Young leader, Paige Conlan has just returned from The FA’s five day National Leadership and Volunteering Camp at Wolverhampton University’s Walsall campus.
Eighteen year old Paige was one of 103 volunteers from across the Country taking part in a number of FA led workshops covering everything from disability football, goalkeeping, refereeing and futsal to equality, positive coaching, dealing with pitch injuries and media training. Paige was chosen from the forty young leaders registered on the East Riding County FA’s Step into Sport Programme to represent the East Riding because of the commitment she has shown to her club, Withernsea AFC, and the achievements she has made throughout the year.
Speaking of her trip, Paige could not put into words how much she had enjoyed the experience and said that she didn’t want to come home.
“In the build up to the camp I was quite nervous. I travelled down alone by train and was a bit scared really, I had no idea what to expect. I’m from a small village so I don’t really mix with many people and I knew that there would be over 100 people at the camp. As soon as I arrived I was thrown straight into the first workshop and didn’t really have time to be nervous. There was a lot of group work, throughout the week I got to work with everyone there in different groups and different workshops. During the evening there were a lot of team activities, we had quizzes, question and answer sessions and played Jungle World Cup. We even designed our own Olympics session. I was quite quiet to start off with but by Wednesday I was completely fine.
I can’t pick a highlight. I would have to say everything. The positive coaching session was great, it taught be how to be more creative. By the end of the week I didn’t want to come home. I’ve met so many new people. I think I’ve got an extra 90 friends on Facebook now! We all keep in touch by email and through Facebook.
I can’t believe the difference in me now that I am home. I am so much more confident. I used to be quite a nervous coach but now I take control much more and get stuck in. I loved it, I’m going to tell everyone about it. I’m so pleased that I went.”
Having spoken to Paige on a number of occasions in the past, I couldn’t believe how much more confidence she had when talking to me on the phone and members of Withernsea FC have phoned to say how much Paige has developed.
Each year, a number of young leaders attending the camp are selected to form the Management Committee taking a major role in the organisation of forthcoming camps and four young leaders are selected to support The FA’s international placement programme during a trip to Africa. The camp offers a fantastic opportunity for all those that attend and one that I’m sure Paige would recommend to anyone. Each County are required to select one male and one female volunteer to attend and volunteers for the 2011 camp will be chosen early next year. All those registered on the Step into Sport Programme will receive an invitation to submit a nomination form closer to the time.
For further information about the Step into Sport Programme please follow the links on our website or contact Gemma Thomas on 01482 221158 / 07920 047705 or email gemma.thomas@eastridingfa.com.