London Cohort has Been Launched at Crystal Palace!
Coach Core has launched its latest London sports coaching apprenticeship programme at Selhurst Park, the home of Premiership football club Crystal Palace.
Apprentices from four London-based sports charities and organisations – Palace for Life Foundation, the charitable arm of Crystal Palace, Badu Sports based in Hackney, The Ahoy Centre in Greenwich and Junior Adventures Group who run school clubs across the city, joined Coach Core staff for an education and training session in the club’s media centre before enjoying a tour of the stadium.
The new Coach Core apprentices will start their roles this month with most of them looking to complete their apprenticeship and graduate within 12 months with the aim of then moving into employment, training and further education opportunities.
Since Coach Core launched in 2012 (as part the London 2012 legacy) the national charity has supported 940 apprentices across the UK including 115 in in the capital with 40% of them from deprived areas of the city. Whilst London continued to have the lowest rate of apprenticeship starts and achievement across all English regions in 2023/24, Coach Core saw 71% of their apprentices in the UK move directly into employment, further education training during the last academic year.
This year’s programme marks the start of a partnership between Coach Core and The Palace for Life Foundation with 20 year-old Rochelle Mayne starting her sports apprenticeship coaching role with the football charity.
“It was fantastic to meet our latest cohort of London apprentices as they start their journeys with us and their employers and we’re grateful to the team at The Palace Foundation for Life for hosting them in such an inspiring setting.
We know that London lags behind other areas of country when it comes to apprenticeship achievements so its even more important that we, alongside our employer partners continue to buck that trend by delivering enriching apprenticeships that give young people long term and meaningful employment and education opportunities.”
“It was great to welcome the Coach Core team and this year’s apprentices from across the city to Selhurst Park. As a Foundation, we are committed to giving young people from our local communities support along positive pathways for education, training or employment and this programme is a brilliant example of this in action.”
“Coaching is a path I want to go down and I’m looking forward to starting the apprenticeship here and planning and delivering sports and football sessions in local schools. The apprenticeship really appeals to me because I like to be in an active environment rather than being on a computer all day. I’d love this to lead to a good coaching role after my apprenticeship”