This summer, BBFA Youth Council Members, Ellie Reid and Naomi Norrie had the opportunity to attend the FA Leadership Academy. 

After the event, Ellie and Naomi took the time to write reports and tell us about what they learnt and about their experiences over the three-day virtual event. Here's what they had to say...

FA Leadership Academy Report - Ellie Reid

Naomi and I had the amazing opportunity to attend the FA Leadership Academy. What would have been a week at St. Georges Park turned into a fantastically adapted three-day virtual event for obvious reasons. 

It was an action-packed three days filled with workshops, mentor time and fun activities aimed at developing our confidence as leaders so we feel more prepared to make a positive impact within our footballing community. Key themes covered were thinking about personal leadership philosophy, caring for yourself and disruptive creativity. 

We also had the opportunity to attend talks with inspiring individuals in the industry including Stuart Pearce, Peter Sturgess, Emile Heskey, Paul Elliot, Rachel Pavlou and Rimla Aktor. It was incredible to gain insight into their experiences and listen to their advice as we begin our own journey’s in youth leadership. 

This programme really made me reflect on who I am as a leader and how I want to use my power to impact young people’s lives through football. However, these three days were only the beginning. As part of the academy, we each undertake our own project within our community over the next 10 months. I am excited to get started and make a difference to youth footballers lives within Berks & Bucks.

FA Leadership Academy Report - Naomi Norrie

Myself and Ellie had the amazing opportunity attend the FA Leadership Academy 2020, a congregation of young leaders from across the country. This year, for the first time, the event was held virtually due to Covid-19 but all the facilitators were quick to welcome everyone and break-the-ice.

Over the course of the three days we were lucky enough to be joined by special guests from across the football world including people who work full time in the FA and a few famous faces like Emile Heskey and Stuart Pearce. We also attended workshops based around three main principles; creating your own personal leadership philosophy, looking after yourself and creativity. Each workshop allowed us to reflect and really think about our skills and maybe what we could do differently. I particularly enjoyed creating my own leadership philosophy as it allowed me to think about what is important to me as a leader and the type of leader I want to be.

Over the three days we also started to lay the foundations of the project we will be running ourselves over the next year. These projects will allow everyone who attended FALA to give back to their communities whilst developing their skills as a leader. Some examples of projects that were discussed include an online leadership platform, making facilities more accessible in terms of cost for teams and tackling the drop-out rate in youth football. It will be exciting to continue our FALA journey over the next year and beyond!

To find our more about the BBFA Youth Council or to get involved, please click here.