Students studying Level 2 and 3 Diploma Coaching Football in Community Settings, skyped Dougie Williams, Head Soccer Coach from Hinds College, Mississippi, USA to discuss coaching styles.

After weeks of planning and exchanging of emails, student representatives used this innovative approach to hold a student forum. The forum presented the students with an opportunity to ask Coach Williams about the fundamentals of coaching and the level of sports participation in the USA, in comparison to England. The students incorporated the information received from the forum in their assignments, so the extra information received from Coach Williams was excellent.

The students found the whole experience very useful. Reegan Scotcher, aged 16 from Wellington said,

“It was a great experience to be involved in the Skype call forum and discussing with Coach Williams how coaching styles in the USA were different to that in England. It was also really interesting to find out about coaching qualification pathways and to gain ideas for when delivering practical lessons.”

Joe Syvret, aged 18 from Bridgwater said,

“We can learn a lot from talking to other coaches from different countries. I hope we can do more of this in the near future.”

Andy Gill, Lecturer for Sports and Services said,

“This will be the first of many Skype calls to Hinds College in Mississippi. The students can gain so much from speaking to coaches from another country. I have been keen to add this to the course for some time and really glad the students gained so much from this great experience.”