Advanced Apprentice in Sporting Excellence - Football
James Cullingworth
Apprenticeships create a wealth of opportunities for young people. Talented footballer James Cullingworth, who recently completed his two–year Apprenticeship at Nottingham Forest Football Club, tells how he developed his soccer skills, studied and earned a wage at the same time.
From the moment his dad bought him a Nottingham Forest season ticket at the age of seven, football fan James Cullingworth dreamed of playing for the club.
Now he’s fulfilled his boyhood ambition. A scout spotted his talent while he was still at primary school and he began playing for Nottingham Forest’s junior side when he was only 11. At 16, once he’d got 11 GCSEs under his belt, he signed a three-year contract and won the chance to wear the club’s distinctive red shirt.
On top of these achievements, 18-year-old James has also just become one of the first four League Football Education apprentices to complete their Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence. League Football Education was formed by the Football League and the Professional Footballers’ Association to promote educational and vocational training for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and to manage the Advanced Apprenticeship framework.
Along with three other Nottingham Forest apprentices, James spent two years on his Apprenticeship, which is designed to boost sporting excellence and provide learners with a broad education and skills.
As well as training with the youth team every day and developing their footballing prowess, the apprentices also studied for a Level 3 NVQ in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance, a BTEC National Certificate in Sport, a 1st4Sport Level 2 coaching certificate and five key skills qualifications.
“The great thing is that if the football doesn’t work out, if I get injured or something, then I could apply to do sports science at university with the qualifications I’ve got now,” says James, who’s currently playing right back for Nottingham Forest’s reserves and hopes to make the first team soon.
“My Apprenticeship was mentally challenging, but fun at the same time. My parents are both teachers and they both said how good the programme was. It has given me knowledge and skills that I can take forward into my footballing career and helped me with the technical, tactical, mental and physical side of football. I have become an independent learner and a much better communicator too.
“My aim now is to get into the first team but obviously I would like to progress to playing Premier League football one day.”
Former headteacher Jim King, one of the club’s two Education and Welfare Officers, is full of praise for the four apprentices’ hard work. Of the other three, Michael Vickers has won a sports science scholarship to an American university while Matthew Glass and Sam Mullarkey are both playing for non-league sides.
“We were very impressed with the boys’ commitment,” says Jim. “This Apprenticeship is a programme that enables them to get academic qualifications as well as practical footballing experience. Football is about making high-speed, intelligent decisions and the better educated you are the better able you are to do that.”
Advanced Apprenticeships in Sporting Excellence are now available in football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and aquatic sports, with plans to extend to more sports each year. The places are restricted to those identified by the sports lead body as elite athletes, with the potential to achieve a career as a professional sportsman or woman.
For more details: visit http://www.skillsactive.org.uk/ the Sector Skills Council for sport.
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