsshae@hotmail.com.

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